Getting my Author Rights Back…?? What does that mean?

Hello my lovely blog readers!

The Selling Simon journey has been a rough one. My professional relationship with my publisher was…not professional. Still, I didn’t expect an email today that read:

“Nichol,

Attached please find your royalty statement for Q2 2025.

Also, please allow this writing to serve as official notice that the rights to story in the book entitled Selling Simon are being reverted to you. It may take a few days for all of the platforms where the book is sold to remove the title. Further, pursuant to the All Other Rights clause in Schedule A, the book's cover, as well as the book's ISBN, keynote, copy, and series titles belongs to Boroughs Publishing Group.”

To be honest, I was completely floored by this. I never asked for my rights back. In fact, I did everything I could think of to try and repair (or learn how to manage) the relationship with the publisher. To say I was shocked was an understatement.

Now, my book has disappeared from different selling platforms and she even tried to cancel its presence on GoodReads. THANKFULLY my librarian friend was able to advocate for it to be reinstated. Out of print books still are meant to exist on GoodReads.

Now, it’s just about figuring out what “copy” means in the above email. If it means what I think it means, its the entirety of what’s written in the book. I’ve asked for clarification, but have received none. What’s the point of getting my rights back if I don’t own what’s actually written in my book?

All in all, I’m disheartened and so much more. My feelings are hard to untangle. But, if I do have the rights to my own book the way I hope I do, I plan to republish it on my own. I love that book. I love all my books. I want them to exist in this world.

Thank you for reading. Please expect that I won’t stop writing. I won’t let you down. I want to be a author, and all that takes.

With love,

Nix