Fields and her husband became close personal friends with many of the authors with whom the publishing house worked, often hosting them at their home for dinner parties and overnight stays. In 1868, however, Fields's friend Mary Abigail Dodge ("Gail Hamilton") became suspicious of poor treatment by Ticknor and Fields and believed she deserved a higher royalty payment. James Fields initially ignored her complaints. Dodge abruptly ended her friendship with Annie Fields in February. A month later, Fields recorded her distress over the situation in her journal: "We do not forget to feel still the savagery... of Gail Hamilton... I really thought she cared for me! And now to find it was a pretense or a stepping-stone merely is something to shudder over. And all for a little of this world's poor money!" After months of dispute, Dodge anonymously published "A Battle of the Books" in 1870 chronicling her negative experiences.