James Williamson in 1990, on UK television.
As the books published by Creation are of a fringe, "underground" nature, the sums of money owed to authors tend not to be substantial enough to justify an author going to all the trouble and expense of hiring an attorney and attempting to pursue remuneration through the American or British legal system (neither of which is capable of pursuing Williamson in Thailand anyway). Williamson has counted on all of this as a part of his business model for Creation Books and its various sub-imprints - he rips authors off enough to make a healthy living, but not enough to justify their devoting the requisite time and money to go after him. Most authors spend a year or two arguing in circles with Williamson via email, demanding payment, threatening to sue - and then eventually give up, realizing that the effort required to go after the monies they are owed exceeds anything that they might eventually get out of Williamson in a best-case scenario.
Williamson has succeeded in repeating this process for over a decade now, with each author simply assuming that their intractable "contract dispute" with Creation Books is an isolated case and that the company is otherwise a legitimate business. This, coupled with the fact that—like many crime victims, the criminally defrauded tend to keep their victimization to themselves rather than broadcast it—has allowed Williamson to illegally take in hundreds of thousands of dollars over the course of the last decade. It was not until 2011—when one of Williamson's defrauded victims finally began contacting other authors online and gathering evidence of criminal fraud—that any of those ripped off by Creation Books realized that they were but one of many in a long chain of international victims of calculated intellectual property theft. In July of 2011, eight former Creation Books authors from The United States, The United Kingdom and Australia presented law enforcement agencies with evidence of Mail Fraud and Wire Fraud on the part of James Williamson / Creation Books (the details of which are provided on this website). This website was launched in January of 2012 to prevent new authors from being defrauded by Williamson; to liaise with other victims of Creation Books' fraudulent business practices; and to hinder James Williamson's ability to continue to operate his various international fraud schemes posing as book publishers in the US and UK.
Authors who have reported issues of nonpayment of royalties, breach of contract, willful fraud, threats, and/or other concerns with James Williamson and his various publishing imprints include: Lydia Lunch, Adam Webb, Matthew Stokoe, Tim Mitchell, Dennis Morris, Jane Giles, Adam Gorightly, Dr. Nevill Drury, Alan G. Parker, Terence Sellers, David Flint, Thomas B.W. Bailey, Agnès Pierron, Boyd Rice & Brian M. Clark, Andy Boot, Ben Cobb, Mark Spitzer, Simon Whitechapel, and Lisa B. Falour. If you are a former Creation Books author who has been defrauded or have any information pertaining to James Williamson, please visit the CONTACT page of this website.
The above was posted in January of 2012. The following update stems from James Williamson's activities of May 2014:
James Williamson has posted a rebuttal to this website at "Creation Books History" , on which he states that Creation Books has been dissolved as a company, and is no longer publishing books. He further states that Creation Books' former employees deny any liability for unpaid debts owed by the company. Visitors to this website are invited to visit "Creation Books History" and assess its veracity on their own. It should be noted that the site contains no contact information or physical mailing address at which Williamson can be reached offline, no photographs of Williamson, and no tangible or independently verifiable substantiations of Williamson's assurances that he has engaged in no wrongdoing. It should also be noted that, in addition to threats of legal action, the site claims that all proof of Williamson's claims will be made available in a court of law. We wholeheartedly invite Williamson to reveal his whereabouts, submit to the jurisdiction of the United States legal system, and present any evidence supporting his claims in open court. However, we will not be holding our collective breath.
Testimonials from former Creation Books authors:
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"Creation Books/James Williamson stole my intellectual property and never compensated me… [and] stole the intellectual property of the estate of Georges Bataille as well… James Williamson threatened to sue me for libel because I complained… The research that went into my translations was extensive, it took years to complete and I spent thousands of dollars of my own money consulting with experts in the field. I would like to see James Williamson brought to justice."
- Professor Mark Spitzer, translator of Divine Filth: Lost Writings Of Georges Bataille |
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"Creation are in breach [of my book contract]… I have no records of having received any hard copy statements or royalties… My estimation is that Creation will have sold at least 5,000 copies in ten years… [around] £27,657 made by Creation, less their production costs." - Jane Giles, author of Criminal Desires: Jean Genet and Cinema |
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"I have never received royalties or any account documentation from Creation Books and after years of hounding James Williamson to honour… our original agreement, I have simply been told that he cannot afford to pay me… [My] book took four years to research and complete - a process that personally cost me thousands of pounds."
