What does an author do when they receive an email that their publisher is closing effective immediately, but: Titles scheduled to be released through April 1, 2018, will be published as planned, and previously published titles will remain available for consumer purchasing. To that end, royalty statements will continue to be issued, and payments made so long as the books are available for purchase. 

It’s every author’s fear, and I’ve heard all kinds of horror stories. Publishing is such a crazy business. Any entertainment business is crazy and there are so many ups and downs. One of the editors, who literally found out maybe a half hour before the authors, said that she had been in publishing for years and you sign up for the ups and downs from the very beginning. She wouldn’t change it for a minute of this fantastic ride!

I might disagree a bit, but man do I feel for the people who put their heart and soul into this business and their authors. You meet so many great people along the way, some you will always keep in touch with whether you ever meet them face to face or not. I am also now connected to a group of people I will never forget and I will turn to again and again for inspiration.

That being said, I’m not giving up. I have a reversion letter sent, which means I will get my rights back to publish elsewhere. I won’t remain orphaned, with a publisher who lets my books sit there just in case they sell but isn’t in business anymore. Keep in mind, publishers have so many sub-publishers (i.e. Simon and Schuster has many publishing lines, so they will remain in business, just not my particular publishing line if that makes sense). It could take a while, but it’s no big deal really. Just more time. It also means parts of the books might change and the covers will definitely change. (Which, honestly, that’s okay because I wasn’t a fan of them anyway).

They’ll be published again. They’ll be different. And they’ll have a new life.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t upset. I’m upset for a lot of people, and I’m upset that a lot of great people and a lot of great authors have to find new jobs or new homes for their books. And a reversion of rights and republishing isn’t always easy. I’d like to say for me, it’s a new beginning. But I know plenty of editor and author friends who are upset and who just signed contracts and who are affected. For that, I feel greatly for them. I truly believe things will work out in the end, even if we are losing a great romance publisher.

And I don’t really know what else to say, because my thoughts are all over the place with this news…