More on LOVE REMEMBERED

When I sat down and paged through my paperback copy of LOVE REMEMBERED, I was extremely dismayed to notice the epilogue had been left off. (In case you're wondering, I didn't see the page proofs-- there's nothing in my contract that compels NCP to let me see them before the book is printed, so far as I can tell.) The epilogue was only three or four pages, and didn't contribute greatly to the plot, but it did wrap up a couple of loose ends and made the HEA more believable.

I immediately emailed my editor and politely told her I realized the book had already been printed, but pointed out the error, asked if they could fix it if the book ever goes to press again, and asked to review my future books in advance so errors like this wouldn't happen in the future. My editor sent back a pithy reply within five minutes, informing me they'd deliberately cut the epilogue to keep the cost of the book down.

Grrrr. At this point I became annoyed. My contract specifies that the publisher may make no alterations to the manuscript without my approval in writing. Had they asked, I probably would have given my approval (although I might have tried to trim three or four pages elsewhere instead, which I think would have been preferable), but that's not really the point, is it? I don't object to editing, which is a process that occurs between the writer and the editor, with input from both, but my final published work is MINE, copyrighted in my name, and should never be altered without my permission.

*Sigh* I don't really see what I can do about this, short of refusing to sign future contracts with NCP-- and that would probably be shooting myself in the foot, since I have two print books lined up with them this year, at least one of which will be hitting major bookstores. The only thing I can think of to do is to contact my editor, remind her of that clause in my contract, and politely remind them to ask my permission in the future before altering my work.

But I'm still annoyed.