So, picture this:
You have your first book published. It’s a great time to celebrate, because despite the many books that are published each and every year, its still a hard business to break into. Of course, as I’ve always said, if Chuck Norris (yes, the most woodenheaded “actor” to come out of Hollywood since, well, ever) can get a book published, then anyone can.
Usually, when an author signs a contract, the terms usually go two ways: the publishers holds a copyright for a certain number of years. Once those years are passed, the rights revert back to the author so he or she can shop it to another publisher. The other way, was when sales reached an agreed upon low level, or the book was declared out of print. Once again, then the rights went back to the author to sell it to another publisher.
Now, one publisher is trying to change these terms, and it seems to pissing off the Authors Guild. Simon & Schuster, which one line happens to include the Star Trek line of novels under its imprint, Pocket Books (and all owned under the umbrella of Viacom) wants to change those rules in what now is being considered a standard S&S contract.
Essentially, S&S new deal states that a book is in print, and thus under its control, as long as it’s available in any form, even if there is no copies to be ordered by standard bookstores. According to the Guild, S&S “would be able to stop printing a book and prevent the author from publishing it with any other house.”
Simon & Schuster responded by saying that the Guild was “overreacting,” that the company was embracing new technology, basically the ever increasingly popular print-on-demand technology. This new format means that a book can be published in trade paperback one at a time, because the book exists in the publishers database -something that cost the publisher virtually nothing to keep. They go onto say that they are embracing POD will keep authors books alive and available to both online and brick and mortar stores.
The National Writers Union has joined The Writers Guild in calling on Simon & Schuster to rescind the changes in the contracts. The Association of Authors Representatives has yet to take action, but the president of the company, Gail Hochman, told Publishers Weekly, that “the change is a mistake.”
And even though print-on-demand is the wave of the future, and if the publisher feels the only feasible way to keep some older titles available is in this format, then its believed, by the Guild and NWU, that those right should be controlled by the author, and not the publisher.
PW
You have your first book published. It’s a great time to celebrate, because despite the many books that are published each and every year, its still a hard business to break into. Of course, as I’ve always said, if Chuck Norris (yes, the most woodenheaded “actor” to come out of Hollywood since, well, ever) can get a book published, then anyone can.
Usually, when an author signs a contract, the terms usually go two ways: the publishers holds a copyright for a certain number of years. Once those years are passed, the rights revert back to the author so he or she can shop it to another publisher. The other way, was when sales reached an agreed upon low level, or the book was declared out of print. Once again, then the rights went back to the author to sell it to another publisher.
Now, one publisher is trying to change these terms, and it seems to pissing off the Authors Guild. Simon & Schuster, which one line happens to include the Star Trek line of novels under its imprint, Pocket Books (and all owned under the umbrella of Viacom) wants to change those rules in what now is being considered a standard S&S contract.
Essentially, S&S new deal states that a book is in print, and thus under its control, as long as it’s available in any form, even if there is no copies to be ordered by standard bookstores. According to the Guild, S&S “would be able to stop printing a book and prevent the author from publishing it with any other house.”
Simon & Schuster responded by saying that the Guild was “overreacting,” that the company was embracing new technology, basically the ever increasingly popular print-on-demand technology. This new format means that a book can be published in trade paperback one at a time, because the book exists in the publishers database -something that cost the publisher virtually nothing to keep. They go onto say that they are embracing POD will keep authors books alive and available to both online and brick and mortar stores.
The National Writers Union has joined The Writers Guild in calling on Simon & Schuster to rescind the changes in the contracts. The Association of Authors Representatives has yet to take action, but the president of the company, Gail Hochman, told Publishers Weekly, that “the change is a mistake.”
And even though print-on-demand is the wave of the future, and if the publisher feels the only feasible way to keep some older titles available is in this format, then its believed, by the Guild and NWU, that those right should be controlled by the author, and not the publisher.
PW
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