Ninety-five per cent of manuscripts submitted to publishers by would-be authors were marked "return to sender", the Circuit Civil Court was told yesterday by a defendant in an action for damages.
In the case before Judge Michael White, Mr Terence Rowan, of Wheatfield, Boghall Road, Bray, Co Wicklow, denied he had made an oral contract with Mr Aubrey Dillon-Malone to publish The Rise and Fall and Rise of Elvis, to coincide with the 20th anniversary last year of Elvis Presley's death.
Mr Dillon-Malone, who sued Mr Rowan for £5,000 damages and research expenses, was awarded a decree for £700.
Mr Dillon-Malone, of Brookwood Avenue, Artane, Dublin, told the court of talks with Mr Rowan in the Berkeley Court Hotel. In reply to his counsel, Mr Gerry Ryan, he said Mr Rowan had agreed later to publish the book and had encouraged him to incur certain personal expenditure on the project.
Judge White said there had been a severe conflict of evidence between Mr Rowan and Mr Dillon-Malone on what had transpired after the talks. Mr Dillon-Malone had believed he had a firm contract with Mr Rowan, while Mr Rowan's attitude was that he operated only on a written contract basis on sight of final manuscript.
He was satisfied that Mr Rowan had given Mr Dillon-Malone a definite impression the book would be published, which had encouraged him to spend £200 on photographs and £500 on typesetting. Awarding the plaintiff a decree of £700, Judge White held he was not entitled to damages for loss of profits or the cost of the book's alternative publication on the grounds there had been no written contract between the parties.