• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World…Word by Word

The Steve Laube Agency

The Steve Laube Agency

Helping to Change the World Word by Word

  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Twitter
  • FaceBook
  • RSS Feed
  • Get Published
  • Book Proposals
  • Book Business
  • Writing Craft
    • Conferences
    • Copyright
    • Craft
    • Creativity
    • Grammar
  • Fun Fridays
Home » Book Business » Page 4

Book Business

R Is for Reversion of Rights

By Steve Laubeon November 27, 2023
Share
Tweet
3

You’ve published your book with a publisher. But it has been some time since it was published, and it feels like the publisher is no longer interested in promoting your book. Or the book is “old” enough that the publisher isn’t going to spend new money to sell copies but is simply keeping it available.

Or the print edition of the book is no longer available, but it is still considered “in print” because an ebook edition is still available.

Now you want the rights back so you can do something with your work that the publisher is unlikely to do. This is called reversion of rights. Defined by Joanna Penn as “a clause in a literary contract that allows authors to work with their publisher to regain some or all of their book rights after certain conditions are met.”

How Do You Get Your Rights Back?

First, define what you mean by “rights.” A typical book contract has a “grant of rights” section defining what rights you grant to the publisher. Usually, this means the right to print and distribute your book in physical or digital form (or audio, etc.).

Hopefully, your contract has a “termination” clause, which defines the conditions that, when met, allow you to get your rights back.

This is one reason to have an agent guiding your career because I have encountered numerous situations where the author was prevented from reversion due to an unfriendly clause or two.

We strive to have a dollar amount be the condition. “What does that mean?” you ask. Let’s say that three years after first publication, if your book has not earned $500 in author royalty earnings in the previous 12 months, you can request reversion of the rights to your book. Note the conditions: (1) Three years, (2) $500 in earnings in the past year.

While that may seem simple, it can be complicated if you were paid a large advance that has not yet been covered by your author earnings. In some cases, the publisher has said, “If you pay back the remaining amount of your unearned advance, we will revert the rights.” In other cases, the publisher tacked on the statement, “And if you buy the remaining print inventory we have in the warehouse, we will revert the rights.”

Ouch. If the last paragraph is your situation, it can be expensive. I remember one case where the publisher had over 2,000 physical books in their warehouse; and the author couldn’t afford to buy them all, even at a huge discount. So she waited three years and worked her best to sell those books at speaking events around the country. Then she asked again, and the publisher had 200 left in the warehouse; and she was able to buy those and get the rights reverted. She now sells them herself wherever she goes and uses a service like Ingram Spark or Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to keep the book available online.

As I wrote, it can be complicated.

What Plans Do You Have if You Get Your Rights Back?

Getting your rights back is fine if you have a plan. You will have to change the interior copyright page and title page to remove the publisher’s information. You may have to retypeset the book if the publisher is unable or unwilling to provide those digital files. You will have to get a new cover because the publisher may not own the rights to the cover (the designer may own those rights). You may want to rewrite certain sections to bring the book up to date. Etcetera, etcetera.

We have several clients who successfully had their rights reverted and now have a strong indie publishing business selling their books on their own.

In the last month, we have worked with a half dozen of our clients seeking the reversion of their rights. Each case was different as we were dealing with six different publishers and six different contracts written at different times under different circumstances.

Your mileage may vary.

Leave a Comment
Category: Book Business, Contracts, Publishing A-Z

F Is for Foreign Rights

By Steve Laubeon November 13, 2023
Share
Tweet
9

(A version of this post was published in Spring 2022. It has been revised for today.) Those of us in the United States tend to frame the publishing universe within our borders in the English language. We can forget that publishing is a global concern. You may have heard of Penguin Random House (owned by Bertelsmann, a German company) because their various imprints dominate the best-seller list. …

Read moreF Is for Foreign Rights
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Foreign rights

The Things I Say Most Often About Writing

By Bob Hostetleron November 2, 2023
Share
Tweet
20

I talk a lot about writing. As a writer, yes, but also as a literary agent and speaker at writers conferences. And, yes, sometimes, as the guy at church potlucks who is inept at small talk and sometimes starts sentences with, “Ever wonder what the first person to use the word moist was thinking?” Okay, so now you know a little too much about me. But in my strange mind and varied roles, I do often …

