Thursday, June 07, 2012

Facebook and Avalon Books

I did it. After much denial, backing up so fast I tripped, and swearing I'd never join the Devil's Outpost, I am now on Facebook. Taking it slowly.  Getting help from my daughter.  I still don't "get" it, but then, she doesn't "get" Twitter.  So we're even.

My second publisher, Avalon Books (Thomas Bouregy & Co.) sold its backlist to Amazon Publishing this week. The authors who connect on a listserv just for Avalon writers are in a quandary, since so many questions remain, such as, will there be new books printed by Amazon? Will there be print versions at all? What about ebooks? Who is first in the queue?  I have a hundred questions like that, and hopefully, they'll be answered by Amazon, since the former owner of Avalon isn't very forthcoming.  In fact, the sale was a shock to all of us who have published there, especially since Avalon has been in business since 1950.  Amazon can't be worse than the publisher, since she steadfastly and unreasonably refused to return print rights, even after the five or ten year reversion clause kicked in, and no one could buy any of the books in a "new" edition.  The secondary market was doing just fine, but that's of no use to the author!  All in all, this sale may be a good deal.  We'll see.  It's still sad that an old, established publishing house couldn't keep up with the changes in publishing, such as ebook editions.

I authored seven historical westerns with Avalon, and they remain some of my favorite stories.

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