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Industry Professionals Found in Violation of RWA’s Code of Ethics for Industry Professionals

Cornerstone Literary, Inc. – Helen Breitwieser RWA received confirmed documention that Helen Breitwieser received an advance for foreign rights that she did not report or pay to the author for more than two years. RWA also received confirmed documentation that Agent Breitwieser signed a contract for foreign rights without the author's knowledge. Agent Breitwieser was given the opportunity to refute the complaint. Her privileges as an RWA-Eligible agent have been suspended for failing to comply with RWA's Code of Ethics for Industry Professionals. Ms. Breitwieser was notified on March 9, 2013.

Blushing Books/ABCD Graphics and Design, Inc. - On June 12, 2019, Blushing Books was placed on six-month probation from RWA's Qualifying Markets list for violating the sections of RWA's Industry Code of Conduct that state:

  • Honesty and Integrity. An Industry Professional shall perform his/her duties with honesty and integrity. The Industry Professional shall not mislead, deceive, dupe, defraud or victimize clients, members of the organization, the general public, or any person with whom RWA does business as an Association.
  • Information. An Industry Professional shall keep each author apprised of all matters relating to their agreements and promptly respond to the author’s reasonable requests for information.

On September 23, 2020 RWA reached out to the publisher to request information on the steps taken to resolve the Industry Code violations and to request an updated boilerplate contract to determine if the contract met our standards to be included on the Qualifying Markets list. RWA received no response for 60 days. As a result, Blushing Books has been banned from the Qualifying Markets list for a minimum of three years. They will not be able to participate in RWA events or publications during this time. Pursuant to RWA Policy, Blushing Books may reapply for inclusion on the Qualifying Markets list after three years, provided that the prior Industry Code violation and any Code of Ethics violation(s) have been dealt with to RWA’s satisfaction and that no other violations have occurred in the interim.

Because RWA was in a period of significant transition in 2020 and a review of the publisher's probationary status was not undertaken in December of 2019 as it should have been, RWA considers this ban to be effective retroactively as of December 12, 2019, making the expiration of the three-year period be on December 12, 2022.

Blushing Books was notified of the above on December 4, 2020.

Dreamspinner Press - On October 1, 2019, Dreamspinner Press was placed on indefinite probation by RWA for violating the section of RWA’s Industry Professional Code of Conduct that states, “An Industry Professional takes responsible measures to protect the security and integrity of authors’ funds. Payments for money owed to the author are made in a timely manner. Books of account, with respect to transactions concerning an author, are opened to that author upon request.”

RWA requested a progress update on July 20, 2020, but Dreamspinner did not provide one. Because no progress update was received and the Industry Code violation was not satisfactorily resolved, Dreamspinner is banned from RWA’s Qualifying Markets list and has lost privileges to participate in RWA events and publications for at least three years.  Pursuant to RWA Policy, Dreamspinner may reapply for inclusion on the Qualifying Markets list after three years providing the prior Industry Code violation and any Code of Ethics violation(s) have been dealt with to RWA’s satisfaction and that no other violations have occurred.

Dreamspinner Press was notified on August 10, 2020.

Please note: RWA makes no representations or warranties regarding the business practices or financial condition of any publisher or agency/agent. This being said, RWA members and other romance writers should make their own independent decisions about which publishers or agencies/agents with which to do business, and RWA does not in any way encourage or discourage RWA members and other romance writers from making their own such independent business decisions.