What would you do?

[John McKenna]

Because you are prepared to honour an initial agreement that was never mutually finalised you have been left in the position that you have explained above. That is more good than bad since it shows you have integrity and respect the rules of life.

Obviously you would have prefered to complete the negotiations and finalise the contract with the owners of the copyright.

Unfortunately the owners lost patience with you during that process - just as I did on this forum and for that I apologise - to such an extent that they refused to communicate with you any more. You must respect that.

I suspect that you would still like someone to intercede with them on your behalf to repair relations and complete the deal in good faith, but I am sorry to say that unless you luckily find a very skilled negotiator, with a good plan to win the owners over, all that will happen is a repeat of your own abortive attempts to close the deal amicably. I.e. rejection and silence.

If any such silver-tongued person has seen your appeals here and wished to take up the challenge they would have already volunteered and contacted you about it. The fact that nobody has done that in all the time you have been here indicates it is unlikely ever to happen.

Of course, you can keep plugging away and, from time to time, keep mentioning the unhappy situation you are in regarding the book in the (vain) hope that a minor miracle will occur. I think you already know that there is no way forward but you do not wish to let it go. What you should do is - let it be, let it be... whisper words of wisdom, let it be.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

just as I did on this forum and for that I apologise

No problem sir

I suspect that you would still like someone to intercede with them on your behalf to repair relations

Actually, I plan to go not to London, but to GM Seirawan himself in the USA. I think my actions speak for themselves,
But I would like more to sort things out with the (London-based) publishers first.

[John McKenna]

I am very pleased that you have accepted my apology.

The businessmen of London are generally very busy and once they encounter delays or obstacles they rapidly recoil from them.

I worked briefly for a publishing company and found that contracts were very tight and authors were pushed to agree them without much prevarication. The publishers felt they were doing most authors a favour publishing their works so had little sympathy if an author started to complain. Here both sides would have probably already consulted their lawyers if they had reached the situation that you have.

Your problem is that you are in a country that has not been doing a lot of business with the West in recent years. Therefore the climate in which you began your project was not conducive to protracted negotiations. Such negotiations are, perhaps, more common in the East. Here they usually lead to a rapid deterioration in relations.

As a new author you should have quickly agreed to carry out the copyright owner's terms and conditions and hoped for their future good will. Most authors, I am sorry to say, are not in a position to dictate their own terms and conditions to publishers - until they become well established, naturally.

Your chances of repairing the rift are very slim unless you find a new approach through a third party who they might listen to. If I still worked in the business or had contact with a suitable intermediary I'd have a word with someone. BUT, I don't and so regretably cannot assist you in your quest for the restoration of the broken relations between you and them.

Anyway, try to learn from the experience and move on - all the best for any future projects.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

It's kind of you that you wanted to help me. I guess such a person is just GM Seirawan himself.....

[soheil_hooshdaran]

I created a simple HTML website for the book:

http://playwinningchessfarsi.netau.net/

[soheil_hooshdaran]

you are prepared to honour an initial agreement that was never mutually finalised

My brother in law says it was finalized and I just have to pay the royalty and send them the two copies....He sent the books with a cheque drawn by my sister to the publishers in London from San Francisco.
I have been to the US since Dec 24.

[John McKenna]

I hope the latest approach to the London publisher by your brother-in-law and sister is successful and that you are enjoying being in America.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

I emailed GM Seirawan letting him know of what happened and the posts my brother in law made and also asked if I can print more copies, and he told me I must contact the editor, and if he refused to respond to me "nothing more is to be done".
But the editor won't answer my email.
I am very much worried as International copyright is not observed in Iran, and I don't know what to answer GM Ghaemmaghami the next time he asks me about the book.

[NickFaulks]

I emailed GM Seirawan letting him know of what happened and the posts my brother in law made and also asked if I can print more copies, and he told me I must contact the editor, and if he refused to respond to me "nothing more is to be done".

Yasser is a very fair man, and I am sure that he would help you if he could. No doubt what he says is unfortunately the simple truth.

[John McKenna]

But the editor won't answer my email.

I don't think you should try to contact the editor yourself anymore unless he contacts you directly.

Allow your brother-in-law and sister to be your intermediaries from now on because the editor has given up on you.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

I emailed GM Seirawan letting him know of what happened and the posts my brother in law made and also asked if I can print more copies, and he told me I must contact the editor, and if he refused to respond to me "nothing more is to be done".

Yasser is a very fair man, and I am sure that he would help you if he could. No doubt what he says is unfortunately the simple truth.

No doubt in his fairness, but that simple truth is beyond my common sense.
I only resumed the translation on the basis of the royalty we (me and the editor) agreed on.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

But the editor won't answer my email.

I don't think you should try to contact the editor yourself anymore unless he contacts you directly.

Allow your brother-in-law and sister to be your intermediaries from now on because the editor has given up on you.

It might be that they tell me the issue is resolved, how can I be sure about it unless the editor emails me?

[John McKenna]

If your sister's cheque is cashed by the London publishers someone should be contacted, maybe even you.

If the cheque is not cashed within a reasonable time and nothing is heard from the publishers your brother-in-law and your sister should contact them.

You should stay in the background and hope for the best.

[soheil_hooshdaran]

If your sister's cheque is cashed by the London publishers someone should be contacted, maybe even you.

If the cheque is not cashed within a reasonable time and nothing is heard from the publishers your brother-in-law and your sister should contact them.

You should stay in the background and hope for the best.

But I might never be able to print more copies. Even the thought is a spoil-sport

[Michael Farthing]

Soheil, I would love you to succeed, but John* is right. Listen to his words: Let it be! You can achieve nothing by making further contact yourself.

*Lennon, of course, not McKenna