Book People Archive

Re: Copyright renewal searches

[This was sent to my personal mailbox a few days ago.  The author has
 given me permission to post it to the list.  -- JMO]

JOHN:

I happened on your site and subscribed recently. Your work is
commendable.

Reading your comments concerning Copyright renewal caused me to think of
the great reality lurking behind Copyright in the publishing community.
Nintyfive percent of all the books published in the United States sell
less than 7,500 copies in their lifetime. The typical publisher is
forwardly concerned with newly published titles.  In the contemporary
world, a title has "new" status only for a short period of time, and
once it achieves "backlist" status, very little time or effort is spent
promoting it or seeking to extend the market for it. Naturally, there
are exceptions, but by and large, the typical title is not given much
after market support. 

This has always been a factor. Even in 1915, when American Book
Publishers created about 1500 new titles, the forward vision was
obvious, as can be observed by perusing the trade publications of the
day. Fourscore beyond, with numberless publishers creating numberless
books; they have become mere commodities, with an absurdly abbreviated
life.

Forgive me for taking so long to introduce my theme with such an
illustrative backdrop, but the average author I am acquainted with would
be absolutely delighted at the prospect of seeing a work they spent
years preparing brought back to life. For many, if not most authors,
publishing is a bittersweet experience, demanding much while delivering
little.

I admire your sensitivity to the rights granted by Copyright, but do
urge that you might safely advise your subscribers they will do very
well by actively seeking out the authors of still-protected materials
which they feel will benefit contemporary readers. All to often it is
factors such as luck, position, timing, the surendipitous arrival of a
fad, or even cover art, which generates the numbers people attach to
success.

There are literally myriads of wonderful books out there which were
undersold, underpresented, and too soon abandoned. Creating outreach to
such sources could reap rich rewards.

I do hope this will prove a helpful insight. 


Sincerely,

Ed Cooney