NOW AVAILABLE
COCKTALES
Only Available 5/26 – 8/26 2018
A Little Background:
On September 12, 2017 Faleena Hopkins applied to have the word “cocky” trademarked. From my research, it appears as if this trademark started as just the design of “cocky” on her covers but blossomed into the word itself. This trademark went into effect on May 01, 2018. Afterward, she began to target other self-published romance authors (the patent only covers the romance genre) by sending “cease-and-desist” letters and threatening to sue if titles were not changed. Her excuse boils down to my readers were confused and “lost money” by buying the wrong books. Really? Sounds like you don;t have faith in your readers. Or think they have a brain But at the same time, she posted this and this on her twitter account. Some authors did change their titles (which isn’t only the title, but includes the cover, content (title page, headers, etc) and any marketing material that may accompany the books, print, ebook, audio, etc) and, as a result, have lost reviews. Others are fighting it. Some are doing both. (This is my favorite!). I found that this article from techdirt to be informative and goes into the nitty, gritty of not only the patent but the scandal surrounding it. The Digital Reader and The Passive Voice also go into depth about how and when this trademark can be applied. Needless to say, this whole thing is a cocky, cock-up that is an opaque rabbit hole that you can easily get lost in. Cocktales is a way to help support indie authors with legal fees and to help prevent something like this happening again in the future. There is also a petition to cancel the trademark with a lawyer already taking up the cause. Together we are stronger. Support indie authors and help stop bullying.
About the Cocktales Anthology:
‘Cocktales’ is a limited-release anthology (available *only* from May 26 – August 26, 2018) of original, never before published material, some of which is raw and unedited. Each story was specifically written for this anthology.
The goal of the Cocktales Anthology is to raise funds to fight against obstruction of creative expression. Specifically, what we believe are obstruction attempts through the trademarking of common (single) words for titular use in books / or as a book series (eBooks, print, and audio).
*ALL* net profits will be donated to:
1) Authors already impacted by creative-obstruction (10%), and
2) Romance Writers of America (RWA) (90%) as a general donation intended for their Advocacy Fund.
Disclaimer: This anthology is not being conducted on behalf of RWA, nor does RWA endorse this anthology or effort. They have, however, graciously agreed to accept the funds.
Authors with material included (as they appear in the anthology):
Nana Malone, USA Today Bestselling author – Foreword
Dylan Allen – ‘Cocked and Loaded’
Jana Aston, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Double Cocked’
Whitney Barbetti – ‘Cocksure Grin’
Author Sawyer Bennett, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘A Wicked, Cocky Plan’
K.f. Breene, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Magical Cock and Bull’
Ruth Clampett, Amazon top 20 Bestselling Author – ‘Don’t Get Cocky’
L.H. Cosway, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Illusionist Seeks Neanderthal’
Mariah Dietz – ‘Landmines’
Amy Daws, Amazon Top 25 Bestselling author – ‘Cock and Balls’
BB Easton, Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – ‘Cocky BB: Two Boys, One Prom.’
Jaymin Eve, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘The Cockier the Dragon, the Harder They Fall’
Emma Hart, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Tricky Bond’
Staci Hart, Amazon Top 10 Bestselling author – ‘Cockamamie’
Jessica Hawkins, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cocky Couture’
Julie Johnson Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – ‘Culinary Cock-Up’
Karpov Kinrade, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Crimson Cocktail’
Adriana Locke, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Swag’
Lex Martin, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Love & Hate at the Stallion Station’
Aly Martinez, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Going Down’
Katyi McGee – USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cocksure Co-Star’
Corinne Michaels, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cockblocked’
Liv Morris, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Getting It Up’
Red Phoenix, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Her Cocky Russian’
Daisy Prescott, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Confessions of a Cockblocked Wingman’
Jessica Prince – ‘A Cocky Corruption Engagement’
Meghan Quinn, Amazon Top 20 Bestselling Author – ‘Fight or Flight’
CD Reiss, NYT and USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cocky Capo’
Penny Reid, WSJ and USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Beard and Hen’
Julie Richman, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘The Color of Love’
Aleatha Romig, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Aligned’
Kennedy Ryan, Top 40 Amazon Bestselling author – ‘All’
Kylie Scott, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Short Story with Mal and Anne from The Stage Dive Series’
Sierra Simone, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Until the Cock Crows’
Tara Sivec, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Chocolate and Cockup’
Kate Stewart, Amazon Top 30 Bestselling author – ‘The Golden Sombrero’
Leia Stone, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cocky Alpha’
Karla Sorensen – ‘Tristan & Anna: A Bachelors of the Ridge short story’
Rachel Van Dyken, NYT, WSJ, USA Today Bestselling author – ‘Cocky Mafia’
April White, Amazon Top 100 Bestselling author – ‘Code of Conduct’
CLICK HERE to buy Cocktales by The Cocky Collective from Amazon.
