Guild Program Helps Authors Get Back in Print

Since it launched in 1999, the Authors Guild's Back-in-Print.com republishing program has generated approximately $500,000 in royalties for participating authors, with some 1,250 books now included. The service, while not making any authors rich, has met its objective of providing a way for writers to keep their books available, said Authors Guild executive director Paul Aiken. Payments to authors range from “enough to buy a good dinner to several thousand dollars a year,” Aiken said.

The guild began Back-in-Print just as print-on-demand technology was making very short print runs economically feasible, and it has always partnered with iUniverse to run the program. Back-in-Print added the most titles in the first two years after its launch, and Aiken said sales have risen steadily, with unit growth of 15% annually in both 2005 and 2006 (the last years for which figures are available). iUniverse adds Guild members' books to Back-in-Print at no charge and pays a 20% royalty. Authors can get rights back with 60 days' notice. To be eligible for the program, books must have been published first by a traditional house.

Aiken shot down speculation that one reason the Guild fought S&S over plans by the publisher to make it harder for rights to revert to authors was that the Guild was looking to build up Back-in-Print. “The Guild receives no revenue from Back-in-Print,” Aiken said. “It's a service for members.” He added that there are no plans for any major changes in the program. “It's doing fine,” Aiken said.