Beyond Bluechrome

Like many authors published by Bluechrome I’ve been waiting for definite news about what’s happening with the company and with our books so that I can decide what to do when my first edition runs out soon. The owner, Anthony Delgrado, has proved impossible to contact for some time. This is unusual as he was so easy to talk to before, at any time of the day and even late at night. I worked for him helping to edit fiction as well as having my poetry collection published with his company last March and found him a lovely person to work with.

To resolve the current tricky problem I phoned the distributors, Central Books, and also Inpress Books who deal with sales. Neither of them are managing to have any contact with Bluechrome. I have no idea what the reason for this is and I do hope Anthony is all right.

With this information I realise it’s time to move on to another publisher for the reprint as the book is still in demand internationally, and it will be possible to promote it more now that the Bluechrome situation seems to be resolved. Other authors who have a book with Bluechrome may want to follow the same steps and here they are.

First, I checked the number of books remaining with Central Books. They asked me to get Inpress to clear those books to be released to me so I can buy them at an author discount of 50%. I will now write a letter to Bluechrome terminating the contract so that I will be free to put the book with another publisher and market it properly. I’ll send the letter in a way that provides guaranteed delivery and proof of that as it’s very unlikely I’ll get a response from Bluechrome.

Sue Guiney, one of the Bluechrome authors, is arranging a reading for all of us to get together, have a good time, and sell some of the remaining books before moving forwards. The Bluechrome authors are a great crowd and it always felt like a family to me, with great communication on the Blueblog until things went wrong.

I hope this is helpful to any other Bluechrome authors out there. Whatever caused this problem I’m sure it’s beyond Anthony’s control and I do feel very concerned for him. There are also a lot of good writers looking for publishers for their Bluechrome books now, I’m sure! The numbers to call are Inpress Books on 0191-229 9555 (only to ask for the books to be released by Central Books if you want to buy them at discount as they have no other information) and Central Books on 0208-525 8803 if you want to buy any remaining copies or find out how many are left. I hope to meet Bluechrome authors at forthcoming readings.