So, if you're involved with the independent writing fraternity, e-publishing, or both, then you can't have missed this week's continuing drama regarding Trestle Press. In case you missed it (I know, I know...), the nub of the problem is this - Trestle have been using copyrighted images for their covers without permission. It isn't just amateur artists and designers they've sold short - they even appropriated images from Ghost Rider (owned by Marvel), Bill & Ted and the Hitman computer game series. Criminal? Possibly. Dumb? Definitely.

Since the scandal broke, Trestle's authors have been lining up to jump ship as quickly as possible. I applaud their decision to do so. Any writer who is still prepared to be associated with Trestle must, in my opinion, seriously question what they are doing. Not only are they condoning copyright theft, they are running the risk of damaging their professional reputations for good. People - you don't need Trestle. If your writing is good enough, you will be published elsewhere.

It is important to point out that none of the writers were aware of what Trestle was doing. Hopefully none of them will suffer anything aside from mild embarrassment at being taken in by such an outfit.

Trestle Press never approached me, and if they had I wouldn't have signed for them anyway. I know that's easy to say, but I've had reservations about Trestle for some time. I've purchased a few of their titles, and although they have (or rather had) some very talented writers on board, the way the "books" were presented was appalling. The covers were awful, even with stolen artwork on them - garish low-res fonts, incongruous white logo slapped on every one of them - just plain bad. Inside, more alarm bells rang. Trestle's editorial team (which it appears doesn't actually exist) didn't seem to even bother spellchecking the stories they were putting out, let along perform any kind of serious proofreading or line-editing. Anthologies had new stories starting on the same page as the end of the previous one, instead of on a new face - not a major gripe, you might think, but all of these things add to the horribly amateur way that Trestle Press handle themselves. I feel sorry for some of the writers who had genuinely excellent work presented in such a shoddy and disinterested manner.

Paul D Brazill's Drunk On The Moon series was one of Trestle's heavyweight titles - gripping, original and genuinely exciting, it deserves to be read. At the moment, it can't be. Brazill, like many of the Trestle stable, has asked for his work to be withdrawn from sale. In fairness, Trestle have complied promptly.

Paul is also the editor of the anthology Brit Grit Too, which includes my short story "A Minimum Of Reason". BGT was published by Trestle Press and has now also been withdrawn from sale. I gather the anthology will resurface in the near future "and not wearing knock-off clobber", as PDB rather wittily put it. Once it hits the virtual bookshelves again, I'll put the links up on here as normal.

There's a moral to this story. Writers - remember that all that glitters is not gold. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If a publisher approaches you (and not the other way round) then approach with extreme caution - because that is certainly not usual. And if they look like a bunch of amateurs - then they probably are.