Can you re-publish a novel?

Carlene · Aug 19, 2006

Okay, here's the deal. I had a short romance novel published by a print publisher but unfortunately it was a disaster. Never got to the shelves (in spite of the fact that it was suppose to go through Ingram), sold very few, blah, blah, blah. Bad things happen. I got the rights to the work back and am wondering if I should try to place it with an e-pub. Why? I love the book and would like to have people read it! I'll never get rich as a writer, I know that, but I just love to have folks read my work. So, is it possible? If so, would you tell the potential buyer right in the query that it had been out before? Change the title and keep you mouth shut? I really don't like to deceive, but...

Appreciate all your thoughts.

Carlene

SeanDSchaffer · Aug 19, 2006

I've heard of it being done before. I had a similar situation with one of my works, and I've been debating re-writing and submitting it to other companies.

I don't know what kind of success rate the practice has, but I definitely have seen it done.

Good luck to you.

icerose · Aug 19, 2006

Would it by chance be Publish America???

There are some companies that accept reprints and some that don't, you have to do your research to find out which ones.

You have options of rewriting it, changing character names, title, details, adding a whole lot to the story to make it a standard sized novel. Then it could be considered a new book if it's not overly similar.

Others who have mroe experience will be better equiped to answer this post in more detail, but those are the ones I can think of.

Carlene · Aug 19, 2006

Nope, DEFINITELY Not PA - thanks to this forum I knew better. I'll be happy to tell you if you want to email me [email protected]. Fortunately Dave put a Not recommended on P & E, but unfortunately it was after I got burned.

Carlene

icerose · Aug 19, 2006

That's good to hear. I was one who got taken by them years ago.

I hope you find an outlet for your novel, but if you can't and all else fails, write another one. I know that isn't a simple prospect, but it will probably be your best one.

maestrowork · Aug 19, 2006

Once you sold it, you can't sell first rights anymore. You may be able to sell reprint rights, but that would be tough if the book didn't sell in the first place. You can either self-publish or rewrite the whole thing and try to market it as a new book. Or forget about it and focus on a new novel. Good luck.

p.s. and no, it wouldn't be ethical if you just change character names and title and pretend it's a new novel. You will get caught and it will not be pretty.

James D. Macdonald · Aug 19, 2006

E-pub doesn't generally come with high readership potential.

If the distribution was that lousy ... my suggestion would be to try selling it as if it were a new novel, being up-front about its publishing history, and at the same time write your next book.

No one (at least no one sane) plans on getting rich at this gig, but we all hope to get read.

Gillhoughly · Aug 19, 2006

Rework it, no writer is ever done with tinkering, have it and a second book ready to go, get an agent. Be up front on the print history of the book; have the agent worry about the rest.

Be working on the next book.

jack scoltock · Aug 25, 2006

If you own the rights to it, you can do what you want with it. Just be very, very sure that you do have full control of your script.

priceless1 · Aug 25, 2006

Carlene said:
If so, would you tell the potential buyer right in the query that it had been out before? Change the title and keep you mouth shut? I really don't like to deceive, but...

Carlene, I'm with Jim on this one. If I ever found out that someone had done a bait and switch on me, they'd be handed their manuscript back faster than they could blink. I would never look at any of your work again, and you'd be considered tarnished goods. Look at it this way; if you truly honor your work, then it's far better to simply be up front to agents and editors. Many writers have done this when submitting, and, depending upon the circumstances, I'm willing to overlook the fact that they had a bad experience and are trying to make it right. If it's a great story and I feel that I and our distributors can sell it, then I don't care where it's been.

Becky Writes · Aug 25, 2006

I have a similar situation. I self-published a book a few years back but never marketed it, although because it has an ISBN it shows up on B&N.com. The only hard copies that ever sold were to friends and me. Selling it wasnt a big deal to me, I jsut wanted MY book on my coffee table.

I have been working on editing it and making it better. I was thinking I'd like to try get it publsihed for real. Is it possible? I do own all the rights.

James D. Macdonald · Aug 25, 2006

Becky Writes said:
I have been working on editing it and making it better. I was thinking I'd like to try get it publsihed for real. Is it possible? I do own all the rights.

Is it possible? Of course. Everything depends on the book itself: is it a good book?

Meanwhile -- write another book.

