| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| bfollowell |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 02:19:17
I've been watching with anticipation for some time as Wizards of the Coast releases more ebooks (novels, not game source books) I see some older, backlist titles getting released on occasion but it's really hit or miss. I've looked and really can't seem to find any decent forums on their site in which to ask so I'm hoping to find some fans here that may have some information.
Is anyone aware if WotC has a plan to release most or more of their older titles as ebooks? Just the Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance series alone are missing quite a few older titles.
The most glaring omission to me seems to be the missing anthologies. Listed below are anthologies that were released as part of a series. The rest of the series have been released in ebook format but, for some reason, the anthologies weren't. It seems very strange to release only part a series.
Thanks to anyone that may have more information.
- Byron |
| 16 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Arcanus |
Posted - 23 Aug 2012 : 00:24:50
Thanks for the info guys, looks like I will be buying an ebook reader soon! |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 21:13:14
quote:
Originally posted by ErinMEvans
quote:
Erin, I received and signed electronic rights addendums for my Forgotten Realms books several years ago, well before any FR book was released as an eBook. I don't recall offhand if I received addendums for the anthologies as well as the novels, but it seems likely.
This was, if memory serves and my understanding reflects the facts, prompted by the debate surrounding the release of 200 issues of Dragon Magazine on CD. Before the Dragon CD, no one thought about including electronic rights language in contracts. Print rights and film/audio rights were treated separately, so there was enough ambiguity to warrant discussion on just where electronic rights fell on this spectrum. No one was debating whether or not WotC (or was it TSR at the time?) had the right to REPRODUCE the work in any form they chose, up to and including tattooing them on shaved orangatangs; the debate was whether or not they were obligated to PAY the creators. The argument boiled down to this: Did the Dragon CD represent a substantially new work, or was it another version of the print magazine? In hindsight, this issue looks a lot different, but at the time we didn't foresee the print/eBook model, and a CD reproduction of a print magazine was a strange new animal, more akin to audio books and film adaptations than print.
Good to know! And I hope it all worked out.
It did. The Dragon CD situation was quite a while back, but a settlement was reached that struck me as more reasonable that such things usually are. I wasn't actively involved in the debate, but you really couldn't work in the setting in those days without hearing about it.
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| ErinMEvans |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 20:24:21
quote:
Erin, I received and signed electronic rights addendums for my Forgotten Realms books several years ago, well before any FR book was released as an eBook. I don't recall offhand if I received addendums for the anthologies as well as the novels, but it seems likely.
This was, if memory serves and my understanding reflects the facts, prompted by the debate surrounding the release of 200 issues of Dragon Magazine on CD. Before the Dragon CD, no one thought about including electronic rights language in contracts. Print rights and film/audio rights were treated separately, so there was enough ambiguity to warrant discussion on just where electronic rights fell on this spectrum. No one was debating whether or not WotC (or was it TSR at the time?) had the right to REPRODUCE the work in any form they chose, up to and including tattooing them on shaved orangatangs; the debate was whether or not they were obligated to PAY the creators. The argument boiled down to this: Did the Dragon CD represent a substantially new work, or was it another version of the print magazine? In hindsight, this issue looks a lot different, but at the time we didn't foresee the print/eBook model, and a CD reproduction of a print magazine was a strange new animal, more akin to audio books and film adaptations than print.
Good to know! And I hope it all worked out. Tie-in contracts are such funny beasts in a lot of ways. It behooves the licensor to treat their contractors well.
Which means at least six copies of all shaved orangutan versions and a royalty rate that covers all the fruit you need to feed them! |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 15:36:06
quote:
Originally posted by ElaineCunningham
(snip)No one was debating whether or not WotC (or was it TSR at the time?) had the right to REPRODUCE the work in any form they chose, up to and including tattooing them on shaved orangatangs;(snip)
I really hope they don't go with this model. I don't have enough room for all of my paperbacks, and I'm pretty sure my wife would have issues with adding primates into the mix...   |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 14:31:32
On a related note, I recently had a facebook comments conversation with a reader who liked "Redemption," a story in Realms of War--a story that I did not remember writing and did not include on my bibliography.  (In my defense, the story was a rewritten out-take from Reclamation, which I'd apparently mentally filed as "not written.")
