Four Authors Sue Phoenix Books on Pay, Authorship

LOS ANGELES (CN) - Anna Nicole Smith's sister, who wrote a book about her sister, and the three authors of "The Secret Life of Siegfried and Roy" say their publisher, Phoenix Books and Audio, refused to pay them a penny for their books.

Donna Hogan, author of "Train Wreck: The Life and Death of Anna Nicole Smith," says she negotiated a book deal with Phoenix Books but never signed an agreement. She says Phoenix printed and sold her book anyway, kept all the money, and falsely credited Henrietta Tiefenthler as co-author. And Phoenix refuses to tell her how many of her books it has sold, according to the Superior Court complaint.

James and Louis Mydlach and James Lavery say Phoenix pulled a similar stunt with their book about Siegfried and Roy. The men say they had a contract with Phoenix, but the publisher refuses hand over their share from the book sales.

They say their contract required Phoenix to cover the costs of promoting the book, but when "national news organizations" asked them for interviews, Phoenix refused to pay their airfare to New York.

The men say they had to cancel a sponsored book tour because Phoenix could not provide copies of the book, and had to cancel a book promotion deal with Costco "because of defendants' inaction."

The authors also sued Phoenix executive Michael Viner. They demand their advances, an accounting, and their share of proceeds from the sale of their books.

They are represented by Stanley Lieber of Woodland Hills.

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