A tsunami is sweeping the publishing industry, with authors republishing their out-of-print novels as ebooks. I’m thrilled to say I’m joining the wave. As with all things connected to this new world of authors and the Interent, there’s a lot to learn! I hope you’ll follow along in the coming days as I make the final push toward birthing my first ebook baby, which will be Falling for You, book one in my Pearl Island Trilogy.
I’m especially excited that Falling for You will be the first since it’s one of my most popular books with readers, yet it’s impossible to buy new. Even I don’t own a new copy! I foolishly gave away my last author copy thinking I could order more from the publisher or through a bookstore. Oh, not so. They were all gone. Sold out across the nation. Trust me, I searched for months before giving up. I even ordered what were listed as “new” copies from sellers at both Amazon and B&N. What I got was not new. Close to new, but not. It’s been heartbreaking to not own one single new copy of my own book. Even worse, though, is having readers ask where they can buy one and having to tell them they can’t. Well, the latter, at least, is about to change!
How do you republish an out-of-print novel as an ebook?
Original cover for paperback edition
Step One, getting my rights back. I started this process by sending a “reversion of rights” letter to the legal department at St. Martin’s Press. I have to wait six months, so the rights will revert to me on May 12. Woo-Hoo! If all goes well, that will be the release date of the e-edition. While waiting for that magical day, I’ve been very busy.
Step Two, getting a digital file. This has been a HUGE hurtle. Since the final copy edits of a published novel are done by hand on the printed out manuscript and galley pages, my word file doesn’t match the published book. I’d love to hear from other authors or computer gurus on how to overcome this obstacle with the least amount of money and time. Do you pay to have it scanned? Pay a typist to retype the whole thing? Compare the printed version to your word file page my page? Share your ideas, but stay tuned for how I’m solving this problem.
NEW EBOOK COVER for Falling for You
Step Three, getting a new cover. When you get the rights back to a book, you don’t get rights to the cover. Those belong to either the artist or the publisher. Which means, you’ll need a new cover. Options abound for this as well. So, again, stay tuned.
Steps Four – 4,000. There’s still so much left to do, it’s a little overwhelming. This blog and I will be very busy in the coming days as I race to get everything done by May 12, release day for the all new ebook addition of Falling for You.
(Please comment and share this post before you leave, but if you’re looking for some excellent information about self publishing an e-book, check out JA Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing. Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter for more information on the re-release of all the Pearl Island Trilogy books.)
I’m curious though. How many of you read ebooks? Are you an author who’s been through this process? Are you thinking of taking the plunge?
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Good luck! And keep us informed on how you work out those steps!
I’ve been considering the same thing once I get a little a head of deadlines. Oh, btw, I do know writers who are getting their books scanned. (Then making a few changes, which is what I’d want to do with the much older ones. )
So great to see you here JoAnn. And oh, the temptation to make changes. On older book, I can definitely see doing that whether to make it fresh for the times, or because you’ve progressed as a writer. Since these are fairly new, I’m forcing myself to not toy with them, or I’d likely make a mess. HOWEVER, I’m working on adding some “extra content.” Haven’t quit figured out what that will be yet. Maybe just notes from me about researching the setting and writing the book, an interview with the characters, or maybe even an epilogue to let readers see what the characters have been up to for the past 8 years. What would you add to your books to interest readers who already own the print version?
I’ve been putting my books on Smashwords and the process wasn’t too bad until Apple came on the scene and now there are new formatting requirements. I feel we need to keep up with technology as it’s a whole different market but it’s very time consuming. Good luck with your endeavors. I had a friend who had the same problem with her novel and it made me decide to self publish and have more control.
Ann
Ann Summerville
Cozy In Texas
Trying to keep up with technology is overwhelming. I haven’t decided exactly which route I’m going to take, but I’m leaning toward Smashword. My one hesitancy is the file isn’t protected.
Great tips you have on your site. I am a new blogger and learning to write effective contents. I had started to jot down notes so the idea will not slip out when I sit in front of the com.
If you self-publish on, say, Kindle and are receiving royalties from that publication, do they hold any rights at all? Is there anything to keep you from publishing on iPad? Nook? Anyone? Anyone?
I’m eager to see how your journey turns out. If you need a typist, I am very reasonably priced.
I have to be honest I don’t know of you prior to finding this online when searching for “how to publish to kindle or nook”. I always appreciated literature and writing and have done a little of my own, but never anything that I have published. I never liked the idea of publishers taking most of the cut of your intellectual property and have been more inspired in the last few years to publish my own now that ebooks and the internet have made that cometely possible. I firmly believe that it is the future of books and music for that matter. I find myself reading 10 times more now that I can pull out my phone when I have a free minute and read a few pages. Never thought I would, but I can’t deny that it is just how it goes. I wish you luck with your ebooks and hope that you will be able to retain more of your rights doing it this way. I know they still get their cut, but they aren’t the publishers either. It looks to me to be a better way to do things. Good luck!
Good luck – I’m also trying to get a previously published book reissued as a Nook book. I’ll let you know what happens. How are you going with the scanning? The release was easy – you already have the rights probably. Ellie