ABSTRACT

A book first acquired as an overstock may subsequently be reprinted as a promotional edition if there is a continuing demand. In the mid-1960s, there was a major industry in the production of short-run, high-priced reprints of academic and specialist titles that had been unavailable for many years. Without ready access to copies of the books, active promotion becomes a problem, since it is hardly a strong selling point to alert a reprinter to a gem on the backlist and then ask them to locate a copy themselves. If a publisher receives an application for reprint rights in a title long out of print, the first step is to establish whether it is still in copyright in the required market or markets and who controls the rights. Books are normally produced in hardback to a larger format than that of the original edition; they are usually blown up from the original typesetting arrangement.