My book was due to be published on 2nd May.
On 2nd April, I got this email from the commercial director of my publishers.
Dear Adam,
As you are aware The Friday Project has gone into liquidation. This is a deeply regrettable situation and all concerned are very sorry that things have come to this. What should have been a very exciting and positive publishing experience for you has not gone as we would have hoped.
Another publisher has expressed an interest in taking on some of the books from TFP but, unfortunately, this does not include Topped of the Pops.
This means that the rights for your book now revert to you. You are free to pitch it to other publishers, or produce it yourself if you wish.
Any business or financial questions you may have should be directed to Panos Eliades who is the administrator for the liquidated company.
On a personal note may I say how sorry I am that we find ourselves in this position and to wish you all the best for the future.
Kind regards,
Scott Pack
Commercial Director
The Friday Project
I'll leave you to imagine how I feel about this. To find out how others - including a number of out-of-pocket printers, editors, and authors who've actually sold hundreds of copies of their books and now stand very little chance of ever seeing any of the money they earned - feel about it, you might have a look
here.
As far as Topped Of The Pops goes, it's the end of the road. A satire that felt very "now" when I first wrote it in 2005, slightly less so when Transworld (who had read the first draft a year earlier and commented that it would only sell if it was by Ben Elton) published, er, Ben Elton's take on the topic, and rather less after Shed Production's dire Rock Rivals (a show which, curiously enough, was commissioned a couple of months after they'd been sent a TV treatment for Topped Of The Pops) was broadcast this spring, won't sit on the shelf for the next six months to a year - minimum - which it would take to go through this entire process again.
It's still a bloody good book though.
SO...
Topped Of The Pops will still be coming out on, or as near as possible to May 2nd 2008. Since I never expected to make my fortune from it anyway, I'm going to do a Radiohead and give the whole thing away for free on the net. With the option of buying a high-quality bound paperback version for those that want it. On which I'll make a profit. And I won't share any of it with anyone from The Friday Project.
Right then. Anyone who's got any idea how to actually go about doing such a thing, drop me a line would you?
