Publishers are not good guys. One counter example: CRC Press returned the copyright to a couple books in which I had chapters because there weren’t many sales and we were able to put our chapters online. The books had only been out a couple of years.
Pearson has violated by contract in a way that had little financial impact but really pissed me off. So what can I do? Suing them is not a realistic option. Ed _______________________ Ed Angel Founding Director, Art, Research, Technology and Science Laboratory (ARTS Lab) Professor Emeritus of Computer Science, University of New Mexico 1017 Sierra Pinon Santa Fe, NM 87501 505-984-0136 (home) an...@cs.unm.edu <mailto:an...@cs.unm.edu> 505-453-4944 (cell) http://www.cs.unm.edu/~angel <http://www.cs.unm.edu/~angel> > On Jul 4, 2020, at 8:55 PM, Eric Charles <eric.phillip.char...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > Nick said " the contract should explicitly say that rights revert to the > author when the publisher no longer maintains the book in print and promotes > it." > > I handwrote that into the contract for the book on New Realism (presumably > based on a suggestion from you). Alas, that's an almost nonsensical insertion > at this point. The company will maintain a website that lists the book > indefinitely, with it available for purchase from various marketplaces such > as Amazon and Google books. So it is "maintained" and "promoted", at no cost, > in perpetuity, and is always available, because books can now easily be > printed on demand in single copy. I expect nowadays it might make more sense > to say something like: "If the book sells no copies in X years, in any medium > supported by the publisher, then the rights revert to the author." > > It has been nine years, and the book still hasn't sold enough copies for me > to see a penny. > > If I were writing a novel I would definitely either self publish or find a > firm that focuses on online publishing, and which returns a definite > marketing plan in return for their cut (there are firms that focus on > kickstarting novels, or other internet forums, for example). > > > ----------- > Eric P. Charles, Ph.D. > Department of Justice - Personnel Psychologist > American University - Adjunct Instructor > <mailto:echar...@american.edu> > > On Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 4:46 PM <thompnicks...@gmail.com > <mailto:thompnicks...@gmail.com>> wrote: > At the very list, the contract should explicitly say that rights revert to > the author when the publisher no longer maintains the book in print and > promotes it. I often edited my magazine contracts to give only first rights. > I agree with Tom, that copyright should stay with the author. > > > > N > > > > Nicholas Thompson > > Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology > > Clark University > > thompnicks...@gmail.com <mailto:thompnicks...@gmail.com> > https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/ > <https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/> > > > > > From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com <mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com>> On > Behalf Of Tom Johnson > Sent: Saturday, July 4, 2020 2:32 PM > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com > <mailto:friam@redfish.com>> > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Book publishing advice needed > > > > Another advantage of self-publishing is that you retain the copyright. Ergo, > you can license it to a publisher for an updated edition or just distribution. > > Tom > > > ============================================ > Tom Johnson - t...@jtjohnson.com <mailto:t...@jtjohnson.com> > Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA > 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) > NM Foundation for Open Government <http://nmfog.org/> > Check out It's The People's Data > <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-The-Peoples-Data/1599854626919671> > > > ============================================ > > > > > > > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> > > > On Sat, Jul 4, 2020 at 2:25 PM Jochen Fromm <j...@cas-group.net > <mailto:j...@cas-group.net>> wrote: > > Thanks. Yes, self-publishing is an option. I am looking for an official > publisher mainly for one reason, namely that other scientists and researchers > can cite it, since I still cling to the illusion that someone would actually > do it. Normally self-published texts are not considered as reliable or > trustworthy sources. I didn't expect that finding a decent publisher would be > so difficult. > > > > -J. > > > > > > -------- Original message -------- > > From: Tom Johnson <t...@jtjohnson.com <mailto:t...@jtjohnson.com>> > > Date: 7/4/20 20:10 (GMT+01:00) > > To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam@redfish.com > <mailto:friam@redfish.com>> > > Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Book publishing advice needed > > > > Jochen: > > The deal being offered strikes me as a bad deal. > > > > Background: I have been practicing and teaching about "Be Your Own > Publisher" for nearly 15 years. There are, in my opinion, some major > problems with all publishers today. It starts with control of the copyright. > I think YOU should want to maintain control of the copyright to your work. > It will depend on the contract, but many or most publishers will try to lock > down the copyright in their favor for all -- ALL -- forms of your work in > perpetuity and throughout the universe. Sometimes quite literally. > > > > Second, you should assume -- especially with a small publisher and you, not > being as well known as Stephen King or Daniel Steele -- the publisher will > do little if anything to promote your book