Becky Writes · Aug 25, 2006

I think it's a good book, but then again, I think my kids are the cutest ever.

And I'm always writing another book, it seems.

jchines · Aug 25, 2006

Possible? I've done it. Goblin Quest first came out from Five Star, a smaller publisher. I wrote a standalone sequel, which my agent pitched. The publisher said it wasn't as standalone as I had hoped, and asked to read the first book. They ended up buying 'em both

A fair number of agents and editors talk about getting queries for self-published or previously published books, and I get the sense that's a bit of a strike against you. But it's certainly possible.

In the meantime, keep working on that other book, too!

allenparker · Aug 28, 2006

in the same hand basket

I have two books that I am trying to have republished. One is probably going to be picked up. The other is still in limbo.

I started my search for a publiosher for the reprint rights for my first book by pre-querying several publihers about their policies on reprint books. I added a small note about the first publisher, some VERY SMALL details about the right reversion, and a request to send a proper query.

I have received polite responses from everyone.SOme responded that they want only first rights. Others politely denied my request to query. A small group has been receptive to the process.

I believe that the sucess or failure of a book is still rooted in the strength of the book. This applies to reprint right sales as well.

Simran · Aug 29, 2006

How about one that was published by a small company who is now defunct and never got me the ISBN that was part of the deal?

My other thought was putting it in with a few other stories and making it one publication to publish.

What do you think?

James D. Macdonald · Aug 29, 2006

Judi_S said:
How about one that was published by a small company who is now defunct and never got me the ISBN that was part of the deal?

I think that it may never have been published at all.

Simran · Aug 29, 2006

James D. Macdonald said:
I think that it may never have been published at all.

Really? Then I should have no problem trying to get it published by itself.

So all the books that were printed through the printing company that he used meant nothing if they didn't have an ISBN?

Simran · Aug 30, 2006

How would I know for sure?

James D. Macdonald · Aug 30, 2006

How many copies, and what happened to them? Were they ever distributed?

popmuze · Aug 31, 2006

What's the deal with reprinting books that have been out of print for more than ten years? I have three that were once with a major publisher, but now I have all the rights back.

Simran · Aug 31, 2006

James D. Macdonald said:
How many copies, and what happened to them? Were they ever distributed?

I had about 100 copies. Some I sold on my own but then I noticed that the ones that I still had were shoddily (sp) put together and the pages started falling out. The company said to send them back for a refund. They took them back and never refunded the money or replaced the books. :rant:

Not long after they closed up shop, according to them because they got a computer virus (from India of all places) and lost everything. :rant:

They were also supposed to have them set up for sale on Amazon, but that never happened either! :rant:

So I'm out books and $$$$!

dclary · Sep 1, 2006

Carlene said:
Okay, here's the deal. I had a short romance novel published by a print publisher but unfortunately it was a disaster. Never got to the shelves (in spite of the fact that it was suppose to go through Ingram), sold very few, blah, blah, blah. Bad things happen. I got the rights to the work back and am wondering if I should try to place it with an e-pub. Why? I love the book and would like to have people read it! I'll never get rich as a writer, I know that, but I just love to have folks read my work. So, is it possible? If so, would you tell the potential buyer right in the query that it had been out before? Change the title and keep you mouth shut? I really don't like to deceive, but...

Appreciate all your thoughts.

Carlene

You're doing yourself and your new publisher a disservice if you don't let them know this has been published before. The last thing they want to do is find something like this out from an irate customer than the actual author of the place.

I find nothing wrong with wanting to have the book republished. But I'd say you really need to let the ebook publisher know he's working with used goods.

James D. Macdonald · Sep 1, 2006

Well, yes. Honesty is the best policy, and you want your publishers to be totally up-front with you.

I'm just saying that, for purposes of "what's published" this book may not even count as having been published. So it isn't a case of "this book has already sold as many copies as it's going to."

Now ... out of print, reverted books. Having an agent is very handy for those. The big questions are, who published them before, and who publishes reprints at all? Have you explored overseas markets? To an extent the ebook market has taken over from the small press for reprints. Consider Fictionwise.com.

dclary · Sep 1, 2006

If it has an ISBN or library of congress entry... doesn't it have to be considered a previously published work? I don't know, which is why I'm asking.

Can you re-publish a novel?

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