Your Tate Publishing book deserves a second chance. Most authors do not know they can take it.
Tate Publishing closed without warning in February 2017, stranding more than 3,000 authors. Their books disappeared from stores. Their royalties stopped. Their emails went unanswered. If your book was published by Tate, your rights have almost certainly reverted to you — and Columbia Publication can have your book professionally republished and selling again within eight weeks.
What happened to Tate Publishing — and what it means for your book.
Tate Publishing and Enterprises LLC, founded in 1999 in Mustang, Oklahoma by Richard Tate, was for many years one of the largest Christian and general market self-publishing services in the United States. At its peak the company published several hundred titles per year and employed over 160 people. Authors paid upfront fees for publishing services and received royalties on sales through major retail channels.
In late 2016 and early 2017, authors began reporting missed royalty payments, unanswered emails, and books disappearing from distribution. In February 2017, Tate Publishing abruptly ceased all operations. Employees were laid off with little notice. The company filed for bankruptcy. Author support lines went silent. Physical book inventory was destroyed or abandoned in the Mustang facility. The company has not resumed operations in any form.
The result for authors was immediate and painful. Books that had been selling on Amazon disappeared or showed as unavailable. Authors with ongoing sales lost their income overnight. Authors who had just signed contracts lost both their upfront fees and their path to publication. And thousands of authors who had invested years in their books found themselves with manuscripts that were technically published but commercially invisible and without a publisher to support them.
The legal reality, however, is better than most Tate authors realise. When a publisher ceases operations, rights almost universally revert to the author — either through explicit reversion clauses in the contract or through the doctrine that a publisher cannot hold rights it is not actively exercising. Your Tate book is almost certainly yours again. The question is what to do with it.
Your rights. Your book. Your decision about what happens next.
Most former Tate authors fall into one of three situations when they contact us. The first group has a clean manuscript file, a cover they were reasonably happy with, and wants to get the book back on sale as quickly and affordably as possible. The second group wants the book professionally redesigned and relaunched — better cover, updated content, new positioning — as if the Tate experience never happened. The third group is uncertain whether their rights have reverted and needs help understanding their legal position before committing to anything.
Columbia Publication handles all three situations. We start every Tate author engagement with a free consultation that reviews the original publishing contract if available, establishes the reversion status, assesses the manuscript and production files, and gives you an honest assessment of what republishing would involve and cost. There is no obligation to proceed and no sales pressure on the call.
If you decide to republish, we handle everything from rights documentation through platform setup. Your book will be live on Amazon, IngramSpark, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, and 40+ additional global platforms within four to eight weeks. You retain 100% of your rights and 100% of your royalties permanently. Flat fee, one payment, nothing ongoing.
From stranded to selling in four to eight weeks.
Every Tate author republishing engagement moves through the same clear stages. No surprises, no hidden fees, no waiting for a publisher who will never respond.
Rights Assessment & Contract Review
We review your original Tate Publishing contract, establish the reversion trigger, and confirm your rights position. If you no longer have your contract, we guide you through establishing rights reversion through Tate's documented bankruptcy and cessation of operations. This step takes one to three business days and is included in your free consultation.
DELIVERABLE: Written confirmation of your rights reversion status before any fees are incurred.
Manuscript & Production File Audit
We assess what files you have — manuscript, cover, interior layout — and what needs to be recreated. Tate authors frequently find that Tate held their production files and those files are now inaccessible. Where production files are missing we rebuild them from the manuscript. A new ISBN is registered in your name. Your copyright registration is confirmed or renewed.
DELIVERABLE: A complete production file audit with a clear scope and fixed price before work begins.
Professional Production
Depending on what your book needs, this stage covers interior formatting to current Amazon KDP and IngramSpark specifications, cover redesign or cover reconstruction, copyediting and proofreading if the original Tate edition had quality issues, and metadata optimisation including title, subtitle, description, keywords, and BISAC categories for maximum discoverability.
DELIVERABLE: Print-ready and ebook-ready files meeting 2026 platform specifications.
Platform Setup & Global Distribution
Your book is submitted simultaneously to Amazon KDP and IngramSpark under your own account or a Columbia Publication managed account, giving you distribution to 40,000+ retailers, libraries, schools, and wholesalers worldwide. Pricing is set to maximise your royalty per copy. The new edition is live within 72 hours of platform submission.
