Sometimes what seems bad at first turns out good!

In this economy, several authors whose books had previously been published find themselves without a home when the publisher goes out of business. Or, in other cases perhaps the book was dropped for one reason or another.

It doesn't mean that it is all bad. There are options available and also some benefits. The author can shop other publishers, or  sometimes, as in the closing of L&L Dreamspell due to the tragic death of one of the partners, before closing the publisher opened the door for their authors with other publishers. If you want to get the book to market quickly, the althernative is to self-publish.

Speaking from experience, the benefit is the ability to design new covers and perhaps edit the interior. How often does an author read the book after it has been released and say, "Why didn't I write [specific passage] like this?" Or, "Why didn't I think of that ending?"

Here is what happened to two of Morgan's books that had been published by L&L Dreamspell.

 Devils Dance and The Devil's Due was a two volume story inspired by true incidents that happened in the late 1950s. It was written under the pseudonym Arliss Adams which resulted in her losing the following she had worked hard to establish. And, she wasn't particularly happy with the covers. Although the story was compelling, and received many 5 star reviews, several readers wanted more closure in the first book. When the rights were given back to Morgan after Dreamspell ceased to do business, a decision had to be made--re-issue the books just as they were with a new ISBN number and publisher, or take the opportunity to make some major changes.

The route chosen was major changes.

The two books were consolidated and all of the references in The Devil's Due to the backstory in Devil's Dance were either eliminated or edited. The ending was changed because she always had doubts about ending it as she had, and the cover was changed. The end result a year later was a book published under her real name, Morgan St. James, entitled Betrayed.

The new book has a much different feeling but retains all of the tense emotion and heart-rending story that grabbed readers in the original editions.In analyzing the salient points in the story, it all came down to betrayal by a multitude of people in the protagonist's life. Betrayal was behind her being kidnapped, sold into a brothel when she was only 17, then brutalized and left for dead. Betrayal by her mother and her father. As the story unfolds, the brave but damaged young woman manages to survive and rebuild her body, her life, her spirit and a career, but that is not the end. Others betray her and a chance meeting threatens to destroy everything she has accomplished. Although the book is fiction, many of the scenes were inspired by events in the life of a real person.

So, if you are an author and find yourself in this situation, don't despair. Look for the ways you can turn the proverbial lemons into lemonade!