| With all of the awful things happening in this world, I hate to bring even more bad news. G&H was born in 2016, which is insane to think about. There were always highs and lows, and the people and experiences were memories I shall never forget. The support was immense from the start and for these reasons, I will always be grateful.Even in the early days, when I worked a horrible day job and dumped half of each paycheck into the publishing, I was motivated and ready to sacrifice everything to make G&H successful. I didn’t socialize, didn’t eat out, didn’t even afford taking my girlfriend out because every dollar spent was a dollar that could go towards paying authors. Even with this type of motivation and dedication, the fatigue was there. After the Kickstarter, which remains the most inspirational thing to ever occur in my life, the steam was pumping. Even despite my issues with PayPal and the online business I ran to pay the bills, I knew this was the turning point for the company. After months of setting up the proper avenues to sue PayPal and losing over $30,000 of my own money in the process, I still wanted the publishing to work. We released two collections in that time frame. They were both wonderful books and I couldn’t have been more honored to have them as part of G&H’s catalog. The authors were both amazing, beautiful people and at times I never understood why anyone would put faith into someone as young and naive as myself.
I really believed it could work. Then, my mother developed cancer in several parts of her body. Her previous battle with cancer was one of the most traumatic parts of my life. I watched her almost die so many times, stayed in the hospital with her overnight, did whatever I could to help. This new cancer was a returning shadow and I tore myself away from the publishing. After many months, I realized that there were unfinished projects and correspondences that desperately needed my attention. I went into it with every intention of righting the wrongs and proving that G&H was coming back stronger than ever. Then, COVID happened. Right around this time, I lost my job and quickly ran out of money for my bills. I filed my tax return in order to qualify for the stimulus check, and this was where I truly realized how bad G&H’s situation was financially. The Kickstarter, after fees, brought us around $8,989. When I put in all my deductions for business related expenses, and after the $8,989, the net profit of G&H last year was -$6,789. I still have every receipt, every PayPal transaction, every single financial choice that was made with G&H, all documented. Even the receipts from the post office when I shipped out books, and the receipts for the shipping supplies themselves. This truly upset me in ways I can’t explain, and it’s not that I never understood the sacrifices I was risking, but with COVID, my situation couldn’t be worse.
Shortly after COVID and about a month after my taxes had been filed, we found a cancerous growth on my father’s head. Now, it is more imperative than ever that I be there for both of my parents. The money that I’ve lost in this company, coupled with COVID, has led me to the decision of filing for bankruptcy, which I am in the process of doing now. You may be wondering what will happen with the authors signed to G&H, or of the upcoming releases. All authors will be released from any contractual obligations individually and any remaining royalties will be sent out ASAP. All future titles are cancelled until further notice. Original artwork that has already been paid for will be given to the author’s themselves if they desire. There has never been a more difficult email to type, and I hope that you will all remember that I tried. I really did. I did everything that I thought was right given the circumstances. I love each and everyone of you and it has been an honor to share the moments we’ve had. I hope you will remember G&H as a champion of the indie authors that it was in the beginning, and not the financial failure that it has become.
Thank you for your love, your support, your visions, and your willingness to be different.
Stay weird.
C. P. Dunphey |
