Dear Publishers,

[kwjones]

Some interesting ideas. Lots to think about.

[mcl]

Originally Posted by Pardoz

Check out www.closed-circle.net. Not a tremendous amount there yet, but she's said on her blog she wants to bring in more of her backlist.

I think it's extremely critical to note here that she said she wants to bring in more of her backlist ///if she can get it///. Even though her publishers have either discarded or let lapse (or never owned) rights to them, she has to fight to get them.

I think that one fact right there pretty much sums up a lot that's wrong with the author-publisher relationship today. I've never understood why authors let publishers get away with things like that. If I created original works like that (I do, but I've consciously and willingly signed those rights away, except for certain works to which I insisted on retaining the rights), I'd point out loudly and often the boundaries of my agreement with the publisher.

[kwjones]

So how many authors have the rights to sell their own ebooks? Is it even something they want to bother with?

[Pardoz]

Originally Posted by mcl

I've never understood why authors let publishers get away with things like that.

Lynn Abbey has a fantastic blog post on this. A few select quotes: "It’s pathetic, but true: I’d give up a lot for the simple freedom of writing my stories." and "It’s a deal with the devil….but one that’s been entered into knowingly, because it’s been the only deal around. I’ll accept pittance royalties and get sucked into living off advances for books that can’t earn out (because the publisher won’t print enough copies for the book to earn out.) I accept what amounts to a sharecropper’s existence because I’m really, really lousy at self-promotion."