Not finding ebook versions for the US market

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

There has been some question on a few Stewart fan sites as to if those are legit licensed versions or not. The eBook claims that "KGStudios holds exclusive worldwide rights to digitally distribute this title", but no one can seem to find any info on KGStudios. Anyone know if these are legit?

My unfounded assumption is that she is, like many authors, releasing her own back-list. (Since she is a few weeks short of 96, more likely her family.) She doesn't seem to have an on-line presence, making it difficult to verify.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

My unfounded assumption is that she is, like many authors, releasing her own back-list. (Since she is a few weeks short of 96, more likely her family.) She doesn't seem to have an on-line presence, making it difficult to verify.

Ms. Stewart lives in the UK. She sent a note to her readers through her publishers:

I am well into my nineties now, and I am afraid I have almost forgotten how to write. But if a few vague memories will do, here they are. My first novel was called MURDER FOR CHARITY, and was sent off hopefully to publishers who now prefer to forget that they turned it down. But they were probably right, and their comments did me a power of good. I cut off the last third of the story, re-wrote it, re-named it MADAM, WILL YOU TALK? And sent it to Hodder and Stoughton. Some half century later I am still with my dear Hodder and Stoughton, and can only add that I love the new cover style, and I hope that it will attract a new generation to read my books. MS

LINK

Amazon.co.uk has a number of Mary Stewart ebooks, all published by Hodder. Well, except for this one. Smashwords. There's one review and it's a one-star. There were numerous complaints about errors and at least one missing page. And this:

They have they translated 'colour', 'honour', 'centre', and many other words to American (perhaps OK, but a little warning would be appreciated)

I guess the Americanized spelling is understandable...if it were copied from an American copy of the book(s).

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by TimW

Amazon.co.uk has a number of Mary Stewart ebooks, all published by Hodder. Well, except for this one. Smashwords. There's one review and it's a one-star. There were numerous complaints about errors and at least one missing page.

The current reviews in the US indicate that the errors were fixed. I've only seen the preview, it looked fine to me. Many authors (Norman Spinrad, if you're reading this, please fix your ebooks) have released horrendously formatted ebooks. Even the big publishers have mangled their ebooks.

Unless she signed new contracts, I doubt that her publishers would have the electronic rights. If she had a website, she could announce the availability (if these are hers) or get warning of infringement (if these are not hers). Otherwise, the only point of contact would seem to be her publishers.

[TimW]

Originally Posted by Fluribus

The current reviews in the US indicate that the errors were fixed. I've only seen the preview, it looked fine to me. Many authors (Norman Spinrad, if you're reading this, please fix your ebooks) have released horrendously formatted ebooks. Even the big publishers have mangled their ebooks.

Unless she signed new contracts, I doubt that her publishers would have the electronic rights. If she had a website, she could announce the availability (if these are hers) or get warning of infringement (if these are not hers). Otherwise, the only point of contact would seem to be her publishers.

Perhaps they were fixed...the review was from April. I imagine Ms. Stewart gave Hodder the digital rights in the UK. I saw a number of her books in Kindle format. It was surprising that the Smashwords tetralogy was there. Three of the four ebooks (in that series) are being sold by Hodder, just not in combination. That sounds wrong.

As for the US rights, that's murky. However, I have some doubts that a fairly well known set of books would be self published by an unknown company.

[Fluribus]

Originally Posted by TimW

Perhaps they were fixed...the review was from April. I imagine Ms. Stewart gave Hodder the digital rights in the UK. I saw a number of her books in Kindle format. It was surprising that the Smashwords tetralogy was there. Three of the four ebooks (in that series) are being sold by Hodder, just not in combination. That sounds wrong.

That does seem odd. I can't imagine that they would acquire the digital rights and continue to allow someone else to sell it in their area. The 4-in-1 version predates the Hodder editions by over a month, haven't they heard about it by now? Of course, the 4-in-1 was released on April 1 maybe someone told them but they thought it was a joke.


ETA - It seemed so odd that I sent an email to Hodder's permissions department. I'll report back if I find out anything.