Wylie Agency cutting publishers out of ebook deal
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1MinaKelly
This is just... I'll let you form your own opinions. Frankly, I find it fascinating, but then I have the advantage of watching from a safe distance, since when it comes to books I'm both published by and a customer of e-primary presses. Still, it really speaks wonders about the changing landscape of ebooks right now!
The Wylie agency have decided to set up their own publishing company and deal exclusively with Amazon for its ebooks, rather than through traditional channels.
This deeply upsets (and by "deeply", I mean "legally") Random House, who believe they have the rights to the ebooks. So Random House are refusing to negotiate any new contracts with Wylie authors until this is resolved. The Wylie Agency has some pretty big authors too, like John Updike and Salmon Rushdie. They have a reputation for pinching them from other agencies once they get famous by offering to negotiate absolutely huge advances; it's what they're famous for, and why Wylie is called 'The Jackal'.
Writer Beware comments here on why they dislike these kind of agency/publisher arrangements. EREC lists other agencies that have done the same, though note that none of the others have tried this with books a very large publishing already claim to own the rights too.
Personally, I thinkRandom House's claims to the ebook rights are pretty tenuous, but I think the conflict of interest inherent in agencies opening their own publishing houses is worse. After all, why shop your e-rights around to other publishers when they could publish your book themselves and take a bigger cut?
The Wylie agency have decided to set up their own publishing company and deal exclusively with Amazon for its ebooks, rather than through traditional channels.
This deeply upsets (and by "deeply", I mean "legally") Random House, who believe they have the rights to the ebooks. So Random House are refusing to negotiate any new contracts with Wylie authors until this is resolved. The Wylie Agency has some pretty big authors too, like John Updike and Salmon Rushdie. They have a reputation for pinching them from other agencies once they get famous by offering to negotiate absolutely huge advances; it's what they're famous for, and why Wylie is called 'The Jackal'.
Writer Beware comments here on why they dislike these kind of agency/publisher arrangements. EREC lists other agencies that have done the same, though note that none of the others have tried this with books a very large publishing already claim to own the rights too.
Personally, I thinkRandom House's claims to the ebook rights are pretty tenuous, but I think the conflict of interest inherent in agencies opening their own publishing houses is worse. After all, why shop your e-rights around to other publishers when they could publish your book themselves and take a bigger cut?
2reading_fox
Does the "Agencies take a bigger cut" mean authors get a smaller cut? Or with a middleman taken out do both parties prosper?
I can't see authors caring particularly who publishes their book, only that it be published, well marketed and available to all readers who might like it. And I'm sure they'd like to earn enough to put bread on the table and roof over their head too if possible. While I'm sure John Updike isn't going to struggle to find a new publisher, it will be the smaller authors (and their dedicated readers) who lose out. Again.
I know the ebook rights to older books (before the invension of 'ebook' but still well within copyright) is a very very tangled and murky mess. Defunct publishers, publishers without ebook releases, handwriten contracts, lost copies of handwriten manuscripts, ... even just working out who owns the backlist rights to a book, let alone the ebook rights to a territory (never forget the global nature of ebooks!) can be very tricky.
As a reader - anything which makes ebooks more accessible, and allows me to easily give the authors the (sensible) compensation for their efforts, is welcomed.
I can't see authors caring particularly who publishes their book, only that it be published, well marketed and available to all readers who might like it. And I'm sure they'd like to earn enough to put bread on the table and roof over their head too if possible. While I'm sure John Updike isn't going to struggle to find a new publisher, it will be the smaller authors (and their dedicated readers) who lose out. Again.
I know the ebook rights to older books (before the invension of 'ebook' but still well within copyright) is a very very tangled and murky mess. Defunct publishers, publishers without ebook releases, handwriten contracts, lost copies of handwriten manuscripts, ... even just working out who owns the backlist rights to a book, let alone the ebook rights to a territory (never forget the global nature of ebooks!) can be very tricky.
As a reader - anything which makes ebooks more accessible, and allows me to easily give the authors the (sensible) compensation for their efforts, is welcomed.
3mishmelle
I can't see authors caring particularly who publishes their book, only that it be published, well marketed and available to all readers who might like it...
As a reader - anything which makes ebooks more accessible...is welcomed.
Except that it is an exclusive deal with Amazon so that actually reduces accessibility to only kindle/kindle app users. Got a Sony or Nook? You're SOL.
As a reader - anything which makes ebooks more accessible...is welcomed.
Except that it is an exclusive deal with Amazon so that actually reduces accessibility to only kindle/kindle app users. Got a Sony or Nook? You're SOL.