DELIVERABLE: Your book live on Amazon and IngramSpark with global distribution active.
Relaunch & Old Listing Management
This is the step most republishing services skip. The old Tate edition will remain on Amazon as an out-of-print listing — your new edition needs to be positioned clearly as the authoritative current version. We handle the Amazon author page setup, new edition announcement, and the metadata work that signals to Amazon's algorithm that this is the active edition. If you have existing readers, we provide a relaunch outreach template so they find the new edition immediately.
DELIVERABLE: Clean new-edition positioning on Amazon with old listing appropriately handled.
What former Tate authors typically need — and what it costs.
Republishing costs vary depending on what files you have, what condition the original manuscript is in, and how much of the production work needs to be redone. Columbia Publication uses flat-fee, transparent pricing — no royalty splits, no ongoing percentages, no hidden platform fees.
Clean manuscript republishing — from $1,500
For authors who have a clean, formatted manuscript and are happy with the cover design or have a new cover ready. Covers interior formatting to current platform specifications, metadata optimisation, ISBN registration, Amazon KDP and IngramSpark setup, and global distribution activation. Timeline: two to four weeks.
Full production republishing — from $3,000
For authors who need a new cover, have a manuscript that needs reformatting from scratch, or want their interior redesigned to match current publishing standards. Covers everything in the clean manuscript package plus professional cover design, full interior layout, and copyediting. Timeline: four to six weeks.
Full-service relaunch — from $5,000
For authors who want to treat this as a proper relaunch — updated content, professional editing, new cover, Amazon bestseller positioning, press outreach, and a structured relaunch campaign. Timeline: six to eight weeks. This package is appropriate for authors whose Tate book had genuine commercial success before the closure and want to rebuild that momentum.
The window to act is not permanent.
Every year that passes after the Tate closure is a year your book is not reaching new readers. The audience your book was written for is still out there. The need your book addressed has not gone away. What has gone away is the excuse for not acting — because Tate's closure is not your fault, and republishing with Columbia Publication is straightforward, affordable, and genuinely possible within eight weeks of starting the conversation.
The authors who wait longest are usually the ones who are not sure whether they own their rights or are uncertain whether the cost and effort of republishing is worth it. Both questions are answerable in the free consultation. The consultation costs you nothing except forty-five minutes, and it will tell you exactly where you stand and exactly what your options are.
Frequently asked by former Tate Publishing authors.
Did Tate Publishing really close permanently?
Yes. Tate Publishing and Enterprises LLC ceased all operations in February 2017 after filing for bankruptcy. The company laid off approximately 160 employees and shut down completely. It has not resumed operations in any form since.
Do I still own my book rights after Tate closed?
Almost certainly yes. When a publisher ceases operations, rights typically revert to the author through explicit reversion clauses or through the principle that a publisher cannot hold rights it is not actively exercising. Columbia Publication reviews your original contract as part of the free consultation to confirm your specific position.
Can I republish the same book with a new publisher?
Yes, once rights reversion is confirmed. You will need a new ISBN and professional reformatting. Columbia Publication handles all of this and can have your book live on Amazon and IngramSpark within four to eight weeks.
What if I cannot find my original Tate Publishing contract?
This is common. Columbia Publication can guide you through establishing rights reversion through Tate's documented bankruptcy records and the absence of active distribution. In most cases this is sufficient to proceed with republishing.
How much does republishing with Columbia Publication cost?
Packages start at $1,500 for books needing only reformatting and platform setup. Full-service packages including editing, new cover design, and a relaunch campaign range from $3,000 to $8,000 depending on manuscript length and services required.
Will my book appear on Amazon again with the new edition?
Yes. Your new edition will be submitted to Amazon KDP and IngramSpark and will appear as the active, in-print version. The old Tate listing will remain as an out-of-print entry — we handle the positioning work so readers find your new edition.
Your book did not deserve what Tate did to it. Let's fix that.
The free consultation takes forty-five minutes. It covers your rights position, your manuscript status, your republishing options, and what each one costs. If Columbia Publication is not the right fit for your situation, we will tell you who is. If we are, we will have a clear proposal and timeline ready before the call ends.
You spent years writing that book. Tate's bankruptcy is not the end of its story.
Get Your Free Rights Recovery ConsultationOr call (703) 997-9787 · Reviewed by Jaweriya Baig, Book Production Manager · Columbia Publication, Arlington VA