- Ben Cobb, author of Anarchy and Alchemy: The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky |
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"James Williamson, writing under the pen-name of 'Jack Hunter' has
plagiarized two of my books, Le grand guignol: Le theatre des peurs
de la belle epoque (Robert Laffont collection bouquins, 1995) and
Les nuits blanches du grand guignol (Le Seuil, 2002)—not only the
textual content of the books, but also 25 photographs and posters from
my own private collection—and has illegally released them as his own
work under the title of Chapel Of Gore & Psychosis: The Grand Guignol
Theatre, which he published through his company Creation Books
without my permission or any credit given to me as the original
author. Williamson has blatantly stolen my intellectual property and
has not compensated me. He should be pursued by the law."
- Agnès Pierron, author of Le grand guignol: Le theatre des peurs de la belle epoque and Les nuits blanches du grand guignol |
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"My first novel, Cows…was published in hardback in 1998 and in paperback in 1999… inconsistencies in the royalty statements led me, after prolonged fax and email communication with James Williamson, to inform Creation Books that they had breached contract by not properly accounting for sales... Despite this breach, Creation continued to sell the book and refused to return the rights… Creation Books sold the Spanish rights to Cows… [and] did not supply me with a single royalty statement or royalty payment over the entire five-year lifespan of the [Spanish] contract - a situation which persists to this day. The final straw came when, in 2005, I discovered that the Russian language rights to Cows had been illegally sold by Creation Books to a Russian publishing company. Communication with James Williamson requesting my share of the proceeds from this [Russian] deal proved fruitless and resulted in a threat from James to 'knock me unconscious and rip my head off.'…" - Matthew Stokoe, author of Cows |
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"It seems everyone owns a copy of my Destroy book - an iconic and personal collection of Sex Pistols photographs I took in 1977. Unfortunately my royalties have not reflected this. I haven't received a royalty statement from Creation books in years. I have also randomly come across French versions of my Sex Pistols book (and of course was never notified or paid for these sub-licensing deals). I can only say one thing about James Williamson: he is a crook."
- Dennis Morris, author of Destroy: Sex Pistols 1977 |
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"I have crossed paths with many underhanded characters over the years, but James Williamson of Creation Books is hands down the biggest scumbag I've ever had the misfortune to work with. Every element of his handling of my book was sub-par: from the design and layout, to the paper quality, to the (lack of) promotion, to the mediocre distribution, and so on. The first printing sold out in a couple years in spite of its publisher, not because Williamson was the least bit competent. Adding insult to injury, he has also turned out to be a conman and a fraud - after making a killing off a limited edition hardback of my book, raking in additional profits from the trade paperback, and then taking in even more by selling the rights to a French translation - he has paid me nothing whatsoever."
- Boyd Rice, co-author of Standing In Two Circles: The Collected Works of Boyd Rice |
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"[My] book was not only a very good seller here in the UK, being re-printed on a number of occasions… it was also translated into Japanese, German and French… It would be impossible to name a sum that [James Williamson] might owe me, but logic alone states that it must run into thousands! My contract with Williamson/Creation Books cannot be worth the paper it is written on and must have been breached a thousand times."
- Alan G. Parker, author of Vicious: Too Fast To Live |
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"I never received any money or royalties from Velvet/Creation outside of my initial advance in 1997. I never received any accounting statements. I enjoyed some compensation by having them mail me about 300 books, for which they wanted to be paid! My first book, The Correct Sadist, had done very well, but Creation/Velvet did nothing to bank on this. They were remiss in promoting my book, for example, when I came to London to give a reading, they did not advertise it; promotional materials, such as photos, were never used. They didn't arrange any interviews. Thank goodness for the internet, or it would have totally dropped into the Stygian wells."
