Re: contract
>> This is shocking. Does anyone know a lawyer? You mean they could take our books, and sell them to some other publisher and take all the money?<<
Yes, they could, if on contract termination they offered you overstock or anything else you needed to pay for, and you refused to purchase it. While not even close to industry standard and (in my opinion) extremely exploitive, this is NOT illegal or actionable, because it's in the contract--the contract YOU signed.
Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but this is the reason you need get a publishing contract vetted by SOMEONE WHO KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT PUBLISHING, not your basic garden-variety attorney or your amateur literary agent or even your trusted friend. I'll bet that the horribleness of this particular clause blows right past most lawyers...because unless you're versed in publishing contract terms, you don't know how nonstandard it is.
I know that some authors are convinced that the 49 or however many copies they're asked to buy are conjured up by PA, whether they actually existed prior to contract termination or not. There's no proof of this, one way or another (though I have to say I share their suspicions). That said, many POD-based publishers print in batches rather than one at a time, and keep stock on hand--as, I understand, does Ingram. So overstock is not an inconceivable concept.
However, even if your POD-based publisher does have overstock, and offers you the chance to buy it at a reduced price, nothing should hinge on your purchase. If you don't want it, the publisher can sell it off as it pleases--and you should get your rights back free and clear.
>>Didnt' everyone think our books would be in real stores?<<
Again, folks: get your publishing contract vetted by someone who knows publishing. For people who are familiar with industry standards and contract terms, a read of PA's contract plus a look at its website makes quite clear the fact that it's a POD-based publisher that likely follows business practices that ensure that its books won't be routinely stocked on bookstore shelves.
There's an article in the current issue of "Poets and Writers" magazine by a PA author who compares PA's publishing process to that of a micro-press, and concludes that it isn't much different in many respects--notably the companies' ability to distribute and promote, which in both cases is more or less nonexistent. It's an interesting article by someone who went to PA with his eyes wide open...and as a result, it doesn't say the kinds of things about PA that PA likes its authors to say (i.e., that PA is a "traditional" publisher no different from Random House). It's worth looking up.
- Victoria