Read moreThe Things I Say Most Often About Writing
Category: Book Business, Book Proposals, Encouragement, Pitching, The Writing Life

P Is for Preemptive Offer

By Steve Laubeon October 16, 2023
Share
Tweet
8

It can be exciting if more than one publisher is interested in your book. The publishers gather their calculators and prepare to make their offers on the book. Depending on how many publishers are involved in the bidding process (we’ve had as many as nine at once for a property), it can quickly become complicated. (I talked about the “auction” in a previous post.) Some will bid solely …

Read moreP Is for Preemptive Offer
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: Book Business, Preemptive Offer, Publishing A-Z

A Is for Auction

By Steve Laubeon October 9, 2023
Share
Tweet
7

When an agent has a client who is wanting to shop for the best deal available from publishers or if there is a particular project that is bound to garner significant interest from more than one publisher, the agent can hold what it called an auction. Or if a project attracts multiple offers from different publishers a “bidding war” can ensue. The word “auction” is tossed …

Read moreA Is for Auction
Category: Book Business, Publishing A-ZTag: auction, Publishing A-Z, publishing auction

Four Million Books Published Each Year?

By Steve Laubeon August 7, 2023
Share
Tweet
5

I read a statistic that estimates there were four million new books published in 2022 (sourced from https://www.zippia.com/advice/us-book-industry-statistics/). This includes all self-published books (at least 50%) and traditionally published textbooks and books for the trade. This means there is a new book published every eight seconds or nearly 11,000 per day, every day of the year. With our …

Read moreFour Million Books Published Each Year?
Category: Book Business, Book Sales, Career

Agent Etiquette

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon July 27, 2023
Share
Tweet
12

Agent Etiquette: Ima Writer Interviews Literary Agent Empress Worthington In the interest of helping new authors learn the etiquette of approaching literary agents, the following is a conversation with aspiring author Ima Writer and literary agent Empress Worthington. Ima: I have an extraordinary manuscript, and I want an agent. Empress: Congratulations on completing your book! Do you have a …

Read moreAgent Etiquette
Category: Agents, Book Business, Pitching

Bestselling Books in 1988

By Dan Balowon June 20, 2023
Share
Tweet
14

Today is a look back thirty-five years to the books selling well in 1988. This type of information helps put the present in perspective. Best-selling titles in the broader book market can often indicate what society, in general, is thinking (and reading) at the time. Looking at Christian books during a certain period should also show something about the church. Doing so is another reminder that …

Read moreBestselling Books in 1988
Category: Book Business

Let’s Talk About Money

By Steve Laubeon June 5, 2023
Share
Tweet
14

Hope that headline got your attention! Those of us who work with authors find that an area of consistent turmoil is when money is the topic. A major challenge is teaching authors when to talk about money and when not to talk about money. Let’s explore some of these challenges. And first, let’s assume you already have a literary agent. When to Talk Money With Your Publisher/Editor Never. That is …

Read moreLet’s Talk About Money
Category: Book Business, Money, The Writing LifeTag: Book Business, Money

Will Someone Steal My Book?

By Bob Hostetleron May 18, 2023
Share
Tweet
12

It’s a common question I hear among writers, especially among those who are starting out in the long journey toward publication: “Will someone steal my book?” Or “my idea?” Or “my plot?” And so on. Some writers are loath to show their work to a critique group or submit to an agent or editor, for fear that someone will take their title or idea or writing and pass it off as their own. Believe it or …

Read moreWill Someone Steal My Book?
Category: Book Business, Career, The Publishing Life, The Writing Life
  • Previous
  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Page 4
  • Page 5
  • Page 6
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 33
  • Next
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Interview with Steve Laube
    • Statement of Faith
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
  • Guidelines
  • Authors
    • Who We Represent
    • Awards and Recognition
  • Resources
    • Recommended Reading
    • Christian Writers Market Guide Online
    • Christian Writers Institute
    • Writers Conferences
    • Freelance Editorial Services
    • Copyright Resources
    • Research Tools
    • Selling What You Write
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2025 · The Steve Laube Agency · All Rights Reserved · Website by Stormhill Media