So here we sit pondering to whom we should first upload our self-published book, setting a priority of publishers to upload to next. Or maybe we just want to use one publisher, Amazon, and sign up for KDP, their lending library and free book distribution division, requiring a 90-day exclusivity agreement. Well, read on, my fine fellow writers, and see if that is really what you want to do. Karen Lotter's article published at the Alliance of Independent Authors certainly will give you pause.
http://selfpublishingadvice.org/blog/vantage-press-suspends-operations/
It isn't often this type of thing occurs, but it does happen. It wants for the question, are the authors locked in on exclusivity contracts or are they free to self-publish as well? Even Amazon has a "division" of their business that requires 90-days of exclusivity' it's called KDP. It all boils down to either a financial drain on those who are being published by Vantage, or just a small portion of the pie being taken away from their pocketbook, yet still annoying as hell. It's terrible to not receive their royalty checks.
Imagine, if you will, Amazon doing this same thing to authors. Yikes! And rightly so. But by self-publishing and doing so with as many different epubs as possible, the damning disaster this is affording some, could be mitigated. If a book isn't available now through a publisher because of operations suspension, readers will look to other supply houses for the same book. I pray for all those self-publishers who were using Vantage, that there was no exclusivity contract attached. Being self-published through other epub houses will allow royalties to continue, as readers don't quit reading just because one supplier goes under. Reading for some is like breathing air. They just have to do it. They can't live without it. These self-publishers will go on. But the fact is they have been cheated by business mismanagement, something we all need to pay attention to as we offer up our works for the world to see. We all just wish businesses in Vantage's position would post on their enticing websites, "Mismanagement is one of the services we offer!" so we have a chance to avoid them. It's sad to say that good staff members who slowly trickled away through the preceding nine months more than likely could see the writing on the wall. But informing any of us about their suspicions would have ended them up on the wrong end of a lawsuit. With the growth in the self-publishing epub industry, more of these businesses will arrive on the scene. Be watchful, be wary, be well-distributed.
http://selfpublishingadvice.org/blog/vantage-press-suspends-operations/
It isn't often this type of thing occurs, but it does happen. It wants for the question, are the authors locked in on exclusivity contracts or are they free to self-publish as well? Even Amazon has a "division" of their business that requires 90-days of exclusivity' it's called KDP. It all boils down to either a financial drain on those who are being published by Vantage, or just a small portion of the pie being taken away from their pocketbook, yet still annoying as hell. It's terrible to not receive their royalty checks.
Imagine, if you will, Amazon doing this same thing to authors. Yikes! And rightly so. But by self-publishing and doing so with as many different epubs as possible, the damning disaster this is affording some, could be mitigated. If a book isn't available now through a publisher because of operations suspension, readers will look to other supply houses for the same book. I pray for all those self-publishers who were using Vantage, that there was no exclusivity contract attached. Being self-published through other epub houses will allow royalties to continue, as readers don't quit reading just because one supplier goes under. Reading for some is like breathing air. They just have to do it. They can't live without it. These self-publishers will go on. But the fact is they have been cheated by business mismanagement, something we all need to pay attention to as we offer up our works for the world to see. We all just wish businesses in Vantage's position would post on their enticing websites, "Mismanagement is one of the services we offer!" so we have a chance to avoid them. It's sad to say that good staff members who slowly trickled away through the preceding nine months more than likely could see the writing on the wall. But informing any of us about their suspicions would have ended them up on the wrong end of a lawsuit. With the growth in the self-publishing epub industry, more of these businesses will arrive on the scene. Be watchful, be wary, be well-distributed.
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