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Gardenia Press

Debra Lauman

Hi, folks...

I'm hoping you can help me here. I'll be as brief as possible. (Which isn't saying much.)

Okay, so I was once under contract with *gulp* Gardenia Press. The founder/president of GP died while my first print run was underway. Of the (shorted) print-run of 250 copies, I pre-sold more than half. Those copies, along with all that remained, were shipped to me. I basically traded all remaining, unsold copies to offset the money I'd paid for the Gardenia Press conference, which was cancelled, in lieu of a refund. The company was basically shut down, and my book was never released. That is, it was released only to me. I shipped out the pre-sold copies and have been selling others on my website and at some presentations I've given. Bob Collins of Gardenia Press signed a Release, provided to me by an Intellectual Property Rights attorney, reassigning all rights to "I. Joseph Kellerman" back to me.

So, okay, fast forward. I've been trying to re-sell the book to a publisher (and have queried agents as well). I've finally found a publisher interested in reviewing the ms, but here's the problem...

If you look up "I. Joseph Kellerman" on amazon.com, for one, it says that "this items ships within one to two months." But there ARE no copies out there, other than those in my sweaty hands and those already sold. Oh, well, okay, there are two used copies for sale on amazon, but I can account for ALL original copies of my book. (I kept a customer list, a list of copies given away, and have the rest here at home.) However, it appears on amazon.com that they have one new copy. But I verified with Publisher's Graphics, the printer that GP used, that only 250 were printed. I received those 250 copies.

To wrap this up, the publisher interested in my work is saying that, because it appears that my book is out there, available supposedly through Gardenia Press, they can't review my novel for possible publication. I've tried multiple times to get help from Bob Collins, former Senior Editor (etc.) for GP. I've tried contacting Amazon. I've tried to figure out how to contact Ingrams. But I've had no luck. Bob Collins had sent the info about my book to Ingrams, etc., but the release never happened.

So if this all makes any sense, and if anyone can give me any advice or guidance, I'd be most grateful. I just want all mention of my book on amazon, etc. to disappear, because it's just plain wrong.

*Sniffle* This is so frustrating.

Thanks in advance for reading all of this and for any feedback.

Deb Lauman
Author of "I. Joseph Kellerman"
www.debralauman.com
 

MelindaNicole

Re: Help?

How did that one copy get onto Amazon.com?

It sounds like amazon is the cause of all your problems, so I think you should be persistent and email, and email, and call them if you can find a number, until you get what you want. Persistence usually pays off, and this issue is putting you at a serious disadvantage.

I'm sorry that you've gone through such a lot of trouble. What would happen if someone bought the one copy of your book that's on Amazon.com? Would it go away?
 

Jamesaritchie

copies

If yu have a signed release, this shouldn't be a problem.

But have you considered buying the copies Amazon has? It might be interesting to see what happens when you order them, especially the new one.
 

Debra Lauman

Re: copies

Hi guys,

Yes, I wondered last night, after I wrote my first post, what would happen if I purchased at least the supposedly new copy from amazon. And that one purchase may help some, but I have a hunch that it won't take care of the whole problem. I've tried emailing amazon in the past, several times, but I've had no luck.

The nice woman from the publisher -- the one that expressed interest but can't take on a book that looks as if it's available through Gardenia Press -- said that a book with two publishers and two ISBN's is too confusing to readers. So I'm even wondering if the fact that my book was assigned an ISBN makes it dead in the water, regardless. I know books are re-published (ie. a self-published book gets picked up by a traditional press), so what happens then?

I admit it, I'm sulking right now. Years working on a book, falling in love with the screwed up characters, who are so real to me. (It's sick, I tell you.) And because of the horrible timing of the death of a company, basically -- and because of their missteps as well -- it's looking like the book may never have another chance. At least, not with a traditional publisher.

But, geez, it seems there should be something I could do.

Sorry to vent all this here, but I thought I'd take a chance that someone might know what can be done. Buying what's out there, while tough on my budget right now, is probably one step.

Thanks,
Deb
 

Flawed Creation

Re: Help?

I summon- DaveKuzminski!

(i hope he can help- it seems like his area of expertise)
 

vstrauss

Re: Help?

Deb,

If your rights have been released back to you and you can prove it, the existence of a previous edition with a different ISBN--especially one issued by a teeny-tiny publisher that never actually released it--shouldn't be a problem. Publishers often re-issue previously published books that have gone out of print--sometimes multiple times; for instance there are 26 different editions of The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula LeGuin, two of them currently in print from different publishers. Also, when a hardcover goes into paperback it gets a different ISBN.

>>The nice woman from the publisher -- the one that expressed interest but can't take on a book that looks as if it's available through Gardenia Press -- said that a book with two publishers and two ISBN's is too confusing to readers.<<

If the republished book is going to be in bookstores, there's no confusion for readers at all--they'd have no reason even to know about a previous edition. It's only a (possible) question if most ordering is going to come through online sources. This response suggests to me that the second publisher may not do a lot of marketing.

- Victoria