In 2013, Brad McBride made homemade porn films in Geelong and, following an ownership dispute, released images of an amateur actress that he claimed were confidential. He created a website, uploaded 12 images from the films showing the woman engaging in sexual acts, and posted a link to his Twitter account without her knowledge.
According to court reports, McBride was unsteady on his feet in the dock when he learned he faced up to two years in prison, and collapsed when he was given a three-month suspended sentence.
An ambulance was called but was not required after court staff administered first aid. McBride regained consciousness and managed to leave the courtroom without assistance.
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Today, McBride – under the name Brad Shaw – heads the Shawline Publishing Group and a number of other associated publishers, although he recently closed an affiliated bookstore. On Thursday, Shaw said that imprint’s inquiries “sound threatening,” adding that he would only respond to questions after seeing a draft of the article before publication. He did not respond to specific questions about his identity, Shawline’s business model, bankruptcy or Brad McBride’s criminal record, but told that imprint’s management that he would file a complaint with the Australian Press Council and take legal action.
Authors signed contracts with Shaw to publish their debut books, each paying about $5,000 for services such as editing, cover design, distribution, and marketing. Shaw claimed the company would match that price for every dollar they invested in the books. Authors had to pay additional fees when they bought copies of their own books from the publisher.
They all claim that Shaw promised their books success, but say they received only a pittance in royalties and saw little sales or concrete marketing activity.
Sydney author Steve Hiles says he earned enough royalties to buy “a large coffee at a cheap cafe.”Credit: Melinda Jane/Western Weekender
Sydney author Steve Hiles estimated that royalties from his biography of 19th-century Australian boxer Albert “Young Griffo” Griffiths would be enough to “buy a large cup of coffee … at a cheap cafe.”
“Brad was a really good talker. He raved about my book; it felt good to hear someone speak so highly of my work…maybe I was stupid, but he was a great salesman,” Hiles said.
Dan Moon said he paid Shaw about $6,000 to publish and market his book.
“He promised me the world that he would do all the marketing and really put everything into getting the book published,” Moon said. But he received $650 in royalties.
After he had hired his own publicist, his book was published in Have a nice weekend, The GuardianNews Corp publications, spots on breakfast television and talkback radio, contributions to online sites including Mamamia and a long podcast with media personality Jessica Rowe.
“That’s millions of potential buyers… I can’t believe it didn’t generate more royalties than I saw,” Moon said.
He is suing Shawline Publishing in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Court, claiming he is owed thousands in unpaid royalties.
“I never got an exact number of how many copies were sold,” Moon said. He has since self-published a revised version, titled Time for her: The love memories of a male escort via Amazon.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t that difficult. I learned that the hard way,” he said.
Author Kim Barden in front of the now closed Shawline Publishing bookstore.
Young author Kim Barden’s relationship with Shaw quickly deteriorated when she tried to cut ties with the publisher. “I feel like Brad really plays on people’s dreams and takes advantage of their naivety about the industry to take advantage of them. That experience made me angry and I felt pretty empty at times.”
To persuade her to stay, Shaw wrote a long email “out of care and respect.”
When she rejected his offers, he wrote back: “Due to your irrational explanation, which is beyond any intelligent comprehension, and my desire not to spend another cent of my money and another minute of my valuable time on this superfluous relationship, your works will be immediately removed from our list.”
Barden has since self-published her works and estimates that in the first three months of her fantasy novel The gilded mirror The re-release earned her four times the $110 in royalties she had received from Shawline over three years.
Alana Andrews worked as a production coordinator for Shawline and said she was aware of the writers’ complaints. She claimed she was also owed money and has taken legal action against Shawline.
“I think potential writers need to know what’s really going on,” she said.
According to Nielsen BookData’s BookScan, the Australian book market was worth $1.33 billion in 2023, with sales of 69.8 million units.
According to the Australian Society of Authors’ 2023 survey, 52 percent of respondents earned between $0 and $1,999 in the previous financial year. 80 percent earned less than $15,000.
Shawline Publishing remains a member of the Australian Publishers Association, which is mindful of authors’ concerns. In a statement, the association said: “If there is evidence that a member is acting in a way that is detrimental to the interests of the publishing industry, the Board has the power to suspend or expel that member.”
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Olivia Lanchester, chief executive of the Australian Society of Authors, said the net profit business model posed a high risk for authors because, despite the author’s upfront investment, the publisher had to recoup all costs before it could pay the author.
“Typically, authors have no insight into these costs. From the ASA’s perspective, it is inappropriate to ask them for money and then leave them in the dark about the information they need to assess their financial risk. Most books do not make a profit, so in most cases authors are paid very little or nothing. The question is: is this business funded by book sales or by the authors?” Lanchester said, adding that the ASA offers a service to help prospective authors draft contracts.
Traditional publishers cover all publishing costs and in return receive the exclusive right to bring the book to market. They pay royalties from the first book sold.
“Authors are vulnerable because they are desperate to get published in a highly competitive market – and that feeling can be exploited. The industry can also be quite opaque, so unless an author has a deep understanding of distribution, they will make assumptions when offered a publishing deal,” she said.
“Promising international distribution sounds great at first, but if in reality the author’s book files are simply uploaded to an international database, those books have little chance of getting noticed. What remains unspoken and unexplained is the problem. If you’re going to ask an author thousands of dollars, it’s your ethical duty to explain to them the reality of their risk.”
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