Q –
Hi Angela,
Just one question.. I don’t want to ask Tate Publishing for my files. Can I get my book to you without notifying them of my change? I don’t want them to sue me. Should I ask my attorney about this?
(Name not published…for obvious reasons.)
—
A –
You can read our coverage of the Tate Publishing debacle HERE.
You should ALWAYS check with your attorney about any legal questions or concerns you have. I am not an attorney and this is not legal advice. I’m simply someone who’s worked in this business for 18+ years, and who’s seen pretty much everything, including publishers going out of business…while pinching their authors one last time on their way out the door.
That said…it’s my understanding that Tate’s contract was non-exclusive (but you need to check your version of their contract to be sure.) That means you and they can publish your book and sell the simultaneously. BUT, that does NOT mean you can use their files. You have to use your own (ones they didn’t work on). Based on our interpretation of their contract, Tate owns all rights to all files they worked on/created. If you want to use those files, you’ll need to pay them the (insulting!) $50 fee, and sign their (double-insulting!) contract, which releases them from all liability, says they don’t have to give you any refunds, etc., etc.
If you are submitting new files (not ones they worked on) for publication, you should be fine.
At BookLocker.com, here’s what we’re offering Tate Publishing’s authors for black-and-white-interior print books. We can get an author’s book(s) back on the market for as little as $78, and in as little as 2 weeks.
1. OUR DIY PROGRAM – ONLY $78.
If you want to wait for your production files from Tate, you probably qualify for our DIY program, which is ONLY $78. That includes you receiving the print proof of your book (the first printed, bound copy, shipped via UPS Next Day Air) for review. We will be happy to create a new copyright page for your book, and to insert it into your interior file. It will contain your new ISBN (you can use one of ours at no additional charge, or you can use your own) and all of Tate’s info. will be stripped from the page. Note: If you want to buy your own ISBN, that’s $125 at R.R. Bowker but, again, we’ll assign one of ours for no additional charge. Since we buy them 1,000 at a time in bulk, we get them for a little more than a buck each.
We might be able to remove Tate’s info. from the cover without much hassle. If that is the case, our designer will charge $95 to do that. If you want to do it yourself, we won’t charge anything. You’ll just need to upload your cover to us and we’ll quickly replace the barcode with one that includes your new ISBN. There is no extra charge for us to do that.
You will retain all rights to your cover and interior files (the production files). We don’t take rights from authors.
We do not profit on the setup for DIY books. Instead, we earn our profits (along with the author) in book sales later.
To sign up for our DIY service, click HERE.
or
2. OUR “DISGRUNTLED AUTHOR SPECIAL” – ONLY $268
Send us YOUR existing interior file (not Tate’s) as a word processing document. We will provide formatting assistance, assign a new ISBN, get a new barcode, etc., etc. If you’d like to make new edits to the manuscript at this time, that’s fine and now is definitely the time to do that! We will send you the formatted file for review so you can make your edits at that time. This is our “disgruntled author special” and we offer it to victims of other defunct (or just plain lousy) POD publishers all the time. You won’t find this level of service cheaper anywhere else.
As with the DIY program above, we might be able to remove Tate’s info. from your cover without much hassle. If that is the case, our designer will charge $95 to do that. If you want to do it yourself, we won’t charge anything. You’ll just need to upload your cover to us and we’ll quickly replace the barcode with one that includes your new ISBN (or ours). There is no extra charge for us to do that.
If you need a new cover, we can design a brand new, original cover for you. Cost: $250 for paperbacks; $350 for hardcovers. You can see samples of our covers HERE.
Click on each one to see the entire cover (front, back and spine).
Also, see the covers at the top of THIS PAGE.
Our covers are all original. We do not use templates.
You will own all rights to your cover and interior files (the production files). We don’t take rights from authors.
To sign up for our “Disgruntled Author” service, use THIS LINK.
COLOR-INTERIOR PRINT BOOKS
If you have a color-interior book, please contact me so we can discuss your needs. Those files are a bit more complicated but we might be able to help you for very little cost depending, of course, on the quality and format of Tate’s files.
You can see excerpts from just two of our color-interior books HERE, and HERE.
We have detailed just a few of Tate’s “sins” (sorry, couldn’t resist because, to me at least, many of their actions haven’t seemed very Christian-like) HERE.
In that article, you can read personal information about us (BookLocker) and why we have remained in business, and profitable, for 18 years while so many others have failed.
We’d love to help you get your book back on the market FAST so please holler and let us know how we can help!
If you have any questions, contact me (Angela) RIGHT HERE.
RELATED:
URGENT NOTE FOR AUTHORS OF FAILED TATE PUBLISHING – Your “Production Files” Might Have Problems!
AUTHORS, REPEAT AFTER ME: “I will NOT give publishers ownership of my production files!”
Print on Demand Price Comparison
The Romantic History of WritersWeekly and BookLocker
HELP! MY PUBLISHER IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS!! How Can I SAVE MY BOOK Without Going Broke?!
The Do-It-Yourselfer's Guide to Self-Syndication
Practical resource outlining the self-syndication process, step-by-step. Packed with detailed information and useful tips for writers looking to gain readership, name recognition, publication and self-syndication for their column or articles.
https://writersweekly.com/books/4693.html
https://writersweekly.com/books/4693.html
90+ DAYS OF PROMOTING YOUR BOOK ONLINE: Your Book's Daily Marketing Plan by Angela Hoy and Richard Hoy
Promoting your book online should be considered at least a part-time job. Highly successful authors spend more time promoting a book than they do writing it - a lot more.
We know what you're thinking. You're an author, not a marketer. Not to worry! We have more than a decade of successful online book selling experience under our belts and we're going to teach you how to promote your book effectively online...and almost all of our techniques are FREE!
Online book promotion is not only simple but, if you have a step-by-step, day-to-day marketing plan (this book!), it can also be a very artistic endeavor, which makes it fun for creative folks like you!
Yes, online book promoting can be EASY and FUN! Let us show you how, from Day 1 through Day 90...and beyond!
Hello Angela,
I am another disgruntled Tate author, who has already signed that insulting contract. I just wanted to cut all ties with Tate. I did not want their files as I plan to do a rewrite before I resubmit to anyone because I have had several comments that I should have fired my editor, I had four different editors, the were either fired, moved on to better jobs, or move to a better position in Tate. I’d just about get used to one and end up with another. Not to mention they all had different Ideas, changing things that had already been worked over, very confusing for a first time author. Not to speak of the lousy editing program that they used. Luckily, i want to change back to my original manuscript and do a complete rewrite, new cover and all.
So I choose the “NO, I do not wish to receive my final, print- ready files.
Please securely delete any files on hand, and destroy any
hardcopy works on hand. I understand that once deleted, the files will no longer be recoverable.”
So my files should be gone. And I should be able to do whatever I want with my book.
I do have a question. Is my original manuscript that they started with, that my contract said I retain all rights to, am I able to start over with it?