Author Fired for Self-publishing eBooks

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by crich70

I think it's a matter of legality Sil_liS. Suppose you and me have an argument and I post about it (from my viewpoint) somewhere on the web and name you directly. You could then accuse me of libel. Where as if I just described you as 'a certain mobileread forum member' others could draw their own conclusions about who I was talking about (based in part on past postings probably) and while you may argue that I had libeled you it becomes more legally ambiguous since I didn't name you straight out as the other party. Likewise if she's published with Random House in the past or had dealings with them but doesn't name them as the other party directly it is harder for them to say they've been libeled I think.

Or it could be a publicity stunt. There is still almost a year left until the book is supposed to come out. It feels like there are two different people. Her biography on Amazon:

A graduate of the University of Hawaii, she has been a Bunting Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Writer at Wesleyan University, and a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant. Her short stories have won numerous O. Henry Awards, Pushcart Prizes, and the Best American Short Story Award, 2000. Her novels and short stories have been translated into twenty-one languages. She lives on the Big island in Hawaii.

Does it look like it's the same person from the blog?

In January, 2010, I signed a contract with one of the Big 6 publishers in New York for my next novel. I understood then that I, like every writer in the business, was being coerced into giving up more than 75% of the profits from electronic sales of that novel, for the life of the novel. But I was debt-ridden and needed upfront money that an advance would provide. The book was scheduled for hardback publication in August, 2012, and paperback publication a year later.

Why would a publisher schedule a book from an award winning author to be published 2.5 years after the contract was signed?

[afa]

Originally Posted by Phogg

Look at Exxon and Duke University.

I'm afraid I must plead ignorance on that issue...

[Namekuseijin]

Everyone is owner of a press these days. Everyone can self-publish, thus, middlemen from the middleages are afraid they're going the way of the neanderthal. They should evolve and move on.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Why would a publisher schedule a book from an award winning author to be published 2.5 years after the contract was signed?

Depends on the scope of the novel. If it is a big one, it can take that much time, and more.

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Unless her contract specifically states that she may not publish anything, through any means, other than what the would be novel publisher chooses to publish themselves, I do not see how they could be in the legal right.

This is the question.

[Kali Yuga]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

According to Teleread, which is generally a source I trust....

Teleread just summarized the blog post from the author, i.e. you're getting one and only one side of the story. I saw no indication whatsoever that they did any additional research or reporting whatsoever.

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Depends on the scope of the novel. If it is a big one, it can take that much time, and more.

What do you mean by the scope of the novel?

[tompe]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

Exclusive rights over the item in question for the contract.

According to Teleread, which is generally a source I trust

I usually am suspicious when reading Teleread since they have an agenda and a slant in the articles.

[doreenjoy]

Sounds like another author who didn't understand the "right of first refusal" clause.

[charleski]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

Why would a publisher schedule a book from an award winning author to be published 2.5 years after the contract was signed?

Because she still had to finish writing it.

[Hellmark]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

What do you mean by the scope of the novel?

The anticipated amount and type of content. Certain types of material, even in fiction, require more time. Which is quicker to write, the 50 page book for first graders, or the 1500 page historical novel?

[Sil_liS]

Originally Posted by Hellmark

The anticipated amount and type of content. Certain types of material, even in fiction, require more time. Which is quicker to write, the 50 page book for first graders, or the 1500 page historical novel?

OK, so you mean from the point of view of the writer, not from the point of view of the publisher. She did say on the blog that it took 5 years to finish, which means that it's done now. I don't know if it was finished at the moment of signing the contract, but if she finished just before the blog post, she would have been over 3 years into the writing.

I'm also confused about the sum of money that she got. Her books from Random House are trade paperback and sell for $15. The hardback of her new book would be $30. She gets 25% per book, meaning $7.5, which means that the publisher would expect her to sell only 2500 books. That isn't much.

[frahse]

Read her first words:

"I signed a contract with one of the Big 6 publishers in New York for my next novel. I understood then that I, like every writer in the business, was being coerced into giving up more than 75% of the profits from electronic sales of that novel, for the life of the novel. But I was debt-ridden and needed upfront money that an advance would provide."

So is she demanding that the publisher give her money (up front as well) on her terms, whatever they might be?

Well she can certainly ask for something like that, but the publisher has the right to refuse her terms.

And she had the right to refuse the publisher's terms.

So what is her complaint?

[Andrew H.]

Originally Posted by Sil_liS

I'm also confused about the sum of money that she got. Her books from Random House are trade paperback and sell for $15. The hardback of her new book would be $30. She gets 25% per book, meaning $7.5, which means that the publisher would expect her to sell only 2500 books. That isn't much.

Apparently that's pretty typical:

Most debut literary story collections net approximately 2,000 hardcover copies. Most literary first novels net between 3,000 and 7,000 hardcover copies. Most commercial first novels net between 5,000 and 10,000 hardcover copies. Non-fiction is genre specific, so one would have to take into account whether one were dealing with relationships, parenting, dieting, health, business, history, memoir—or whatever the genre—before one could offer approximations. That said, netting at least 20,000 hardcovers in any genre will usually be enough to make any publisher pay serious attention to your next book.

From http://askaliteraryagent.blogspot.co...ell-to-be.html

[Elfwreck]

Originally Posted by frahse

Read her first words:
So is she demanding that the publisher give her money (up front as well) on her terms, whatever they might be?

No, she demanded that the publisher follow the contract they'd both signed.

Well she can certainly ask for something like that, but the publisher has the right to refuse her terms.

They accepted her terms; she and publisher had reached an agreement about who would control her book for how long with what monetary split. She gave up a certain amount of long-term control in exchange for a lump sum up front.

And she had the right to refuse the publisher's terms.

So what is her complaint?

She had a contract with them for one book. She published another book, of entirely different content, and they insisted she was working with "the enemy," and demanded she unpublish the other book. She refused, and it sounds like they broke the contract--insisting she pay them back and potentially refusing to release her book as scheduled.