Anyway. It occurred to me that this story wasn't included in the collection The Best of the Realms Book III: The Stories of Elaine Cunningham. Neither was "Gorlist's Dragon" from Realms of the Dragons. So I emailed one of the WotC editors and suggested that if and when best of ec is released as an eBook, it might make sense to release it as a Director's Cut with these two stories added, and perhaps a new story or two. This is (mostly) a reprint collection, so an eBook "reprint" of a reprint really needs a boost of some sort to make it more appealing. The editor responded that it was an interesting notion. If anything comes of this, I'll let you know.
My point, and I do have one, is that eBook backlist releases present the opportunity to update and expand print books. The possibilites are intriquing. |
| ElaineCunningham |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 14:10:05
quote:
Originally posted by ErinMEvans
Again, just musing. For all I know, Wizards could have sent out addendums before they ever published a single ebook and now they're holding out for the shaved orangutan anthology market, who knows?
Erin, I received and signed electronic rights addendums for my Forgotten Realms books several years ago, well before any FR book was released as an eBook. I don't recall offhand if I received addendums for the anthologies as well as the novels, but it seems likely.
This was, if memory serves and my understanding reflects the facts, prompted by the debate surrounding the release of 200 issues of Dragon Magazine on CD. Before the Dragon CD, no one thought about including electronic rights language in contracts. Print rights and film/audio rights were treated separately, so there was enough ambiguity to warrant discussion on just where electronic rights fell on this spectrum. No one was debating whether or not WotC (or was it TSR at the time?) had the right to REPRODUCE the work in any form they chose, up to and including tattooing them on shaved orangatangs; the debate was whether or not they were obligated to PAY the creators. The argument boiled down to this: Did the Dragon CD represent a substantially new work, or was it another version of the print magazine? In hindsight, this issue looks a lot different, but at the time we didn't foresee the print/eBook model, and a CD reproduction of a print magazine was a strange new animal, more akin to audio books and film adaptations than print.
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| ErinMEvans |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 05:25:15
quote:
Originally posted by Arcanus
quote:
Originally posted by ErinMEvans
Another issue that may hold up older releases is contract terms. Older contracts won't usually include terms for electronic publication (because there was no such thing on the table), so to cover all bases, riders may need to be drafted and signed before the ebooks can be offered. That doesn't explain the ones that came out more recently, but it would slow down an older anthology if twelve authors have to sign and return an addendum.
This makes me worry that like ebook releases today I wont be able to get them over here because of contract issues.
Red Walker posted Paul's note above, but let me add Nina Hess's announcement on the subject for emphasis: http://community.wizards.com/bookclub/blog/2012/07/27/attention_international_ebook_readers!_
And, to clarify, I'm not speaking in an official capacity at all. I'm just musing. Which I probably shouldn't do as I think it gets people nervous, but this is what I mean:
It might make a difference as to when books come out. But it shouldn't make a difference as to if they come out. Wizards publishes tie-in fiction, and I have never seen a tie-in publisher who didn't purchase all rights (as opposed to the various "first rights" original fiction publishers usually buy). Namely, they own the right to publish the stories whenever and however they want because they own the IP. An author could refuse to sign the addendum, but if they sold all rights, it wouldn't actually matter. The publisher could sell the book tattooed on a shaved orangutan and as long as they paid the author what they promised, I'm pretty sure they're good (aside from the angry conservationists, but still...).
But it's always worth being thorough, and being sure that your contractors know explicitly what the terms are for new formats is just smart. Keeps everyone happy and in the loop.
