Saturday, February 21, 2009

Tara's Forgotten Son... unforgotten

Tara's Forgotten Son was published a little over a year ago. Not long after it was published, the lawyers who own the copyright for Gone With the Wind asked me to remove the book from the publishing house and from retailers. I have avoided writing about this because it was terribly upsetting, frustrating, and embarrasing.
In the first place, I researched copyright laws, and as I understood the law, I used Gone With the Wind under the fair use policy. In no way did I copy any words from GWTW. I embellished characters, continuing the story that the book left untold.
I have thought about retelling the story without using any characters from GWTW, and even changing the location. However, Wade would not be authentic without the setting and events that occurred during his young life. Finally, I have not written anything since because of the frustration of the situation.
If I had completely checked the publisher, I would have known that PublishAmerica disguises themselves as a traditional publisher when in all actuality, it is a self publishing firm.
People are still asking me about the book. Unfortunately, I have to say that Tara's Forgotten Son should be forgotten because as far as I can see, it will never be placed on a retailer's shelf.

2 comments:

kchastain1 said...

I had the same trouble getting a copy of "The Winds of Tara". The publisher of it told me that they began circulating copies in Australia b/c the Mitchell Foundation could not hault their efforts in a different country. It is really a shame that the only "official" sequal to GWTW is such a poorly written book that for some unknown reason a man was chosen to write! Rhett Butler's People is a sad excuse for the retelling of the most beloved love story ever written. Well, if you ever run across a copy that you would like to "loan out" send me an email.

KChastain@TomcoEquipment.com

kchastain1 said...

Oh, and by the way, I DID get my copy of "The Winds of Tara"... The publisher put one on ebay for me.

Kchastain