Revising stories for sale -- has anyone?

[PennLady]

I was wondering if anyone out there who has published via Amazon, Smashwords, etc., has ever done a major revision of their work after it was published, either on Lit or even Amazon/SW.

I had some novels for sale a few years ago, but the publisher closed, and I still have the books. A couple were originally on Lit, others written for publication.

Anyway, although it was fun to write them and I'm grateful for the people who bought and enjoyed them, I feel like they need a good overhaul if I were to put them up again for sale. Not changing the plot, but fixing some wording (taking out a lot of dialogue tags, for one thing) and streamlining some POVs, etc.

Mr. Penn thinks they're fine as-is, with maybe a once-over for any lingering errors, but part of me just feels like I could do better (I do think I've improved since I wrote them), and fix up what are probably "rookie mistakes."

 

[lovecraft68]

I've done it. I've replaced the original versions of Broken with edited editions last year.

Its easy to submit a edited version though SW and amazon, you just upload the new doc.

In fact if you want in the description tout it as a "Revised" or "Newly edited" version.

You could also use the "relaunch" trick and pull the book, fix it up then put it back out to get new release status on it again.

 

[sr71plt]

I've pulled back over forty books from eXcessica for reworking (usually expanding) and relaunching and most of them have relaunched and sold as much on the second round as the first. You need to check what copyright use deal you had with the original publisher, though. Even if they've gone out of business, you can't relaunch if they had your rights tied up more than for nonexclusive use and you can't get a written release.

 

[lovecraft68]

I've pulled back over forty books from eXcessica for reworking (usually expanding) and relaunching and most of them have relaunched and sold as much on the second round as the first. You need to check what copyright use deal you had with the original publisher, though. Even if they've gone out of business, you can't relaunch if they had your rights tied up more than for nonexclusive use and you can't get a written release.

Do you note in the description its relaunched? Or do you just figure anyone who bought it first time around wouldn't buy it a second time(and lead to a return)

 

[SikFuk]

I just finished "The Cove" by Ron Rash, an award winning mainstream fiction writer. In an author's note at the beginning of the book, he mentions the paperback version drops 3 chapters and a number of additional paragraphs present in the hardcover version.

 

[sr71plt]

Do you note in the description its relaunched? Or do you just figure anyone who bought it first time around wouldn't buy it a second time(and lead to a return)

I note it's a relaunch. I also note whither it is a recast or an expansion. I've announced my relaunches here on Literotica for years. You could check that out for yourself.

The purpose isn't to sell it again to those who've bought it--they are warned in the blurb on all distributor listings what the publisher and title of the original one is. It's to take advantage what has been a new market where over the past half decade more and more new readers have been entering the market for the first time and aren't likely to delve very far into an author's old lists. The old version is withdrawn.

 

[SusanJillParker]

I was wondering if anyone out there who has published via Amazon, Smashwords, etc., has ever done a major revision of their work after it was published, either on Lit or even Amazon/SW.

I had some novels for sale a few years ago, but the publisher closed, and I still have the books. A couple were originally on Lit, others written for publication.

Anyway, although it was fun to write them and I'm grateful for the people who bought and enjoyed them, I feel like they need a good overhaul if I were to put them up again for sale. Not changing the plot, but fixing some wording (taking out a lot of dialogue tags, for one thing) and streamlining some POVs, etc.

Mr. Penn thinks they're fine as-is, with maybe a once-over for any lingering errors, but part of me just feels like I could do better (I do think I've improved since I wrote them), and fix up what are probably "rookie mistakes."

Initially I published an e-Book called Love So Young that was 60,000 words. Then, when the publisher disappeared after only paying me an advance, being that I still owned the rights, I rewrote the book as Young Woman with Older Man, 2 volume set of 120,000 words.

That publisher disappeared too, after paying me an advance and no royalties. I no longer write e-Books. Now I write custom, personalized stories for fans. Having successfully cut out the middleman, writing directly for customers/fans who solicit me is a much more lucrative business than writing e-Books.

 

[PennLady]

I've pulled back over forty books from eXcessica for reworking (usually expanding) and relaunching and most of them have relaunched and sold as much on the second round as the first. You need to check what copyright use deal you had with the original publisher, though. Even if they've gone out of business, you can't relaunch if they had your rights tied up more than for nonexclusive use and you can't get a written release.

