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Most popular fiction has the life of a firefly. Once the original is out of print, the writer makes no more money. Writing is a profession of ups and downs, and there are way more downs than ups. This is because of all the people involved in bringing a book to market, the writer makes the least. On paperbacks the writer makes less than 10% of the cover price and on hardbacks, usually under 30%. Of course there are writers who make a fortune but they are the exception and not the rule. The new Print on Demand books pay the writer the highest royalty.
Keeping out-of-print books alive requires creative resuscitation and sometimes major surgery as opposed to first-aid. Today, two major advances can help writers continue to earn a pittance from their work. One is the print-on-demand book and the other is the electronic book promoted by such companies as Amazon. The electronic reader and the book that can be downloaded is the wave of the future. The technology has been around for a while but what was needed was for the electronic generation to come of age and utilize it. Ten years ago not enough people were wired but now a whole new generation cannot be without their electronic music, camera, Blackberry, and soon their electronic book.
In order to use both print-on-demand and electronic download, the writers must wait for their in-print book to be out-of-print so they can request their full rights back, or they must publish electronically to start with. The rights to a whole slew of our out-of-print books have just reverted to us, and we are just beginning the process of making them readily available once again.
In the meantime, it is possible to buy used copies of some books on Amazon and in bookstores. We get no money from books sold this way but we would rather you buy them used than not at all. Of course if you feel guilty, you can always send us a few dollars. There are also a few titles available from us. If the title is marked with an * we may be able to provide it for its cover price plus postage.
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