AgentPete's latest activity

This is my message of the decade. Writers must own their readers. That’s really interesting. And a bit daunting for new writers, too, yet without a base. I’ve funded one or two Kickstarters (not books tho) and the experience was… mixed. One in...

I'm not sure that Unbound was a great name to begin with. On one level, it implies they didn't bind, as in books, implying they're all in on digitial only publishing. But they were not. So right off, it was a lie. And a silly one. But there...

I had a busy day yesterday, so I'm just catching up on this now. Coming at this from a business / marketing rather than author / publisher perspective, I have some observations: 1. Running a crowdfunding site is like plate-spinning, on a...

Bountiful? or Boundisfullofit? Pounded? BoundofFlesh? UnWounded? Ponzi Publishing?

Yes, definitely the right time for some intense conversations. This guy (Tom Cox, no relation!) suggests that he has actually got some rights back, so there may be a precedent. Yeah, they’re calling royalties due from the old company “goodwill...

This is a crucial point. The publisher will tend to want to retain whatever contractual rights they have in the event of administration or “making an arrangement with their creditors” since IP assets are pretty much all publishers are likely to...

M&A in publishing has been bad news all round. It’s killed off so many decent medium-sized publishers, folk who had a flair for certain genres / publishing approaches. Publishing is almost by definition idiosyncratic and quirky; the polar...

The problem comes in because editors and publishers need Bentleys, too. A fundamental rule to running a perfect scam is to not get too greedy. But people run scams because they are greedy. Taking out the $10 million you want over 20 years doens't...

Oh! Give that guy a tissue and a good lawyer! How dare a corporate business break someone up so much with shoddy work then empty promises. I hope you get your book back, mate.

That’s a good point. Actually, two good points, viz: 1) At the time (and today, but less so) authors really wanted the kudos of being “properly” published, i.e. not vanity. Although I know very little about Unbound, they did have a generally...

I should say, that as a customer, I think I got a good deal - a beautiful, hardback book with my name printed in the list of supporters delivered on the day of publication. It cost me no more than the cover price of the same book that I see for...

You know Pete all the authors ripped off here could form your first constellation...

Iconic. Complicated. Feet of clay. Of course, who hasn't. He had a heart. Biafra. The Odessa File, OMG. I never care about spoilers. I often read the ending of a book first, and gauge that way if I want to spend the time (horreur.) He had the...

I think you’re right to be suspicious. I don’t know what happened to Unbound, but they seem to have burnt through money. Nor do I know if their publishing model ever worked properly (does anyone here know?)

I know nothing about Forsyth's views, but Jackall is one of my favourite novels.