Again, just musing. For all I know, Wizards could have sent out addendums before they ever published a single ebook and now they're holding out for the shaved orangutan anthology market, who knows?  |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 04:31:34
quote:
Originally posted by Arcanus
quote:
Originally posted by ErinMEvans
Another issue that may hold up older releases is contract terms. Older contracts won't usually include terms for electronic publication (because there was no such thing on the table), so to cover all bases, riders may need to be drafted and signed before the ebooks can be offered. That doesn't explain the ones that came out more recently, but it would slow down an older anthology if twelve authors have to sign and return an addendum.
This makes me worry that like ebook releases today I wont be able to get them over here because of contract issues.
You may not be waiting much longer for current eBoks
I snipped this from Paul S Kemp's blog:
First, apparently Wizards of the Coast has signed a new distribution agreement with Random House and the heretofore elusive and never-before-seen-on-camera international ebook versions of WotC novels will soon be available. Print versions have been available in various languages for time immemorial, and now ebooks will join them. Rock on. EURASIA, EREVIS CALE IS IN YOU!
http://paulskemp.com/blog/various-items-and-the-word-cockly/ |
| Wooly Rupert |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 04:27:27
If they release most of the older Realms titles as ebooks, I will look into buying an ebook reader. |
| Arcanus |
Posted - 22 Aug 2012 : 01:09:14
quote:
Originally posted by ErinMEvans
Another issue that may hold up older releases is contract terms. Older contracts won't usually include terms for electronic publication (because there was no such thing on the table), so to cover all bases, riders may need to be drafted and signed before the ebooks can be offered. That doesn't explain the ones that came out more recently, but it would slow down an older anthology if twelve authors have to sign and return an addendum.
This makes me worry that like ebook releases today I wont be able to get them over here because of contract issues. |
| ErinMEvans |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 20:43:06
Another issue that may hold up older releases is contract terms. Older contracts won't usually include terms for electronic publication (because there was no such thing on the table), so to cover all bases, riders may need to be drafted and signed before the ebooks can be offered. That doesn't explain the ones that came out more recently, but it would slow down an older anthology if twelve authors have to sign and return an addendum. |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 20:40:50
quote:
Originally posted by bfollowell
Thanks for the info guys. I look forward to hearing more details in the future. Where did you guys hear about this super FR site? Are there any details floating around out there anywhere that you can point me to or is this mostly word of mouth from insiders like Erik?
Thanks again for the info guys. I really appreciate it.
- Byron
It has not launched yet. If it has a web address yet either, I have not heard
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| bfollowell |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 20:36:18
Thanks for the info guys. I look forward to hearing more details in the future. Where did you guys hear about this super FR site? Are there any details floating around out there anywhere that you can point me to or is this mostly word of mouth from insiders like Erik?
Thanks again for the info guys. I really appreciate it.
- Byron
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| Erik Scott de Bie |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 15:59:40
I'm hoping the website TRW mentions will include the novels, but we'll have to see.
The process of converting the novels into ebooks isn't necessarily difficult, but it is very time consuming (with the formatting particularly). WotC seems to have prioritized those novels that sell particularly well, but I'm hoping they work around to their entire backlist.
That's a lot of books to convert!
Cheers |
| The Red Walker |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 02:36:19
wotc is soon to debut a website that will make available over the near future everything they've ever published about the realms......guess I didn't ask for clarification to see if that included all fiction. I assumed it did! But your question makes me wonder.....so not sure about the novels. I do,know in the last few months, many older novels have seem to be popping up, it would make sense to offer them all. |
| bfollowell |
Posted - 21 Aug 2012 : 02:21:32
oops, I forgot to list the missing anthologies:
Realms of the Deep, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Threat from the Sea series)
The Halls of Stormweather, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Sembia series)
Realms of Shadow, edited by Lizz Baldwin (this anthology is part of the Return of the Archwizards series)
Realms of the Dragons, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Year of Rogue Dragons series)
Realms of the Dragons II, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Year of Rogue Dragons series)
Realms of War, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Twilight War series)
Realms of the Dead, edited by Susan J. Morris (this anthology is part of the Haunted Lands series)
Realms of the Elves, edited by Philip Athans (this anthology is part of the Last Mythal series) |
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