Authors Guild Stands Firm

by Jim Milliot, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 5/25/2007

The Authors Guild is not backing down from its stance that new language in Simon & Schuster's contracts is an attempt to alter the definition of when an author has the right to get back the publishing rights to a book. In a new alert sent out to its members yesterday afternoon, the guild reiterated its recommendation that any author who has a manuscript that is being auctioned to exclude S&S unless the publisher agrees beforehand to agree to the same terms as all other publishers.

The new alert comes in response to a letter S&S sent to agents and authors Tuesday that charged the guild with "perpetrat[ing] serious misinformation." In today's alert, the guild says that while S&S looks to make the dispute about print on demand, the real issue is when a book goes out of print. "Simon & Schuster is trying to change the rules of the industry so that they never have to admit that a book is out of print," the guild writes.

To view the guild's counterargument to S&S's letter, click here.