Greetings from Richmond!

The Valancourt Books team has now relocated to Richmond, Virginia.  Internet service is not yet active at the new Villa Valancourt, and our furniture and other things are still en route, so we apologize for any delays in responding to emails or updating the website for the next 7-10 days or so.  

Yesterday was the first day of summer, and we hope everyone's summer is off to a great start!  We've released a ton of great new titles over the past several weeks and will be issuing many more in July, so you should have no shortage of great summer reading choices!

Thank you in advance for your patience if it takes us a little longer to respond to your emails, blog/Facebook/Twitter posts, etc.

A quick update

We hope everyone's summer is off to a great start!  We have several new releases that should be on sale this week: Barry England's Booker-shortlisted military thriller slash existentialist nightmare, Figures in a Landscape (1968), John Braine's second novel, The Vodi (1959), which M. John Harrison has called a masterpiece of a yet undiscovered genre: Kitchen Sink Gothic, and John Wain's The Smaller Sky (1967), a real gem, and one of my very favorite rediscoveries of ours so far.

Later this month, expect to see Colin Wilson's The God of the Labyrinth (1970), Piers Paul Read's wonderful Monk Dawson (1969), which won him both the Somerset Maugham Award (best novel by an under-35 British writer) and the Hawthornden Prize (best work of imaginative fiction), and one of our major releases, Charles Beaumont's The Hunger and Other Stories (1957).

Those of you who have been following along for a while may remember that our releases from 2005 to early 2007 carried a Chicago imprint, while everything since then has been published from Kansas City.  Starting later this month, you'll notice a new change, as we move ourselves and the press to Richmond, Virginia.  We may also be a little slower than normal at responding to emails or Facebook, Twitter, and blog posts, as we'll be busy moving and unpacking.

Thank you to all our readers out there who have been enjoying our new 20th century series and who have made 2013 the best year ever for Valancourt Books.  We have tons and tons more exciting books yet to release in 2013, so please keep watching the website!

Amazon horrors, part 2

We're actively seeking input from our readers: Do you prefer to purchase books from Amazon and to read e-books on the Amazon Kindle?  Or do you use other booksellers or e-reading devices?  We continue to endure unimaginable frustration with Amazon, and are considering other options to make sure our customers can get the best access to our publications and the best customer service. 

Although purchasing a Kindle download is an easy enough affair, it's not always easy for us to get the books on to Amazon for you to purchase. Case in point: we spent all weekend trying to get Gerald Kersh's Fowlers End available to our UK customers.  Amazon refused to publish it and requested evidence that we had the rights to do so.  So I asked Michael Moorcock, Kersh's executor, who probably has better things to do with his time, if he would be kind enough to write to Amazon and let them know we do in fact have the rights to publish the book.  Here is just part of the Kafkaesque exchange that followed.

From: Michael Moorcock
To: title-submission@amazon.com 
Cc: Valancourt Books 
Sent: Saturday, June 1, 2013 7:30 AM
Subject: (no subject)

Ref. Anna K,
    This is to confirm that I manage the estate of Gerald Kersh and have granted world English language rights in print and e-editions for Fowlers End to Valancourt Books. This is the authorised edition with an introduction by myself.
Yours,
Michael Moorcock

Fearing the worst and just to be safe, I sent my own email, including Michael Moorcock's in the body of mine:

From: Valancourt Books

To: title-submission@amazon.com

Please see the email below confirming we have worldwide rights to distribute this title.  Please make it available worldwide.  This email was also sent directly to Amazon yesterday by the literary executor.

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Michael Moorcock
To: title-submission@amazon.com
Sent: Saturday, June 1, 2013 7:30 AM
Subject: (no subject)

Ref. Anna K,

    This is to confirm that I manage the estate of Gerald Kersh and have granted world English language rights in print and e-editions for Fowlers End to Valancourt Books.

This is the authorised edition with an introduction by myself.

Yours,

Michael Moorcock

Finally, I got this "response" from a robot which has apparently been designated as "Julia L.":

From: Kindle Direct Publishing <title-submission@amazon.com>
To: Valancourt Books
Sent: Sunday, June 2, 2013 2:30 PM
Subject: Your Amazon KDP Inquiry

Hello,

We are writing to you regarding the following book(s):

Fowlers End (ID 3645176)

Please provide any documentation or other evidence that proves you have retained rights for the book(s) listed above.

Alternatively, you may have the rights holders contact us directly with confirmation that you have retained rights.

Please send any correspondence regarding these book(s) to title-submission@amazon.com with the information requested. Failure to respond to this email may prevent your book(s) from being available in the Kindle store.

Best Regards,

Julia L.
Amazon.com

Aghast (and if my email seems rude, please keep in mind, we go through a similar exchange on every title we publish with these idiots), I wrote back:

From: Valancourt Books

To: title-submission@amazon.com
Sent: Sunday, June 2, 2013 4:53 PM

Are you kidding?  The information was IN THE EMAIL.  It's below.  Please read it -- I made it really big and bold so you can't possibly miss it.  I've sent it repeatedly.  I don't know what else I can do.

[My earlier email, and Mike's, followed.]

The robot responded as follows (and note the cruel irony of the tagline after her signature):

From: title-submission@amazon.com

To: Valancourt Books
Sent: Sunday, June 2, 2013 5:18 PM

Hello,

We’ve made your book available in territories where it appears to be in the public domain based on the information you’ve provided. Your book may not appear in searches in territories where it is not offered for sale.

I'm sorry, but we can't offer any additional insight or action on this matter.

Best Regards,

Julia L.
Amazon.com
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.

Again, I wrote back, in increasing frustration:

From: Valancourt Books

To: title-submission@amazon.com
Sent: Sunday, June 2, 2013 5:21 PM

Is there a supervisor there?  What more can you possibly want than an email from the estate's representative stating that we have permission to publish?  Please put me through to a supervisor or tell me how to contact one.

Of course, I got no response to this (I've made the request repeatedly on other books and have never gotten a response); nor did the separate email I sent to Amazon Customer Service through a different link on their site get a response.  Instead, I just got this:

From: title-submission@amazon.com

To: Valancourt Books
Sent: Monday, June 3, 2013 1:28 PM

Hello,

We are writing to you regarding the following book:

Fowlers End (ID 3645176)

Please provide us with a copy of any legal documentation that verifies you have retained rights for the book listed above.

Please send any correspondence regarding these book to title-submission@amazon.com with the information requested. 

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit: kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/contact-us

Best Regards,

Nic W.

Amazon.com

Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.

For now, Amazon is apparently the only game in town, so they seem to think they can treat customers and publishers as terribly as they like without repercussions.  But if this type of thing continues, publishers, vendors, and customers will take their business elsewhere.  We're beginning to look into the possibility of doing so.  We would appreciate any feedback from our readers -- does anyone shop on Barnes & Noble's website or order our titles through other sources?  Would you like to see our e-books available on Nook, Kobo, iTunes, or the Sony Store?  Please let us know.