I will check, but to my knowledge they gave all the rights back, including to cover art and anything else. This was a small e-publisher (Republica Press, which also had a website called Erotica Republic, IIRC, and they closed it all down), just run by a husband and wife. I do have the correspondence and contracts, though, so it should be easy to find out.

I would note that it was a revised version, but thanks for that reminder.

 

[Dream_Operator]

Now I write custom, personalized stories for fans. Having successfully cut out the middleman, writing directly for customers/fans who solicit me is a much more lucrative business than writing e-Books.

Just out of curiosity, what do you charge for something like that? By the hour? By the word?

I recently had a reader contact me about writing a custom story for him involving a Spanish celebrity I had never heard of. And another contacted me wanting me to write a cuckold story about his wife. I politely declined both.

That said, my My Little Stalker was written (for free) as a story request from a young woman who has a Leonard Nemoy fetish. It seems like an incredible challenge, as a writer, and too bizarre to pass up.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I pulled my novels which I self-published, in order to post the first one on here and get some feedback. I want to tidy them up then post them back onto both Smashwords and Amazon Kindle. I'm in the middle of posting the chapters and have had some very helpful feedback.

I haven't quite decided yet whether I would post them as 'new' or as revised versions.

 

[lovecraft68]

I note it's a relaunch. I also note whither it is a recast or an expansion. I've announced my relaunches here on Literotica for years. You could check that out for yourself.

The purpose isn't to sell it again to those who've bought it--they are warned in the blurb on all distributor listings what the publisher and title of the original one is. It's to take advantage what has been a new market where over the past half decade more and more new readers have been entering the market for the first time and aren't likely to delve very far into an author's old lists. The old version is withdrawn.

I know you note it here. The second part of your post answered mu question which was whether or not there was a disclaimer to prevent a return customer from thinking it was brand new.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Yep, did it with Walker Brigade. Pulled a lot out, all that sex got in the way of the story line, added other stuff. Released it under my other pen name - Connor G. Madison.

Didn't include a note, but did add that it was a second edition in the copyright page.

e.g.

First Edition - January 2012
Second Edition - March 2013

 

[sr71plt]

I will check, but to my knowledge they gave all the rights back, including to cover art and anything else. This was a small e-publisher (Republica Press, which also had a website called Erotica Republic, IIRC, and they closed it all down), just run by a husband and wife. I do have the correspondence and contracts, though, so it should be easy to find out.

I would note that it was a revised version, but thanks for that reminder.

It will be great if you have the rights to the cover art too. In the mainstream world and in my experience of e-book publishers, where the publisher has provided the cover at the publisher's expense, all of the cover rights are retained by the publisher. The ones I've moved from one publisher to the other have had to have new covers, although chances were good that the same cover image, when it was bought from a photo service, was still available to be purchased again. I think the same image was only reused once in one of my relaunches, though.

As far as Freddie's post, I think that's sheer fabrication as usual. I know of no e-publisher of erotica that pays or has paid advances. Perhaps others in e-publishing can identify an e-publisher that does. I also knew of the only publisher I know Freddie to have e-published with. The publisher didn't waltz off (although the publisher was small potatoes and is now gone, I think); he got irritated with Freddie's harassment on royalties and cut him loose. Freddie also was claiming he had books in the market (posted his covers on Lit., which identified the Freddie name) long after the publisher had pulled them--and even had reused the cover image. So "Susan" is just doing his usual fantasy shtick here, I believe.

 

[AZMotherLover]

So "Susan" is just doing his usual fantasy shtick here, I believe.

Yeah, there's a lot of that going around here, eh "pilot"?

 

[PennLady]

It will be great if you have the rights to the cover art too. In the mainstream world and in my experience of e-book publishers, where the publisher has provided the cover at the publisher's expense, all of the cover rights are retained by the publisher. The ones I've moved from one publisher to the other have had to have new covers, although chances were good that the same cover image, when it was bought from a photo service, was still available to be purchased again. I think the same image was only reused once in one of my relaunches, though.

I don't doubt your experience, but mine was different. I specifically remember the publisher telling me everything was all mine again, including the cover art (although I will probably get new, different stuff anyway). I believe they wanted totally out of the business; they tried it, it was more work than they expected, and they closed up shop.

And no, there were no advances. I don't have a lot of experience with e-publishers but none of the ones I have seen mentioned advances.