Publisher kaput...now what?

Back in 2012 I went the "give somebody money to publish my book" route. I did research on vanity/self-publishing and winnowed the candidates down to the one that seemed the best in terms of up-front money, and services provided. I even found several recommendations for this publisher that seemed legit. I went forward with the project, all went smoothly (except for the editor I hired for the project--outside of the publisher--who vamoosed with my money before completion) with the book selling a little north of 1,000 copies over the following years. My ego was satisfied. But over the past couple of years, the royalty checks were fewer and much farther between, and finally stopped a year ago, despite continued sales of the book. I've found several angry clients of said publisher online and it appears nobody is getting paid. Calls and emails to the publisher go unanswered. A friend in the distant city of said publisher recently drove by their office and relayed the information that it is now empty with a FOR RENT sign out front. Maybe they moved, maybe they shut down operations, who knows? Their web site is still up, and sales information through February was updated recently.

Now I'm not that upset over the missing money--probably less than $300--but I WAS considering suspension of publishing due to my age and trying to simplify my life for any future person settling my estate. It seems puzzling: The book is still selling, profit checks from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc. are going somewhere, I'd like to stop publishing but there is nobody to contact about that, and I would like to get the master files back from the publisher (something promised in the contract) but that seems impossible as well. I suppose I can just shut down my web site and let the rest play out in whatever way it goes. It's a conundrum.

I'm not sure it would fully qualify as vanity publishing, per se. I paid to have the document edited well before initial submission. The publisher offered various editing, from developmental editing to copy editing, etc. They offered cover design, various internal formatting options, etc. They did not do any printing - that was outsourced to Lightning. They handled obtaining ISBN numbers, submission to Amazon, B&N, etc. They (until recently) paid commissions on softcover sales as well as e-pub sales made through the various outlets. I was never forced to buy any copies, though I did for promotional events. This particular publisher was recommended fairly highly in "The Fine Print of Self-Publishing" by Mark Levine in 2011. Up until this past year, I was relatively happy with what I paid them upfront and what I received thereafter. Now, not so much. Just not sure a lawyer is worth the money at this point. But I may send the info to Victoria as you suggest. Thanks for the input. (And for the record, I've learned a lot of harder lessons in life!)

Maybe I've jumped the shark here. A new Google search today shows a new location for the publisher in the same city, operating under the same name. Now if I can just get a response from them...I'll report back.