It all started naïvely enough. I had given all but four copies of my debut picture book away. Two of the remaining four are earmarked for my sons, and thus I figured it was time to order more from publisher using my author discount. When I finally heard back from my publisher about my order, the news was ... not great. They told me they couldn't send me the requested copies at my author discount because their warehouse was empty and there were no plans to reprint the book.
Wow. Also, what?
Does this mean my book has been remaindered? Why didn't anyone contact me to let me know?
Answers to both those questions would be: Dunno.
Back when I worked in publishing as an editorial assistant, I often had the unhappy task of contacting authors to let them know we were remaindering their book and would they like to buy up the remaining copies at a steep discount? Their reactions back then were well in line with what mine were.
"But it's only been five years!"
"Why not a paperback?"
"People talk to me about this book all the time and recommend it all the time!"
"I can see from BookScan that this book sells at least 10 copies every week!"
Yeah, so, none of that matters, of course.
On the advice of my agent, I asked the publisher to give me my rights back. Jenn told me the publisher should not be allowed to make money off the e-book if they have no plans to reprint the paper. Jenn also explained that getting the rights reversion ball rolling would force the publisher to reevaluate the book and possibly decide to reprint it.
Well, that didn't happen. "So what next?" I wondered. Does this mean we could take the book out on submission to another publishing house? Technically, sure, but that's not very likely. Because what about the art? Well, Jenn explained that if they reverted my rights they would also probably revert George's back to him. But then what?
Jenn said maybe another publisher would take it on. But it seems to me that another publisher would see that the original publisher felt it necessary to put it out to pasture, so why would they want to buy a book that another publisher already decided wasn't performing up to par?
Jenn said George and I could explore self-publishing options. Ugh, no. I think that's too much work and too much money for an unreliable result.
Basically, it doesn't seem like this book will be given new life unless I win a Newbery or something. And then publishers will surely be banging down my door to republish my backlist, right?
IDK.
It's all pretty dispiriting, especially because this is my favorite of all my books. Not just because it was my first, but because I wrote such a weird book that ignored all the rules of writing picture books and got to have my first line of said book be: "First you need something dead."
Survival Tips
1. Live in denial until you get the word that you are, in fact, getting your rights back. Yay?
2. Rage at the publishing world and all its quirks and foibles and non-meritocrity. (Prob not a real world, but I really don't care.) Rage in particular at every celebrity book published that makes celebrities money they don't even need and aren't even that well written. (With some exceptions.)
3. Spend hours dreaming up scenarios in which a publisher/editor DMs you begging to put out a new edition of the book. Maybe with the same illustrator or maybe with new art.
4. Make a list of all your favorite illustrators for that dream DM just in case it saves you time later.
5. Check the out-of-print book out of every nearby library because libraries will keep it on the shelves if it continues to be checked out even if the publisher has stopped printing new copies.
6. Buy up copies at a discount if you can. I'm not the biggest fan of the big online retailers and did initially try to get copies using my author discount at my favorite local indie but they couldn't get ANY copies for me, so I had to go with BillionaireBooks dot com.
7. Have a backyard funeral. Of course. (Don't bury the actual book because, duh. But bury something representative of it. Maybe an F&G, a destroyed dust jacket, or a stack of the 500 bookmarks you keep moving around the house in various piles but never seem to make it into any books.)
8. Remember that something wonderful can happen again.
9. Stay forever proud of a book that was written as an oddity, but has found homes in the hearts of many who needed it.
10. Figure out how to win a Newbery.
Dear Stephanie,
It must be kismet that I found your post, because I had JUST told someone about your book. I hope it's at our Library. I know my copy is tucked safely in my kidlit library in our recording studio. We still use it. What a book!
First, I'm sorry your book has, for now, been remaindered. Also, thank you for being the voice of resiliency, while being honest. This whole blog post is wonderful. I learned a lot.
All the questions you asked yourself are also going through my head and heart, and honestly, I am p.o.'d . I am one of the people, among thousands I'd think, who found your book at just the right time and…
This book saved me and continues to save me.