UPDATE: Today, June 2, Boundless paid me what the owed me and also paid the artist the remaining fees they owed her. There are still contributors who haven’t been paid and I will make sure they do. Thank you all who supported us and joined us in making a loud fuss!
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I barely slept because I’m so upset so this is not the most poetic of my posts!
On most days, I love being self-employed. I’ve been doing it since 1999, barring 2002-2004 when I had a full-time job. I’ve had 24 years of befriending chaos—the ebbs and flows of money, massive audiences/readers to just a handful, years without health insurance in the U.S., etc etc etc. They have also been 24 years of writing that I am proud of: writing about things I want to write about, creating a readership that spans the world and interests, from feminism to football to fucking, as I often like to say.
This is not a “Woe is me” missive. It is more of a “Conflicted and outraged is me” post.
My third book, an anthology on menopause that I edited, is coming out in the U.S. and Canada on June 3. I am very proud of Bloody Hell! Adventures in Menopause from Around the World, for which I brought together 18 contributors from around the world as well as an artist to examine the experience of menopause in ways that I wish I had when I first started going through perimenopause.
I was asked back in 2021, the day I published “Moisturize Your Vagina,” my first essay on menopause, if I was interested in editing an anthology on menopause. I enthusiastically said “Yes!” because how many such anthologies exist?! I was also intrigued by the publishing model: crowdfunding with supporters offered perks depending on how much they pledged. I’m an anarchist; independent and creative publishing models take the sting off the sharp edge of the publishing world—an industry I have grown to hate.
Here’s where “But…” comes in. The original publisher of the anthology, Unbound, declared bankruptcy just as it was coming out in in March in the U.K, Ireland, and Europe and were acquired and renamed Boundless. The latter had pledged to honour outstanding payments by Unbound, including royalties to authors.
I am glad to say that all the contributors were paid long ago. The artist whose gorgeous work illustrates every essay and the cover has been paid just half of what they were owed. I was told I would get my first payment today. I got a long email full of gibberish (see below) which TL:DR tells me I will not be paid.
So basically everyone involved with the book has been paid except for me, the person who is the reason this book exists because I am the one who spent months raising money for its publication.
Update: [I am now hearing from some of the contributors that they have not indeed been paid. This gets worse and worse. Will update when I have more information. I trusted the publisher to take care of paying everyone what they were contracted for. That was the entire point of my spending two years raising the money that I did!]
ANOTHER UPDATE: Several contributors have not been paid. This is fucking awful. I raised more than enough to pay them all as well as all the artist’s fee. I am livid. If you have funds, I’ve included a link to my PayPal if you’d like to help me raise money to pay them and me what we’re owed. Thank you!)
I have asked for the rights to Bloody Hell! to revert to me and I am considering steps I will take going forward.
I know that some supporters of the book received their copies much later than scheduled but I have been told that copies have gone out to all who supported. Thank you all, supporters! I am so grateful for your support!
Biggest thanks to Ruth Ann Harnisch and Ruth Ann Subach for helping us over the crowdfunding finish line!
I am also so grateful and so proud of each and every contributor to Bloody Hell! We made such a wonderful book that I know is vital, necessary, and will be a welcome friend and companion to people going through the menopause transition for years to come!
And my thanks to the editors who worked on Bloody Hell! with me. None of this is their fault. Several people have resigned already.
Publishers Weekly just gave Bloody Hell! a starred review ahead of its U.S. release. I’m thrilled and so proud!
I will not be doing any publicity for Bloody Hell! in the U.S. and Canada. I’ve been working for at least three years on gathering contributors, editing their contributions, and ensuring Bloody Hell! gets published and I have received no payment whatsoever.
I hope many of you buy, read, share, and are inspired by Bloody Hell!
Onward to better things!
Mona Eltahawy is a feminist author, commentator and disruptor of patriarchy. Her new book, an anthology on menopause called Bloody Hell!: Adventures in Menopause from Around the World, has just been published. Her first book Headscarves and Hymens: Why the Middle East Needs a Sexual Revolution (2015) targeted patriarchy in the Middle East and North Africa and her second The Seven Necessary Sins For Women and Girls (2019) took her disruption worldwide. It is now available in Ireland and the UK. Her commentary has appeared in media around the world and she makes video essays and writes a newsletter as FEMINIST GIANT.
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This really sucks, so sorry to hear! You deserve to be rightfully compensated for all your hard work in bringing this to the world.
Mona, I just read your rant and I am so sorry! I love this book and I will try to help you pay the writers. I will send what I can. I am already planning that this book will be for my daughters, nieces, young women I know--It is what I needed. Actually, I still need this. I feel connected with all different people now because the writers shared their stories. Well done with the editing, Mona. I am so fucking impressed.