My book was published by Melrose Books, Ely, U.K., in 2008. It was not self-published/vanity published, though I did have to pay toward publication. It is only available online; but despite knowing the title and ISBN, even I have problems trying to find it.
Can I legally change the title, pen name, character and place names and send it to another publisher?
Also, since I own all copyrights, can I simply send the book unchanged to a different publisher?
I usually insist on a few things in contracts. First, that they get first publication rights only so the rights revert back to me immediately after they publish it (or some reasonable time after, like six months). Unless there's a reason not to, I try to maintain all electronic rights. You can negotiate on contracts if you're persistent enough. The more publications you have, the more leverage you have.
Note that I've never published a book, just articles and short stories, so your mileage may vary. Read the contract carefully to determine what rights you signed away and which ones you retained.