beyond a mention in its catalog > and, maybe, some promotional links on Amazon. Given that, a 5 percent > royalty should be seen as a con. > > > > Third, given your computing experience, you should find it easy to format and > produce the book yourself. I have used Lulu.com <http://lulu.com/> for > years. It is especially good if you want to have both hardback, paperback > and PDF editions. Again the advantages: you keep the copyright, you can set > (and change) the prices and to a degree the royalties. Also, Lulu and Amazon > handle all the backend financial arrangements and administration and pay > directly and quickly. I also use a very good, high quality digital printer > in Albuquerque for paperback editions. It is Lithexcel > <https://lithexcel.com/services/print.html>. It handles all the printing > (one copy to any number) quickly, along with all the fulfillment and > accounting. The folks there will also, for only $25, set up your book in the > Amazon inventory search engine. Finally, there is Amazon's self-publishing > arm > <https://www.bookbaby.com/free-publishing-guides?utm_campaign=GOOSL31&utm_source=SITELINK&utm_medium=cpc&mkwid=sNzCXe5z8_dc%7Cpcrid%7C238281756657%7Cpmt%7Ce%7Cpkw%7Camazon%20book%20publishing%7Cslid%7CcWU1oXIv%7Ctargetids%7Ckwd-362938383597%7Cgroupid%7C48812614458%7C&pgrid=48812614458&ptaid=kwd-362938383597&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0YD4BRD2ARIsAHwmKVnFci42apQ6vWUruvHuYX-FOum9VCF7bx83c_tSMHGoby8yylL_RTMaAjOEEALw_wcB>. > While Amazon might take a bigger slice, the control over all aspects is in > your hands. > > > > Here's the problem/challenge with all of these. YOU have to do the > marketing/publicity/promotion. But so what? If you today sign with any > publisher of any size you will have to do the same thing. > > > > Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me with questions. Also you might > want to see https://bit.ly/2ZvihKc <https://bit.ly/2ZvihKc> > > Tom > > > ============================================ > Tom Johnson - t...@jtjohnson.com <mailto:t...@jtjohnson.com> > Institute for Analytic Journalism -- Santa Fe, NM USA > 505.577.6482(c) 505.473.9646(h) > NM Foundation for Open Government <http://nmfog.org/> > Check out It's The People's Data > <https://www.facebook.com/pages/Its-The-Peoples-Data/1599854626919671> > > > ============================================ > > > > > > > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=icon> > > Virus-free. www.avast.com > <https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campaign=sig-email&utm_content=webmail&utm_term=link> > > > On Fri, Jul 3, 2020 at 1:29 AM Jochen Fromm <j...@cas-group.net > <mailto:j...@cas-group.net>> wrote: > > At one end of the spectrum there are the 5 big commercial publishers > Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin Random House and Simon & > Schuster. They only publish stuff their agents select to make a lot of money. > There are also the big academic publishers like OUP, CUP, HUP and MIT Press, > which preferably publish strictly peer-reviewed content from professors at > Ivy League universities who made their PhD at the age of 20. > > > At the other end of the spectrum there are "predatory publishers" who publish > anything you submit as long as you pay enough money for it. Open access books > can also be very expensive. Publishing an "open access book" at De Gruyter > for example costs up to 8000 $. You pay for it so that other people read it. > It is basically some kind of advertising of your own work. > > > For my own new book I finally have an offer from a small publisher in > Washington D.C. who is somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. They are > really small and offer 5% royalties. Should I accept this offer or wait for a > better one? It is the only one from more than 25 publishers I have asked, and > the publishers at the moment are flooded with submissions. :-/ > https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/mar/26/novel-writing-during-coronavirus-crisis-outbreak > > <https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/mar/26/novel-writing-during-coronavirus-crisis-outbreak> > > > -J. > > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > <http://bit.ly/virtualfriam> > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > <http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/> > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > <http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/> > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > <http://bit.ly/virtualfriam> > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > <http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/> > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > <http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/>- .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. > .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > <http://bit.ly/virtualfriam> > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > <http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com> > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > <http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/> > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > <http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/> > - .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam > un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
- .... . -..-. . -. -.. -..-. .. ... -..-. .... . .-. . FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Zoom Fridays 9:30a-12p Mtn GMT-6 bit.ly/virtualfriam un/subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com archives: http://friam.471366.n2.nabble.com/ FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/
