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
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