A letter about a book from twelve years ago
An author's agent writes to say that a title has been out of print for some time and asks for the rights to revert under the contract. The contract is from before anyone currently on staff joined. The paperback is still listed with the distributor, there are a few copies in stock, and the ebook sells a handful a year.
Someone has to find the contract, read the out-of-print clause, work out whether an ebook counts as the book being in print under that wording, check sales for the last few periods, check whether a translation licence is still live, and then draft a reply. The request sits in the publisher's inbox for weeks because none of that is anyone's job.
Why reversion requests stall
Reversion clauses vary a lot, especially on older contracts. The facts needed to respond are spread across the contracts file, the distributor's stock report, the royalty workbook and the rights register. Nobody has them together.
- Contract wording on 'in print' differs between eras and agents.
- Notice periods in the clause start a clock that nobody diarises.
- Current stock and recent sales by format need two different reports.
- Licences granted to other publishers may still be running.
- The eventual decision and the letter are not filed with the title.
What slow handling costs
| Problem | Effect |
|---|---|
| Notice period missed | A clock under the contract runs out without a decision |
| Stock not dealt with | Copies remain in the warehouse after rights revert |
| Licence overlooked | A foreign edition continues without a clear position |
| Metadata left live | The title stays on sale at retailers after reversion |
| No record of the outcome | The same request is handled again in a few years |
What the clause means, and whether to accept, dispute or reissue instead, is a decision for the publisher and your legal adviser. The work we can take away is gathering the facts and keeping the dates.
The reversion log and what it gathers
- A request record created from the letter or email, with the date received.
- The contract PDF and the reversion clause reference pulled from your rights record, with any notice period you enter as a date.
- Recent sales by format and current stock from your distributor and ebook reports, gathered into one summary.
- Active licences on the title from your rights register.
- Decision options you use (revert, reissue, decline with reasons) with the decision and letter stored against the title.
- On reversion, a checklist: stock disposal or offer to the author, metadata withdrawal to your distributor and retailers, notices to licensees.
After a request comes in
The letter is logged the day it arrives and the facts are pulled together in one view. The publisher looks at sales, stock and licences in a few minutes and decides with the adviser if needed. The deadline is on the calendar. If the rights go back, the checklist makes sure the book actually comes off sale, which is the step most often forgotten.
A year later, when the same author's agent asks about another title, the history of the last request is in the file.
It also changes how you look at the backlist in general. Because the log shows sales, stock and licences together, you can spot titles likely to attract a reversion request before one arrives, and decide whether a reissue, a new cover or a print on demand edition makes more sense than letting the book go. That is a publishing choice, and it is easier to make with the figures in front of you.
Do reversion requests go like this for you?
- Reversion letters wait weeks because nobody knows the old contract.
- You check sales in one report and stock in another to answer one question.
- Notice periods in reversion clauses are not diarised.
- Reverted titles have stayed on sale at retailers by mistake.
- There is no record of past reversion decisions.