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I can only hope for the best outcome given the shitstorm for myself and all the other authors. This is a sad, sad point in publishing history. Dorchester gave many authors a start in the business, especially those that wrote out of the box.
FWIW, Warner has been using POD for its backlist for years, and there's no hint that they're failing.
My agent is working to get my rights back, but I see little incentive for them to return rights on books that are selling well and that they're not paying the author for.
Really? you don't see how a commercial publisher, thinking that using POD technology for a front list as a means to reduce risk associated with warehousing books, might give credence to other POD's?
I do. Seems like it's not so much the option for failing publishers as it is for those without a lot of capital.
I am a Dorchester author. Given that I have a executive background in corporate finance, I sorta saw this coming a couple of years back.
I am a Dorchester author. Given that I have a executive background in corporate finance, I sorta saw this coming a couple of years back. So I shortened my last contract to one book to wrap up a series because I was fairly certain I'd never see royalties for any of that series without a huge fight. I was hoping it wouldn't get this bad, but I honestly have zero reason to be optimistic.
My agent is working to get my rights back, but I see little incentive for them to return rights on books that are selling well and that they're not paying the author for. The entire thing makes me seethe, especially every day when I open reader email gushing over my work and asking when the next one comes out.
I can only hope for the best outcome given the shitstorm for myself and all the other authors. This is a sad, sad point in publishing history. Dorchester gave many authors a start in the business, especially those that wrote out of the box.
Thanks, Michael! It's a catch 22, isn't it? I want people to read and love my books, but at the moment, I almost don't want people to buy them. It seems a no-win situation, regardless.
I am fortunate enough (or have heard enough horror stories about publishing) that I started looking to diversify a couple of years ago. I have two books out next year with the Harlequin Intrigue line, which is the mystery line.
Once I have more time, I will pursue another single title publisher, but probably in the mystery realm and not romance. I always got dinged by reviewers for too much mystery and not enough romance, anyway.
Me, too. And the Westerns now and then. (Horror and Westerns, I really like genres that are hard to find in mass market, don't I? )I find it all rather sad. I enjoyed their romance and horror books.
Me, too. And the Westerns now and then. (Horror and Westerns, I really like genres that are hard to find in mass market, don't I? )
I hope authors are able to get their rights back now. In a post I read yesterday, a Leisure author said that he wished they would just declare bankruptcy because he wanted his rights back. But from what I remember reading in this forum, authors often don';t get their rights back when a company declares bankruptcy, no matter what their contract says. Can anyone speculate about what happens to thiose rights
It would be purely speculation on my part, but traditionally, Dorchester has always been a slow payer and it's pretty much industry knowledge that they were always juggling cash flow. Then when Anderson distributing starting tanking, word in the industry is they owed publishers (including Dorchester) millions. Being an independent publisher without the deep pockets of a Random House, I think that was the final setback that signaled the beginning of the end. Then of course, the economy tanked and I can tell you first-hand that sales are down for all the midlist authors I know, so are print runs.
IMHO, it was simply a stone that started downhill and gained speed.