(OT) OMG OMG OMG!!!
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| Wed, 03-31-2010 - 1:45pm |
My very first novel was offered a contract AND AN ADVANCE from the very first publisher I submitted to! I can NOT believe it! And to think the only reason I wrote it at all was because I managed to convince myself that I couldn't "do fiction" and, well, I don't like being told I can't do something - not even by ME.
I seem to be rewarded by the universe for finishing a novel. The very DAY I finished the edit of my first novel (something DH wasn't aware of, mind you) he brought home a laptop for me as a surprise. Now, I'm within a week of finishing my second novel and my "gift" is a contract on the first one. UNBELIEVABLE! And it's a great contract, very fair, and the finished product will be at absolutely no cost to me, plus I retain all rights (other than they have the right of first refusal if I write another novel using the same characters.)
My jaw is on the floor. It made it past my third trimester belly and managed to hit the floor. INSANE.


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Congratulations!! We're all so happy for you! You are a fabulous writer. I can't wait to read your book.
Dee
Thanks, Duke! =c) Epubbing is a lot of things - some good, some not so good - depending on the pub you find. Frankly, there are a lot of really, really bad epubbed works out there. The reason is that it costs little to nothing for the epub to publish the book and it's a pretty easy profit for the company, even if all the author does is sell to friends and family. As a result, some are DREADFUL. Those e-pubs end up paying before too long, though, b/c they lose credibility with their customers.
Harlequin is an example of an epub that does NOT sacrifice quality. Their authors make scads of money (on average, a Harlequin book earns out 30k over its lifetime according to one non-scientific - but accepted as reputable - survey of authors). They make sales because of their reputation, and they seem to hold their ebooks to the same standard as their print editions (and indeed, from what I understand most of their titles are available in both formats.
As to WHAT an ebook is, it's simple a book you download instead of buying on paper. It is NOT the same thing as self publishing. You have out of pocket costs to self publish. A good epub will not ask the author to pay for a thing (in house editing, cover art, ISBN, marketing, etc all provided at the pub's expense) and a few even offer advances. (I'm getting one - YIPEEE!) The format gives new authors a better chance of getting out there because epubs are more willing to take a chance since the financial risk to them is so much lower than with a print copy. Some epubs will put books in print after a certain number of e-sales (I know of one where the threshold is 50).
Personally, I wasn't interested in epubbing. But I have a good friend (and crit partner) who has a few well-known (not famous, but well-known) authors in her circle and she told me they all say they make more from e-books than print. Personally, I love the feel of paper in my hands (and NOT having to stare at a screen any longer than necessary, LOL) but technology is past that. People want instant downloads, and people pay for them! E-books pay a higher royalty to the author than their paper counterparts, even though the cover price is (usually) the same.
Ultimately, my dream is a book on a shelf at a local book store. I may not like to read e-books myself, but I know better than to fight the industry and/or the process. I hesitate a little b/c this first book was my "learning curve" so to speak - my voice has changed and matured dramatically in my second novel - but I'm no fool. This story won't embarrass me, and it'll get me out there. It's a stepping stone, if you will, and a great, great honor to be chosen by a publisher with an outstanding - albeit relatively new - reputation in the business.
I do know this publisher has some books in print and I did give them electronic, print, and audio rights (none of which are obligations on their part) so we'll see what happens. Plenty more details are pending, but most will come after the editing process. Even though it's a tough one (Stephen King refers to it as "butchering your babies") I'm looking forward to what a pro can do with my story!
I will keep everyone posted via my blog. I don't wanna get myself kicked off iV for promotion or spam, LOL!
FLINGING DEBT:
FLINGING DEBT:
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