From: Anthony Watkinson <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2015 10:26:12 +0100 Of course like Sandy I am writing from an academic standpoint though a different part of the academic world. However I have never been able to understand why, in the vast majority of cases where an author wants to go elsewhere, a publisher will want to hang on to any rights. The relationship has broken. There are occasions where marriage therapy might help. For example if you show vigour and real interest as a publisher in a situation where there has been a hiatus in the relationship due to corporate or individual failure sometimes the author will prefer to work with you. In the special example we are looking at here I cannot imagine the publisher will even wish to attempt to revive the book. Anthony -----Original Message----- From: Sandy Thatcher <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2015 20:09:54 -0500 Doesn't this beg the question of why any publisher these days would ever want to cease keeping a book available via POD indefinitely? Since POD has made keeping a book available virtually cost-free, the "out of print" clause in publishing contracts has ceased to have much meaning. Under special circumstances, where an author has an opportunity to revive a book for a new audience and finds a publisher willing to do extra marketing, redesign the jacket, etc., retrieving rights may make sense, but this rarely happens for academic books. Sandy Thatcher From: Ann Okerson <[log in to unmask]> Date: Sat, Apr 11, 2015 at 7:07 PM http://www.authorsalliance.org/2015/04/09/keeping-your-books-available/ "Today, Authors Alliance releases Understanding Rights Reversion: When, Why, & How to Regain Copyright and Make Your Book More Available, a guide that arms authors with the information and strategies they need to revive their books. This guide is the product of extensive outreach to the publishing industry. In the process, we interviewed authors, publishers, and literary agents, ranging from a CEO of a major publishing house to contracts and rights managers of trade and academic presses, editorial assistants, novelists, and academic authors. "We were happily surprised by the consistency of publishers' responses: across the board, publishers told us that they want to work together with their authors and that they are often willing to give authors their rights back if its in the books' best interests. Publishers share the desire to "do the right thing" by books that would otherwise languish out of print. Time and again, we received a warm reception from the publishers, authors, and agents that we spoke with during our outreach, all of whom saw the value in a guide that would help authors keep their works available to readers." ********