Late last year when I was preparing for Winter markets I attempted to order more authors copies of three of my books, specifically The Goddess Renewed, Jack Kane and the Statue of Liberty, and Jack Kane and the Kaiser. I emailed my publisher as I’ve always done and waited three days.
No response.
So, I tried reaching out to the Champagne Books (former publisher) community to see if there was someone else who could help me out. I knew the publisher had been experiencing some life events so I hoped there was another avenue I could follow.
Imagine my surprise when the trail I was trying to follow (no one was responding to ANY of my emails, btw) lead me to news that, not only had the press been sold several months earlier but only weeks prior had gone out of business.
You would think that, as one of their published authors, I would have heard something about this but in the finest traditions of screwing people over, nothing was ever communicated to me. Nothing was posted on their website and, when I tried to contact the new owner, no reply ever came.
The Champagne Book Group webpage is still up (again, no notice of it being shut down – the only thing I found was a post on Facebook) and my emails and texts have gone unanswered. My books are listed but no long available on Amazon.
I have some copies left which will be available at any markets I attend, but I cannot get anymore from the press. That’s fine. The book has now been out-of-print for more than six months and I’m taking my rights back. Since the publisher doesn’t respond to emails I will go forward, self-publishing the books. I would welcome them to reach out to tell me I can’t do that since it would represent the only communications since the press was apparently sold. I would also welcome them to pay me my outstanding royalties.
Frankly, I’m disappointed. In an age where communications are almost instantaneous and can be easily sent to many in one go, this lack is criminal. It certainly doesn’t show any level of respect to the impacted authors (and readers).
I will be announcing when the books are once again available for online purchase. I may wait a while until a new book is complete to revitalize the two series, but they are coming back. If you are interested in one of the few remaining copies, reach out to me. We can likely arrange something. 🙂
