Midlist Writer: Going out of print

Monday 3 August 2009

Going out of print

At the first of this month I reached a new milestone in my writing career--one of my books went out of print. Strangely, it wasn't my earliest book, but rather a book I only wrote three years ago, Moon Handbooks London. The story is a sad one and a warning for aspiring guidebook writers.

Back in 2005 I saw on a jobs board that Avalon Travel Publishing wanted to expand their Moon series, already popular for Asian and South American destinations, into Western Europe. I applied for the London gig and got it. The advance was good, the royalties generous, and I was really over the moon, as it were.

But if something looks too good to be true in your writing career, it probably is. I wrote the book and it was published, but it received no marketing. None. Zilch. Nada. Moon, a newcomer to a near-saturated market, assumed their name recognition would allow them to compete with the likes of Lonely Planet, Frommer's, and Rough Guide. Problem was, Moon Handbooks didn't HAVE any name recognition in Western Europe.

I complained to my editor about the lack of marketing, and her only reply was, "But we featured you on our website!" Now catch me if I'm wrong, but in advertising you go to the customer, right? You can't expect the customer to come to you. When I asked if any review copies went out, I received evasive replies.

It came as no surprise to me that the book had poor sales. When it came time to do the second edition, I got the runaround for the better part of a year before my editor finally told me there would be no second edition. Most of their writers in Western Europe got the same news, as did several longstanding writers in other regions.

It was a tough lesson, but one I learned well. Now I only work for publishers who have strong marketing plans, or at least publish books that don't have a huge amount of direct competitors with better marketing plans. Something to think about before you sign your next contract.

Now the rights to the content have reverted to me. I'll be updating and reusing the contents for various projects. One of the ways to survive midlist purgatory is to know how to turn disappointments into opportunities.

No comments:

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

The Case of the Purloined Pyramid

The Last Hotel Room

He came to Tangier to die, but life isn’t done with him yet. Tom Miller has lost his job, his wife, and his dreams. Broke and alone, he ends up in a flophouse in Morocco, ready to end it all. But soon he finds himself tangled in a web of danger and duty as he’s pulled into scamming tourists for a crooked cop while trying to help a Syrian refugee boy survive life on the streets. Can a lifelong loser do something good for a change? A portion of my royalties will go to a charity for Syrian refugees.

Warpath into Sonora

Arizona 1846: Nantan, a young Apache warrior, is building a name for himself by leading raids against Mexican ranches to impress his war chief, and the chief’s lovely daughter. But there is one thing he and all other Apaches fear—a ruthless band of Mexican scalp hunters who slaughter entire villages. Nantan and his friends have sworn to fight back, but they are inexperienced, and led by a war chief driven mad with a thirst for revenge. Can they track their tribe’s worst enemy into unknown territory and defeat them?

Radio Hope

In a world shattered by war, pollution and disease. . . A gunslinging mother longs to find a safe refuge for her son. A frustrated revolutionary delivers water to villagers living on a toxic waste dump. The assistant mayor of humanity's last city hopes he will never have to take command. One thing gives them the promise of a better future--Radio Hope, a mysterious station that broadcasts vital information about surviving in a blighted world. But when a mad prophet and his army of fanatics march out of the wildlands on a crusade to purify the land with blood and fire, all three will find their lives intertwining, and changing forever.

Refugees from the Righteous Horde (Toxic World Book 2)

When you only have one shot, you better aim true. In a ravaged world, civilization’s last outpost is reeling after fighting off the fanatical warriors of the Righteous Horde. Sheriff Annette Cruz becomes New City’s long arm of vengeance as she sets off across the wildlands to take out the cult’s leader. All she has is a sniper’s rifle with one bullet and a former cultist with his own agenda. Meanwhile, one of the cult’s escaped slaves makes a discovery that could tear New City apart. . . Refugees from the Righteous Horde continues the Toxic World series started in Radio Hope, an ongoing narrative of humanity’s struggle to rebuild the world it ruined.

The Scavenger

In a world shattered by war, pollution, and disease, a lone scavenger discovers a priceless relic from the Old Times. The problem is, it's stuck in the middle of the worst wasteland he knows--a contaminated city inhabited by insane chem addicts and vengeful villagers. Only his wits, his gun, and an unlikely ally can get him out alive. Set in the Toxic World series introduced in the novel Radio Hope, this 10,000-word story explores more of the dangers and personalities that make up a post-apocalyptic world that's all too possible.

Trench Raiders

September 1914: The British Expeditionary Force has the Germans on the run, or so they think. After a month of bitter fighting, the British are battered, exhausted, and down to half their strength, yet they’ve helped save Paris and are pushing toward Berlin. Then the retreating Germans decide to make a stand. Holding a steep slope beside the River Aisne, the entrenched Germans mow down the advancing British with machine gun fire. Soon the British dig in too, and it looks like the war might grind down into deadly stalemate. Searching through No-Man’s Land in the darkness, Private Timothy Crawford of the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry finds a chink in the German armor. But can this lowly private, who spends as much time in the battalion guardhouse as he does on the parade ground, convince his commanding officer to risk everything for a chance to break through?