MacMillan Asks Authors for Backlist eBook Rights

[L.J. Sellers]

I don't know why any author would give up the ebook rights to their backlist, even with a hefty incentive. If the publisher thinks it can money from them, the author can more... without the publisher.
L.J.

[Dave Berk]

Originally Posted by carld

I don't pay anything for borrowing a paper book from the library either. What he really means is "Libraries only have to buy ebooks from us once." or maybe "We don't make repeat sales from ebooks since they don't wear out."

Or maybe: We won't repeat the mistakes our predecessors did in allowing libraries to exist

[Kumabjorn]

Originally Posted by L.J. Sellers

I don't know why any author would give up the ebook rights to their backlist, even with a hefty incentive. If the publisher thinks it can money from them, the author can more... without the publisher.
L.J.

Right now perhaps, the publishers being in a conundrum about the evolving market. Somewhere in the future a publisher will figure out how to make money for both the publisher and the authors. If a book is successful in English, can you imagine how many copies can be sold in Chinese? Would you prefer to make a go at that alone, or backed by a publisher with a track record of selling books globally?
It can even work the other way. Here in Sweden we have an author by the name Björn Larsson, he doesn't sell that many books in Swedish, but they go like hot cakes in French. Much bigger market than Sweden and much more moolah.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by abookreader

In what is probably a direct response to the Wiley Agent as Publisher news, Macmillan sent out an email over the weekend asking authors to amend their contracts to include ePub rights on backlist titles.

The big issue here doesn't seem to be that MacMillan has made a play to tie up the ePub backlist rights of several authors. The issue appears to be that they contacted the authors directly, circumventing the Agents and Attorneys of several. Hopefully not many authors will go for it without first consulting somebody knowledgeable.

http://www.teleread.com/2010/08/18/m...e-book-rights/

Did they ask for a pony, too?

They'd be about the last publisher you'd want to do that with, seeing they don't bloody well actually publish any.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

They'd be about the last publisher you'd want to do that with, seeing they don't bloody well actually publish any.

I beg your pardon? What are these, then?

http://www.panmacmillan.com/Categori...ks/default.asp

[Crowl]

Originally Posted by J. Strnad

If you have a contract with your agent, it is probably a violation of that contract to make any direct deal with a publisher. Macmillan's going directly to an agented author is a very serious violation of protocol. It reeks of "trying to pull a fast one."

It might be a violation of the author's deal with the agent, but that has nothing to do with the publisher, they are doing nothing wrong by simply approaching the authors directly, it is up to the author to refer them to their designated representative if applicable.

[Blue Tyson]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I beg your pardon? What are these, then?

http://www.panmacmillan.com/Categori...ks/default.asp

You want me to list the ones that are missing?

It would be a long list.

The point being that giving rights to a publisher for backlist that they have shown no interest in publishing so far - why would you do it?

It is also possible that the UK version is better than the US version.

The Australian list of available doing the same thing at the local site would be about a page though.

[Blue Tyson]

For example :-

http://us.macmillan.com/thebear
http://us.macmillan.com/shadesofmilkandhoney

Can't even publish their frontlist.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Blue Tyson

You want me to list the ones that are missing?

Sorry, when you said "... they don't bloody well actually publish any." I thought you were saying that they didn't publish ePub books at all.

[Blue Tyson]

No, sorry if that wasn't clear.