When a publisher shuts
down there are huge repercussions for all involved. Please welcome author Debra
H. Goldstein who has firsthand experience with being orphaned by the loss of a
publisher….
Orphaned by Debra H. Goldstein
My husband was in his sixties when he became an orphan. I
will always remember this six-foot-four two hundred plus pound person lying
awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, plaintively saying, “I’m an orphan.” Some
friends and relatives told him losing his ninety-year-old Alzheimer stricken
mother was a blessing while others said it was the natural course of things. I
knew it was neither – it was a permanent and final loss. For writers, becoming
an orphan is an experience that is faced repeatedly.
For every contract renewed, there are many authors who have
two to three more ideas, but don’t get the opportunity to continue their series
or characters. An equally common experience of late has been the number of
publishers ceasing operations and leaving their authors with orphaned books. It
hurts.
Although a few traditional publishing sources will adopt a
series that already exists – often by focusing on a different character as the
protagonist or moving the story forward a few years, most won’t. Agents and
Editors smile, console, and then tend to recommend that rather than wasting
energy, the author should write something new or consider self-publishing. No
alternative feels good.
I know. I’ve had two books accepted and published and both
have become orphans. The first, Maze in
Blue, was published in 2011. It won an IPPY Award in 2012, and two weeks
later, the published announced it was closing its doors. I was lucky. The
publisher freely gave back rights, files, and artwork. Because of the good
relationship with the publisher, which many who try to get back their work
don’t have, I was able to fulfill my speaking and signing engagements by
publishing a new edition via CreateSpace. Maze
in Blue’s lifespan continued fairly solidly and then got another boost when
Harlequin Worldwide Mystery bought its mass market rights and made it a book of
the month in May 2014.
Even though I loved the characters, I accepted that Maze in Blue, for now, was orphaned and
wrote a new book, Should Have PlayedPoker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery. It was purchased
by Five Star, a division of Cengage, in 2014 and is scheduled to be published
on April 20, 2016. This time, with a little more knowledge under my belt, I made
arrangements and reached out in advance for PR opportunities. Everything seemed
to be going along perfectly --- edits, final copy, and a great cover. The
people I worked with were wonderful, but then Cengage informed its mystery
stable that it would be discontinuing its mystery line in 2017. The 2016
catalog, which includes my book, is being fully honored as are the first few
months of 2017, but the upshot is that I’ve been orphaned again. Just like last
time, I’d like to continue writing these characters, but I’m moving forward. I’ve
written a third book with a third set of characters.
I could have sat and moaned about being snakebit, but
writing takes time and life goes on. Waiting and hoping for a second chance for
either book wouldn’t bring them back. Instead, my best hope for moving forward
from being an orphan is to continue writing short stories and novels. So, I’ve shed a tear and will gladly share my
current books with the world, but my eye is on a future prize – the publication
of a book that actually has a published sequel.
This is the only way I’ve been able to handle being
orphaned. How about you?
Debra H. Goldstein ©2016
Judge (ret.) Debra H. Goldstein is the author of Should
Have Played Poker: a Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery (Five
Star Publishing - April 2016) and the 2012 IPPY Award winning Maze in Blue, a mystery set on the
University of Michigan’s campus. She also writes short stories and non-fiction.
Debra serves on the national Sisters in Crime, Guppy Chapter and Alabama
Writers Conclave boards and is a MWA member. She lives in Birmingham, Alabama
with her husband, Joel, whose blood runs crimson.
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