While this sort of thing hasn't really been attempted before to my knowledge, is it legal to request the publisher to publish an updated version of your novel with a different title than the original? (something like Super "insert title here")
While this sort of thing hasn't really been attempted before to my knowledge, is it legal to request the publisher to publish an updated version of your novel with a different title than the original? (something like Super "insert title here")
Aside from being a cutesy Street Fighter 2 reference(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CapcomSequelStagnation), it's also useful when there's backlash against something in the novel that's not too fundamental (like accidentally having the entire cast be white and straight in a story with no romance), so that the fandom doesn't get too sour and give the novel a bad name.I've seen established authors rework and then republish their earlier works, but they've always made it clear the books were published before, and I don't recall them changing the titles.
As an editor, I'd be somewhat taken aback if an author I'd worked with made this request. A book that has been published can't be unpublished and redone.
What would you hope to achieve by doing this?
Aside from being a cutesy Street Fighter 2 reference(https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CapcomSequelStagnation), it's also useful when there's backlash against something in the novel that's not too fundamental (like accidentally having the entire cast be white and straight in a story with no romance), so that the fandom doesn't get too sour and give the novel a bad name.
Also when you sign a contract with the publisher, you will sign under the name of the work so legally, no, you will not be able to change the work name by TELLING the publisher, although you could suggest it as a way to make money or avoid bad publicity.
Though for the latter, people have been known to be dropped from their contract altogether, so there's that.
I know "A Dragonfly In Amber" was changed to "Outlander" to fit the branding of the (then new) TV series.
Sometimes you might get a pass at fixing some issues in a second edition printing (famously in Little House On The Prairie changing some more overtly racist tropes)
But given that titles represent a brand and a way for people to find a publishers catalogue of works, there has to be some huge financial incentive to go though all the trouble of re-linking and re-branding a work that has already been published under a name.
Also when you sign a contract with the publisher, you will sign under the name of the work so legally, no, you will not be able to change the work name by TELLING the publisher, although you could suggest it as a way to make money or avoid bad publicity.
Though for the latter, people have been known to be dropped from their contract altogether, so there's that.
Outlander is the first book in the series.
This. My copy of it is circa 2002 (aka "way before the TV series").
Yeah, I don't think that the Little House books have been altered. I believe Dr. Doolittle was, however.
The first thing that springs to mind is the time Pa Ingalls did a performance at a festival in blackface, and that was well past the second edition.Yeah, I don't think that the Little House books have been altered. I believe Dr. Doolittle was, however.