Every contract we write and sign with our authors includes an End-of-Term clause, which lately is for three years. This specifies the number of years Koehler Books will own the rights to publish the work. After that the rights revert back to the author. Legally speaking the author then owns the publishing rights.
In addition to settling up with royalty reports and payments, we give our authors options about how to continue the life of their book through self-publishing. We are offering these options as a courtesy to help you move forward.
Here are four options for Hybrid and Traditional authors to pursue when their book is at the end of term and no longer published by Koehler Books:
1) Do nothing. The book will essentially fade away and cannot be printed or sold, unless there was any inventory with booksellers. Unlikely.
2) Self-publish your book in your own name or company name. Ask us to send you the publishing files. You will have to find a designer who can help you with the InDesign files, replace our branding logos and contact info with your own, setup your own account with KDP or IngramSpark, acquire new ISBNs, install your book per the directions of either company. A lot of work but possible. The downside is you will likely lose your reviews on Amazon and will have to start over. $1679 – estimated cost for an author to pay for the ISBNs, layout and design and installation of new account.
3) Hire Koehler Books to transfer your book to your own IngramSpark account. We will replace our logos and contact information with yours. You will need to setup your own IngramSpark account. Fill out a transfer form that authorizes Ingram to transfer the publishing files to your account. We will prepare the way and then initiate the transfer to your IngramSpark account. The good news is you can keep the ISBNs and your reviews and other data associated with your book will remain. We can also have a Zoom call with you to show you how to use the account, change meta data and order printed books. $1259 fee.
4) If a Hybrid author reaches the 1500-2500 (depending on your contract numbers) threshold of sales+books you bought, shown at the bottom of Section 2.1 on the contract, we will then offer you a traditional deal on your next book, and extend the life of your first book. This is the big payoff for all Hybrid authors.
Authors with exceptional sales at the end of term may be offered an extension of their term.
Setting up an IngramSpark account:
https://myaccount.ingramspark.com/Account/Signup
Transfer form for authors to fill out for option 3:
https://www.ingramspark.com/lp/title-transfer
