Second-Chance Books: the Why, the How, and the How Much of Rights Reversion by Sharon Maas

Last week, my six-year-old novel The Violin Maker’s Daughter woke up to new life, with a brand-new cover and brand-new energy. It’s been updated, edited, polished. It’s as if a whole book’s out there: except this time, I didn’t spend hours, weeks, and months writing 100,000 words from scratch.

Getting here was a long-winded learning-by-doing process, starting not only with a reversal of publishing rights: I needed a reversal of my own set-in-stone mindset. 

I was one of those people who, back in the day, swore I’d never, ever self-publish. ‘I’m a writer, not a publisher’, I’d protest when fellow writers encouraged me to take control of my own books. I trusted my publisher to choose my covers, my titles. They were responsible for editing, proofreading, formatting, typesetting, promoting, selling; the nuts-and-bolts of publishing. I wanted only the juicy creative part: storytelling. I didn’t want the hassle or the expense of publishing, nor did I have the skills or the time. Or so I thought.

I drifted into self-publishing almost by accident. It started in 2018, when I began adapting a few of my novels into movie scripts. One of those books was The Lost Daughter of India, which as a feature film would clearly need a new, less generic title, one with more pizazz. I called it Girl in a Red Silk Sari. 

When the publishing rights became available for reversion in 2024, I didn’t think twice: yes, I’d get the book back and upload it to Amazon with the new title. I had no intention of promoting the book, so I slapped a basic, free, premade cover on it, a pink lotus against a black background. 

Unlike a writer starting from scratch with a new manuscript, I didn’t have to hire editors, by far the biggest expense in self-publishing. Kindle Direct Publishing’s free formatting software prepared the manuscript for upload. That done, I requested Amazon’s Author Central to transport all my reviews. I pressed Publish, and with one click I became a publisher. And it hadn’t cost me a penny. 

There was one slight snag:  Amazon does not allow a title change when re-issuing a book from its database. I managed to circumvent that problem by changing the title later, once it was up and running. Girl in a Red Silk Sari was later acquired by Storm publishing, given a shiny new cover, and is now earning royalties.

My second self-published book was The Soldier’s Girl, my first venture into Second World War writing. In this case, the cover just didn’t feel right; it showed a soldier and his rather clingy girlfriend, which, together with the title, hinted at historical romance. Which it decidedly is not. This time, I knew what to do.

 In this book, the setting is as much part of the story as the characters, and I wanted a new cover to reflect the unique charm of the Alsace countryside. Also, a girl on a bicycle. This time, I paid a professional cover designer and loved the result.

As for the title: The Soldier’s Girl was again too generic, so I gave it a teeny-weeny tweak. The Soldier’s Girl became Soldier’s Girl. What’s the difference? It just feels stronger. Think Pretty Woman. Doesn’t that stand out more than The Pretty Woman? 

Soldier’s Girl was published in December 2025 with no promotion beyond a few social media posts. It sat unattended in KPD, in digital and in paperback. Sales trickled in, about four a month. I never marketed it beyond a few Facebook posts.

The professional cover for Soldier’s Girl cost £500. Professional formatting cost $200. As this was more a labour of love rather than a commercial project, I took that loss in my stride. I was just pleased that Soldier’s Girl was properly clothed and titled.

And that brings us back to The Violin Maker’s Daughter

This time around, I loved the title. It’s fitting, and unique: how many violin-maker’s daughters do you know? But I needed a new cover, and serendipity provided: while randomly scrolling through umpteen pages of pre-made covers I found the perfect one, made-to-measure for this book. A thorough manuscript polish, free formatting through Reedsy, and it was ready to go. 

Upload, click publish, done. In late July 2026, The Violin Maker’s Daughter was up and running on Amazon and several other platforms, as an e-book and in print. This time, not a practice run. This time I was serious; I paid for a seven-day Bookbub Featured Deal promotion in the UK, Australia and Canada. The Violin Maker’s Daughter sold 600 copies on the first day on Bookbub, covering the cost twice over. Other social media promotions, including paid-for BookTok campaigns, cost a further few hundred dollars. I shall be watching closely to see what works and what doesn’t. 

As a bonus, I created a mini-series, The Alsace Chronicles, by adding Soldier’s Girl with a revamped cover to my violin-maker’s-daughter story. A third book will be added in a few months. 

With that move, rights-reversion has become the springboard to a whole new world: Karna Books, my very own publishing company. I don’t even have to wait for backlist contracts to expire; rights can revert to me for any book that sells below a certain threshold in the previous year. That’s the case with several of my backlist books. Last week, I requested rights reversion on two more novels. 

So to any author out there with a stagnant backlist, but hesitant about self-publishing: no publisher cares about your books as much as you do, care enough to breathe new life into them. It’s up to you to grab them while you can and send them back out into the world; this time around, you’re in the driving seat. If I can do it, at 75, anyone can.

—

Sharon Maas was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1951, and a sense of adventure has followed her around the world. In 1971 she spent a year backpacking around South America, followed by a few months with pioneering friends in the Guyana rainforest, followed by an overland trip to India, followed by a year in a Hindu Ashram,

She finally settled in Germany where she married, studied, worked, and raised children.

Her first novel was published by HarperCollins in 1999, followed by two more in 2001 and 2002; seventeen more novels followed. She now lives in Ireland, writing at leisure while self-publishing her rights-reverted books.

The Violin Maker’s Daughter: A Jewish fugitive. A German deserter. A flight through Nazi-occupied France. (The Alsace Chronicles)

The bestselling novel that captivated more than 90,000 readers.

‘If only I could give this book 100 stars rather than 5!… This book is epic, a mesmerizing book of strength through unimaginable losses… Heartbreaking and beautifully written this is a gripping tale of bravery… One of the best and most memorable historical books I’ve ever read!’ Deanne’s Book Thoughts, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

For readers of The Nightingale and We Were the Lucky Ones, a sweeping story of love, courage and sacrifice in wartime France.

A Jewish fugitive. A German deserter. On the run through Nazi-occupied France.

When the Nazis march into Colmar in 1940, Josef, a Jewish violin-maker, makes a fateful decision. Refusing to register his family as Jews, he, his wife and their five daughters hide in plain sight. They are not practicing Jews. No one suspects them. Until that night when everything changes.

A midnight raid shatters their fragile safety: the family has been betrayed. To survive, they must separate and flee Alsace. Seventeen-year-old Eva, her father’s violin-making apprentice, reluctantly escapes first, with forged papers and a single chance to reach safety in southern France.

Along the way she meets Ralf, a young German soldier. When his commanding officer tries to assault Eva, Ralf makes a split-second decision that changes both their lives forever. Suddenly hunted as a deserter, he joins Eva on her desperate flight south.

But Eva makes one naïve mistake and Ralf is captured. Consumed by guilt, Eva joins the French Resistance and finally finds the strength and courage to fight against injustice. No longer hiding in fear, she embarks on a lonely and dangerous mission into Nazi Germany.

The Violin Maker’s Daughter is a companion novel to Soldier’s Girl, another gripping Alsace story centred around the matriarch Margaux and the Chateau Gauthier family. Now available!

BUY HERE

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: On Publishing