Failure to Return Rights
When Contracts Expire
Your contract ended years ago. Your book is still selling. Your royalties stopped arriving. This is not an oversight. This is a trap — and it has a name.
I am not writing this article as an observer. I am writing it as someone who lived it.
For sixteen years, my book was being sold on Amazon. Sixteen years of sales. Sixteen years of revenue collected. Sixteen years of my intellectual property being used, distributed, and profited from without my knowledge and without a single cent reaching me. I did not know. That is how these arrangements are designed. The silence is not an oversight. The silence is the strategy.
What made this wound cut deeper than anything a secular predator could have inflicted is this: it was a Christian publishing company.
They came with the language of covenant. They operated under the banner of faith. They presented themselves as a ministry, as a covering, as a community of believers who could be trusted with something as sacred as the words God placed inside me. And then they took those words, sold them for sixteen years, and said nothing.
That is not a publishing error. That is a double betrayal — a legal violation and a spiritual one. It is the single most defining reason that Joseph Dream Publishing exists, that Publishing Pitfalls exists, and that I dedicate my platform to making sure no author — especially no faith-based author — ever has to discover what I discovered after sixteen years of silence.
Read this article carefully. Share it with every author you know. What happened to me must never happen to you.
The Case That Opens This Conversation
Nicole's publishing contract expired on January 15, 2019. Five years. Done. According to the agreement she signed, all rights were supposed to have automatically reverted to her on that date.
It is now 2024. Her book is still listed on Amazon. The publisher is still collecting revenue. Nicole has not received a single royalty payment since December 2020.
When she demands her rights back and asks for the outstanding royalties, the publisher's response is swift and rehearsed: "We initiated auto-renewal per Section 12.4. Your contract is still active."
Nicole pulls out the contract and finds Section 12.4. It reads: "Agreement automatically renews unless either party provides 90-day written notice of non-renewal."
She never received notice. She never provided notice. The publisher simply kept going. Kept selling her book. Kept collecting her money. Kept her locked inside what publishing attorneys call a zombie contract — expired in name, undead in practice.
"Her rights should have returned five years ago. Instead she is trapped in a contract that technically expired but has never been allowed to die."
Sandra EkpenyongWhat Is This Scam?
Predatory publishers use automatic renewal clauses to extend contracts indefinitely without the author ever agreeing to continue. When a contract technically reaches its expiration date, these publishers simply continue operations — selling books, collecting revenue, stopping royalty payments — without ever formally reverting the author's rights.
The mechanism is elegant in its predation. The burden of escape is placed entirely on the author. If you do not notice, if you do not fight back, they keep your book and your earnings for as long as they choose. In some cases, that means forever.
This is not a clerical error. This is a business strategy.
Warning Signs Every Author Must Know
Auto-Renewal Clause That Favors the Publisher
Language such as "contract renews automatically unless Publisher terminates" or "unless Author provides 90-day advance notice" places the entire burden of escape on you. The publisher never has to do anything. You have to actively fight your way out.
Contract Continues Past Its Stated Term
Your five-year agreement ended two years ago but the publisher is still selling your book. This is either a breach of contract or they are hiding behind an auto-renewal clause they never disclosed properly. Either way, you have a legal claim.
Vague or Perpetual Expiration Language
"Agreement continues in perpetuity unless terminated per Section X" means: forever, unless you hire a lawyer and fight your way out. No author should ever sign a contract with perpetuity language without independent legal counsel.
Rights Reversion Requires Publisher Action
"Upon expiration, rights shall revert after Publisher completes final accounting and provides written confirmation." If the publisher never completes the accounting, your rights never revert. This clause is designed to give them indefinite control.
What Should Happen — And What Predatory Publishers Do Instead
The Real Cost — What This Scam Actually Takes From You
Using Nicole's situation as the example — five years past her contract expiration — here is what this scam actually cost her:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Estimated sales — 1,200 copies at $14.99 | $17,988 gross |
| Her contracted 12% royalty rate | $2,158 owed |
| Actually received | $0.00 |
| Five years of lost republishing rights | Incalculable |
| Lost ability to release updated editions | Incalculable |
| Total financial and creative loss | EVERYTHING |
Beyond the financial loss, Nicole spent five years unable to market her own book, unable to create an updated edition, unable to move to a publisher who would have served her better, and unable to capitalize on renewed public interest in her topic. The zombie contract did not just take her money. It froze her entire career.
What You Can Do — Starting Today
Locate your contract and identify the exact expiration date
Pull the original agreement and read it in full. Look for any auto-renewal language in every section, not just the term clause.
Pull every royalty statement you have received
When did payments stop? The gap between the last payment and today is evidence of the breach.
Search every retail platform for your book
Check Amazon, the publisher's website, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, and anywhere else books are sold. Document every listing with screenshots and dates.
If your contract has expired and your book is still selling — act immediately
Do not wait. Do not assume it will resolve itself. Send the formal demand letter below via certified mail and email with read receipt. Document every communication from this point forward.
The Formal Demand Letter — Send This First
Before engaging an attorney, send this letter via certified mail and email with read receipt. Keep copies of everything.
[Date]
[Publisher Name]
[Publisher Address]
Re: Contract Expiration and Rights Reversion for [Book Title]
Original Contract Date: [Date] | Contract Term Expiration: [Date]
Dear [Publisher],
Our publishing agreement expired on [date], [X] years ago. Per the terms of that contract, all rights should have reverted to me automatically upon expiration. However, my book remains available for sale on [list platforms] and I have received neither a final royalty statement, final payment for post-expiration sales, confirmation of rights reversion, nor any of my digital files.
I formally demand the following within 30 days of this letter:
- Immediate cessation of all sales and distribution across all platforms
- Complete accounting of all sales since the contract expiration date
- Full payment of all royalties owed for the period following expiration
- Delivery of all digital files including cover, interior, and marketing materials
- Written confirmation that all rights have fully reverted to me
Failure to respond within 30 days will result in legal action including contract breach claims and copyright infringement proceedings.
[Your Name]
"At JDP, every contract we issue has a clear expiration date, no automatic renewal clauses, and a fully transparent rights reversion process. Your work belongs to you. Full stop."
Sandra Ekpenyong — Joseph Dream Publishing
Sandra Ekpenyong
Founder & CEO, Joseph Dream Publishing • Executive Director, Publishing Pitfalls
Sandra Ekpenyong is the Founder and CEO of Joseph Dream Publishing, LLC and the Executive Director of Publishing Pitfalls under World Harvest International Ministries (501c3). With more than 25 years of corporate leadership in Healthcare IT and Software Delivery, Sandra brings a forensic, contract-literate approach to every publishing relationship. At JDP, contracts have clear expiration dates, no automatic renewal clauses, and fully transparent rights reversion processes. Sandra has helped hundreds of authors understand, negotiate, and enforce their publishing rights.