[teh603]

Originally Posted by frahse

And one last thing.
The book selling situation has changed.

For years there was a used book market. I used it a lot myself. Amazon and B&N and others made it easy to get a book (current minimum price 4.00USD.) I had no doubts that I would get the book or my money back. Amazon would guarantee it. I loved it.

Many authors hated it. It cut into book sales. In fact the publishers and authors wanted a cut of the used sales. I won't go into the arguments here though I know them.

It also helps keep old out of print books in circulation, when most publishers have decided to cease printing for whatever reason. Some of my and my mother's favorite sci-fi authors are only available in used book stores.

In the case of college students, the used book business flourished because the textbook industry has a captive audience and is gouging with abandon. How else can you explain a company releasing a new edition every year or so with no meaningful difference in content? Or why so many texts are in full color with meaningless sidebars when they could just as well be comb-bound black-and-white typewritten texts with a minimum of illustrations? Or some recent scandals involving kickback schemes where textbook companies pay professors to require their students to use a specific edition of a specific textbook?

Originally Posted by frahse

First I admit I am doing this in between some other things, and perhaps my full attention wasn't on it.

O.K. I looked again. You said:
"Would some of those "Rights Holders" also be the ones who legally steal copyrights from new authors using abusive Work For Hire contracts that only pay a pittance?"

Actually that could be a strong analog for indentured ("For hire contracts that only pay a pittance"). A "contract" that holds an author tightly. All work belonging to the master ("legally steal copyrights")
Except for the ability to put an indentured person into prison, I think you came pretty close to describing the arrangement.

It doesn't imply slave labor or indentured servitude. Neither does abuse of the law. All I was stating and implying is that publishers can and do abuse "work for hire" contracts to the detriment of authors. You're taking my statement and then going off the deep end with it.

I am the Rights Holder of my books with contractual agreements with the publisher. They can do certain things, but I have not signed over the "complete rights in perpetuity" like say some of the music people you see getting a new law that will return rights to them after 35 years I think.

I have never worked for hire or with an advance. I write a book and then I shop it. I have two publishers now that I have done repeat business with. If you have followed my posts you should realize that I don't write for a living, though that is something I have had in mind doing for some time if I ever see making enough money.

There you go with that "Rights Holder" business again. Is there some overwhelming reason you can't call yourself an "author" or "writer" ?

As for "work for hire," I think we've already established that it depends on what your contract says. Even if you wrote it ten years in advance, its still a work for hire if you sign that contract. And in the days before the internet and indie ebook publishers, you had to sign that contract if you wanted out of the slushpile and into the fold of published authors.

teh603, the simple truth is that in this life, if you don't need the money immediately, you can always get a better deal.

If all the deals you're being offered are more or less the same, you'd better be ready to wait an awful long time. And then there's also publish or perish in some environments.

When I first started and was trying to sell a book, that had gotten some interest, I had to correct a male rep who seem to be very impressed with himself and wanted me to also be impressed, and he kept inferring that "I was obligated or owed them something."
At first I ignored it, trying to keep things pleasant, and realizing that he must not fully understand the actual situation, but I finally couldn't take it anymore.
Still I am pretty good at things like that and so I looked at the second person at the table actually a subordinate older lady, and asked with a sweet smile, "Mam, was I supposed to have received a remittance that I am unaware of. I mean did you send me a check in the mail."

How does this connect with finding a better deal? It looks to me like you decided to play hardball with one publisher.