Novels

A Witch’s Mouth

Originally  Always Hard!

See Also: Always Hard! Cursed!

Mass Market Paperback

Release Date: 1974
Copyright: Copyright © 1974 by Danish Compact Books Ltd.
Publisher: Copenhagen Compacts
Page Count: 128
SBN: D-610
Cover Price: $1.95

Notes

Regarding the inclusion of certain pornographic titles and fanzine content on this site.

Second reprint of Always Hard! by Gracie Amber under a new titles & author.

According to Dean:

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS/COPYRIGHT OFFICE VERIFICATIONS.
Some dealers claim that a book entitled HUNG, which was published under the pen name Leonard Chris in 1970, was actually authored by Dean and that the Library of Congress and/or the Copyright Office has “verified” Dean’s authorship of this book. Two things you need to know: One, neither of those government entities will ever verify the accuracy of information in its files; they only record what is submitted and are not able to verify the accuracy of any submission. Consequently, dealers who claim such governmental verification are either confused or not truthful. Two, once an incorrect attribution of authorship or copyright ownership is in these files, the Library of Congress and the Copyright Office do not remove or modify the documents containing the incorrect information–but they do permit clarifying statements to be filed to correct the record, and these clarifying statements, once recorded, can be found whenever a search is requested regarding a particular work. As Dean has learned that certain works have been recorded in the Library of Congress or U.S. Copyright Office which misattribute authorship to him or his wife, Gerda, he has filed clarifying affidavits so that the governmental records are now quite clear when Gerda or he disavow authorship of any particular literary work.

PEN NAMES, SECRET.
There are no secret pen names used by Dean. Over the years, numerous books have been incorrectly attributed to Dean–such as the novels of Shane Stevens–which he did not write. Some bibliographers have in good-faith cited “proof” of authorship, but none of the proofs stand up to scrutiny. Some book dealers have claimed that Library of Congress and/or Copyright Office records supposedly prove their contentions. While certain misinformation has previously existed in the Library of Congress and Copyright Office files, we have made every effort for Gerda or Dean to file clarifying affidavits with these governmental agencies. If you are ever told that the records of the Library of Congress or Copyright Office verify that a work of collectible pen-name fiction you are considering buying was authored by Dean but that book is not listed in this collector’s section or in the bibliography available elsewhere on this web site, you are not being told the truth. See “Writing Popular Fiction,” “Letters,” “Fanzines,” “Library of Congress/Copyright Office Verifications”, and “Unauthorized Mutilation of Dean’s Works” herein.

UNAUTHORIZED MUTILATION OF DEAN’S WORKS.
In 1969, Dean agreed to have a small publisher publish two of his non-fiction works (one entitled THE SICK SOCIETY and the other entitled GOING UNDERGROUND) and two of his fiction works (one entitled HUNG and the other entitled TIGER 650). All four books were presented to the publisher as finished manuscripts and Dean fully expected for them to be published in the form submitted to the publisher. Unfortunately, all four books were put into production before Dean learned that the publisher had arranged, without Dean’s knowledge or consent, for them to be so completely rewritten that none of them, as published, bore much resemblance to the original manuscripts as submitted by Dean. Although he wasn’t able to stop publication, he did get the publisher to contractually agree to publish all four books under a pseudonym. The publisher further agreed to indemnify Dean against claims arising from the material added by the publisher: “Author and Publisher acknowledge that…the Work will be published with material changes from the original manuscripts of same, that the Publisher assumes all liability for the content of those new chapters and passages.” However, only one of the four books was published under a pen name- HUNG was published under the pen name Leonard Chris. THE SICK SOCIETY manuscript was published under the title PIG SOCIETY, the GOING UNDERGROUND manuscript was published under the title THE UNDERGROUND LIFESTYLES HANDBOOK, and the TIGER 650 manuscript was published under the title BOUNCE GIRL- all with Dean and Gerda Koontz as the credited authors, and therefore in breach of Dean’s contract with the publisher. Copyright Office files on all four of these books now reflects affidavits from Gerda and Dean stating that (1) Gerda did not participate in writing any portion of these books and (2) Dean disavows any claim of authorship or responsibility for the content of these four books due to the substantial nature of the unauthorized changes to his original manuscripts.

Last updated on July 20th, 2024