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Hen81
Veteran Poster
Username: Hen81
Post Number: 136
Registered: 09-2007
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 09:26 pm: | 
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This is a copy of a post from another message board that I belong to. The author that wrote this has been in the business forever and has a lot of inside information. I think what this speaks to is how careful you need to be if you are luck enough to sign that traditional book deal. Digital technology literaly allows a book to never go out of print which means your rights could never revert back to you.
"Subject: Out-of-print books and beware of any publisher's contract. Yesterday at 8:03 pm
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I don't know if this affects anyone here because it concerns books out of print. I was unaware of it until searching Amazon for a few things. Anyway, iUniverse has a program for members of certain organizations that will put their books back in print for free. I recall that the Authors Guild is one of the organizations, but there are a couple of others.
A friend of mine who has had a dozen or more books out by mainline trade publishers took a different approach. With most of his books out of print, he found a regional publisher, Gray & Company, who put them all back on the market.
Random House is now trying to work a scam that enables them to retain rights even if a book sells only a single copy in a year. Simon & Schuster tried it a year ago but met so much resistance they gave up the idea. If it works for Random House, look for more publishers to do the same.
Before you sign a contract, beware. Publishing lives by the law of the jungle and writers are the prey."
www.DTPollard.com |
Thumper
Veteran Poster
Username: Thumper
Post Number: 574
Registered: 01-2004
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 - 09:48 pm: |
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Hello All,
Here's how my uncle worked his published books: he allowed the publisher only one printing of a book. If there was a call for another printing, well then another contract had to be drawn up and signed, again allowing the publisher to do one printing. If you have a clause in your contract somewhat like this, you don't have to worry about any publisher trying to run a scam such as the one you describe. |
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