‘Smooth-talking’ Australian publisher accused of taking thousands and ghosting children’s authors
More than 100 children's book authors across the globe have united to expose an Adelaide publisher accused of leaving writers thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Starfish Bay Publishing, run by director Liang “Luke” Hou, allegedly accepted upfront fees from aspiring authors while failing to deliver illustrations, published manuscripts, or royalty payments.
Taylor Roberts wanted to dedicate the book to her late son, it was never published. A Current Affair
Grieving mother Taylor Roberts paid $12,000 to publish Finley the Brave, a book written in memory of her late son who suffered from a rare heart disease.
She intended to donate all proceeds to a children's heart charity.
“The most important thing to me was my book. It's not even about the money,” She told A Current Affair.
Instead, Roberts discovered Hou had never formally contracted the assigned illustrator, leaving her without a finished book and completely ignored by the publisher.
"Luke's smooth talking. He promised me that he'll talk to the illustrator and they'll make the book look exactly like my son,” she said.
“He never had an illustrator in the first place. He gave me a name for an illustrator, and I contacted her, and she never signed the contract.”
Finley suffered from a rare heart disease and Taylor wanted to donate the books to his school and any proceeds to charity. A Current Affair
Dr Danielle Camer had a similar experience, entrusting Hou with a story created to honour her late husband's palliative care wish for their daughter, only to be ghosted months before its scheduled release.
“[My husband] really wanted to write this book with our then six-year-old daughter and yeah, wasn't able to,” she told A Current Affair.
“I ended up writing it with her, and it got accepted for publication, and that was really special to have that moment knowing that I would be able to continue his legacy."
Hundreds of authors are searching for answers after being left thousands of dollars out of pocket. A Current Affair
In Queensland, bookstore owner Karyn Miller had two picture books released through the publisher but claimed she never received royalties despite official sales statements being issued.
"Not all [the authors] are from Australia. Some are from America, Canada, Europe, all with varying stories,” she said.
“Some are missing royalty payments, some are waiting for a book to be produced, some are just waiting for an email response from him, others are waiting for loan repayments."
Many writers remain trapped in exclusive contracts with the publisher, preventing them from self-publishing or taking their deeply personal manuscripts to another company.
Starfish Bay Publishing operates out of a virtual mail-handling office in Adelaide. Hou failed to respond to repeated phone calls and written inquiries.
"I want him to reply to all of the emails that everyone has been sending him from the group," Miller said.
"Don't hand any money over to Starfish Bay Publishing."
We’d love to hear from you
