Reversion
A right of reversion is a contractual provision that permits authors to work with their publishers to regain some or all of the rights in their books when certain conditions are met.
A few months ago my former publisher, St. Martin’s Press, reverted to me the rights to 8 Thorn novels which they published years ago.
This ‘reversion of rights’ as it’s called came after I failed several times to persuade the publisher to return the rights to me. When my agent, Ann Rittenberg, got involved the publisher finally relented. Thank you again, Ann.
I now have the right to publish these books myself and reap whatever financial rewards come.
But first:
- I have to find someone who can scan the pages of a hardback copy of one of the books.
- Then proof that file for errors. (There usually are plenty.)
- Then I have to find someone to create the cover for the ebook version.
- And then create the cover, front and back, of the Print on Demand, physical copy.
- Then I have to fill out several pages on Amazon, deciding on price, the Keywords that will help readers locate that book, and a dozen other variables.
- Then I upload all the files and the covers, and wait a few days before the book I wrote and that I now own the rights to will magically appear on Amazon. (possibly to be lost in the swamp of a few million other books)
As you can see, it’s a lengthy and expensive process. In my case, although the rights were reverted to me a few months ago, I’ve just now completed that process for one book: Hell’s Bay (the 10th book in the Thorn series).
When St. Martin’s still owned the rights to that novel, they were charging 12 dollars for the ebook. I’m charging $3.99. I make 70% on each book, around $2.80, an amount that is about the same as the royalties I earned on the hardback version of yesteryear when Hell’s Bay was being sold for over $20 and I was earning 10-15% of that. I figure it’s going to take me most of a year of moderate sales to make back the initial investment of publishing that book.
The next Thorn novel in the works is Blackwater Sound. I’m hoping it will be available on Amazon in the next few weeks.
I’m sharing these publishing and financial details because I think most readers don’t fully understand the investment of time, money and creative energy involved in bringing a self-published book to the marketplace. Not to mention the years it took to write the novel in the first place.
The rest of the Thorn novels will be published on Amazon in the coming year. But if you haven’t read Hell’s Bay yet, now’s a good time. And at 3.99 there’s not much to lose.
