What exactly does "Rights Returned" mean

LexiCan

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Hey Guys,

It's been a while since I have posted...life happened :)

My rights for my PA book were returned by official PA written notification on April 10, 2009. Fast forward to Christmas of 2012 when my cousin wanted to buy two copies of my book for her daughters and asked me to sign them as a special gift for the girls. I told her it was out of print. She went to Amazon and tried ordering two copies. To my surprise she received them! Of course I signed them as promised.

Apparently several other people bought copies as well because I received a royalty check in August. Another shocker!

The exact verbiage in my official letter from PA says "Your book has been pulled from the market today. No new copies will be printed by PublishAmerica or made available by PublishAmerica to individuals, wholesalers or retailers." They said I would be receiving my final royalty check. They also did mention that "retailers and wholesalers may continue to sell used copies as well as new copies that they had stocked prior to the termination" of my agreement with PA.

I think we all know that Amazon does not keep copies of PA books in stock. So how did my cousin (and whoever else) purchase new copies all these years later and why was a royalty check generated if PA no longer has the rights to publish my book? What exactly does "rights returned" mean if this is the case?

Thought I reach out to you guys and get your thoughts on this.
 

Colts442

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This is a very good question and I'd like to know to if anyone has the answer. I have a book through PA (trust me, I already found out the hard way) and my contract is up at the end of Sept this year. LexiCan, how did you go about getting your rights returned to you? My contract says I need to send them, in writing, that I want my rights returned, at least 3 months prior to the end of my contract. I want to make sure I get this right so that there is NO misunderstanding as to what I want done. I'm even going to send it certified mail. Any advice or information you can give would help tremendously! Thank you!
 

Chris P

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LexiCan: We can't stop here! This is lawyer country! By that I mean you might be well into some areas where AW can't and shouldn't provide advice. The exception is perhaps the lawyers who post here who might be able to point you in the right direction.

Colts: I sent PA a certified letter (that they would have to sign for) stating my desire to not renew my contract when it expires in October of 2014. If I did not, my contract would automatically renew for another seven years. They acknowledged receipt and notification that my rights would indeed revert to me in October 2014. They added, however, that they continued to own the cover art and the text layout, which they would be happy to sell to me for like $500 and $250, respectively, none of which I want or will do me any good.

But since October isn't here yet, I don't know what's going to happen. Everyone else has reported that PA has indeed removed their books from the PA site, although Amazon might continue to list them for a time. LexiCan's experience is the first I've heard of someone getting an out-of-contract book from PA, and I'm curious to see what happens with that.
 

tlblack

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Per their own words, PA should not be selling anyone your book. I would contact a property law attorney, (free consultations can be found), and ask them what you should do. I've been out of contract with PA since '06 and still receive the occasional royalty statement, even though I told them to cease and desist contacting me for any reason. It seems they can't remember who is and who isn't under contract with them any more.
 

Colts442

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Thank you guys so much for the advice! They will definitely be getting a letter from me soon. I can't wait to be done with them! Sadly, I'm an idiot and have 2 books through them before I figured out how horrible they are. At least I can get one out of hock this year. We live and learn the hard way I guess. Thanks again!
 

LexiCan

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Hey Everyone! Thanks for the feedback! I don't think it is worth the expense of a legal battle at this stage. I mean, it's not like a legitimate publisher (or agent, for that matter) will ever accept a manuscript previously published by PA. So what's the point. I just wondered if I was crazy to think that "rights returned" meant they should no longer be selling my book.

Colts: I was one of the lucky ones. I sent PA an email (about a year after my book was published...when I found this site and realized I got scammed) and asked for my rights to be returned. After reading of their typical response here on AW, I didn't have much hope. To my surprise I did receive the official letter that I described above. This was long before they began charging folks for this "privilege". However, you can see how effective anything official from PA really is.
 

Marian Perera

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I mean, it's not like a legitimate publisher (or agent, for that matter) will ever accept a manuscript previously published by PA.

There are a few exceptions. J. H. Sweet's first book in The Fairy Chronicles was published by PA before the rights were returned. It went on to be accepted by a legit publisher and was the first in a series.
 

Colts442

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HELP! LOL! Ok guys, quick question. Does anyone have PA's mailing address? I have the one that's on my contract and I saw another one listed on their website but the P.O. box number is different. I'm getting ready to send them my certified letter to cancel and not renew my contract but I want to make sure it ends up in the right place. Do I need to send it to the attention of a specific department? Like contracts, or whatever. (Do they even have different departments?) LOL! Damn but I'll be glad to be done with these people! Thank you!