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Trad Publisher Threatens to Sue Author for Self-Publishing!

10/18/2011

5 Comments

 
The author Kiana Davenport signed a deal with a division of Penguin Books to publish one of her novels and received an advance. Then the publisher discovered that Davenport had self-published some of her older stories on Amazon. These stories had been published before in several magazines and had even been submitted to Penguin Books which rejected them! However, in Davenport's words, they went ballistic, accusing her of betraying them with a competitor and now they are refusing to publish her novel and demanding that she return the advance. You can read her story on her blog or as part of a New York Times article.

This is the sad state of mind of dinosaurs like Penguin Books. By publishing her stories Davenport, if anything, has increased interest in her publications including the projected publication of her novel. Now she has become a victim of the archaic mentality that still has a stranglehold on a substantial portion of the traditional-publishing world.

This should be a cautionary tale for authors who want to self-publish but are also considering print deals.


Please check out my first collection of short stories, The Sun Zebra. 

5 Comments
Charles Kaiser
10/18/2011 09:20:09 am

How can they break their deal due to something the author did before the deal was made?

I can totally understand if she did it after the fact, but if the stories were published on Amazon before the Penguin deal, there shouldn't be an issue.

Reply
phantomimic link
10/18/2011 11:51:55 am

Part of the stories were published before the deal, but volume II was published after the deal. The stories were unrelated to the novel to be published. They would not have decreased the income the publisher received from the novel. Also the publisher had previously rejected the stories. If a publisher signs you up for ONE book they cannot demand that you don't publish other stuff with anybody else but them.

Reply
Suzanne
10/27/2011 06:30:00 am

I hope he makes a ga-zillion dollars!

Reply
cath link
11/1/2011 11:05:09 pm

Penguin Books, lack of foresight and imagination...will eventually equate to the loss of megadollars for them...

I'm shaking my head in disbelief...

Reply
phantomimic link
11/2/2011 10:01:09 am

These businesses will have to evolve or go the way of the dodo!

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