Last week I noticed that my link to Pill Hill Press no longer worked, and that their website appeared to have been removed from the internet altogether. Further investigation revealed that the press actually closed its doors back in January, although unfortunately nobody had told me.
I had a number of stories in Pill Hill Press anthologies: The Other Side of Silence in their 'There Was a Crooked House' collection; and four separate flash stories in 'Daily Flash 2012'. So I wrote to ask for clarification on what was happening with rights, sales and the like.
Normally when a publisher goes under, all rights automatically revert to the relevant authors. All digital and POD sales cease immediately (or at least as immediately as the owners can let the various distributors know); and print copies only continue to be sold until existing stocks run out. But when I checked my point of sale links, I found both books appear to still be available in a variety of formats, which isn't ideal.
The owners assure me that all the books will be removed from Amazon and the like in the next 'month or so' - on top of the five months since the press formally ceased trading - and obviously I'll be keeping an eye on things to make sure that happens. In the meantime, if you happen to see a copy of either book for sale anywhere, might I respectfully request that you don't buy it? I wouldn't be getting any financial reward and it could well be in breach of contract...
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