- Terence Sellers, author of Dungeon Evidence: The Correct Sadist II |
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"I have made numerous requests for monies owed, which have either been ignored or have been met with excuses such as 'times are bad for the publishing industry' (a claim which becomes very spurious when considering Creation/Williamson still pursue new book projects, despite non-payment of myself and others who allege the same.)… I am accusing Creation Books/James Williamson of willful fraud and deception, as well as breach of contract… I would like to see all accounts and assets related to Williamson frozen until he fairly compensates all the wronged authors in his employ."
- Thomas Bey William Bailey, author of Micro Bionic: Radical Electronic Music And Sound Art In The 21st Century |
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"In 2006 a book of mine, Sonic Transmission: Television, Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, was published by one of James Williamson’s imprints, Glitter Books. Since then I have received only one royalty payment from him, of £50. I have had a long email correspondence with Williamson regarding the outstanding money owing to me (to which he admits), but he no longer replies to my messages. He continues to sell the book." - Tim Mitchell, author of Sonic Transmission: Television, Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell |
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"James Williamson engaged me around 1996 and when my book came out in 2000, I never approved the galleys and never got a penny in advance. My book was sold [to another publisher, without my permission]… Both editions of my book are unauthorized… I never got a penny from Velvet/Creation… James Williamson also told me face-to-face in Paris that he was a dole cheat; which is hardly surprising. That James is now hiding out in Bangkok is disturbing. This seems to be where various losers and criminals, mostly male, end up. A damage to what seems like a nice country."
- Lisa B. Falour, author of I Was For Sale: Confessions of a Bondage Model |
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"I wrote a book for Creation—Babylon Blue—in 1999... My entire income from it was under £2000, certainly. I have no idea how many books were sold, nor will I ever know, I guess. It remained in print for ages... My main problem was less the money—I didn't expect to retire on this—but the fact that the book was such a mess. I was not involved in the design, nor was I shown any proofs - the book looks horrible. Worse, the wrong text was printed - an early draft that was in need of editing and corrections. It was quite a blow to receive it, honestly - my first book and my immediate reaction was embarrassment. Surely you shouldn't be embarrassed by a book you wrote for a few years!"
- David Flint, author of Babylon Blue: An Illustrated History Of Adult Cinema |
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"My book, Fragments Of Fear, was published in 1996. I received a £500 advance… However, since the first half of 2000 I have never received payment or even a statement… [and] monies earned from the second edition were never accounted. I believe that a third edition of the book was published a few years back, but I had no input on this… I tried to chase Williamson by email with the same result as others (i.e. fuck all). I also had a literary agent try to contact him, but with no result. In 2007 a copyright lawyer looked into this for me and advised me that unless I knew a lot of money was at stake, then legal action may prove costly to me and put me at a loss… The copyediting on my books was shit and made me read like I was on acid. I had to write and research it quickly as deadlines were changed. I also know that the 'Creation Cinema Collection' credited for the photos was Williamson, a scanner, some videos, magazines, and books (other agencies' rights, in other words)… That last time I saw Williamson he told me that he was doing books because he loved them, and if he wanted to make money he would sell secondhand cars. I thought it a worrying metaphor at the time, but it's really rather apt." - Andy Boot, author of Fragments Of Fear: An Illustrated History Of British Horror Films |
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"Dealing with James Williamson was like dealing with a psychopathic five-year-old, but did have its entertaining side. His dishonesty was so blatant and so clumsy that there was an absurdist charm to it. He forged signatures and told risible lies to cover up his misbehaviour and incompetence; was a year late in paying a tiny advance; never supplied any accounts or sales figures; tried to use unpaid work by me to get money for himself from the Arts Council; and, while railing against the immorality and hypocrisy of mainstream publishing, behaved himself in all sorts of 'mainstream' ways... I don't know the precise diagnosis, but there is definitely something badly wrong with his neural wiring..."
- Simon Whitechapel, author of Flesh Inferno: Atrocities of Torquemada & The Spanish Inquisition |
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1 Although there *may* be an isolated instance or two of Creation Books authors to whom James Williamson has paid contractually-owed royalties in full, this most certainly appears to be the exception rather than the rule with regard to Creation Books' business practices - if such isolated cases even exist at all. No claim is made here that any author who does receive payment in full for contractually-owed royalties by Creation Books / James Williamson is in any way in collusion with Williamson, is a party to a criminal fraud scheme, or is even aware of Williamson's criminal activates whatsoever.