From Termination to…
Well my dream has come full circle in one year. On October 11, 2013, I received a phone call from Harlequin offering me a contract for my YA paranormal for their new digital program that they were rolling out in January 2014. This past year has been hectic as I worked with one of their editors polishing the book and getting it ready for publication in early 2015. Then on September 29, 2014, I got a call from the same very nice lady who told me that the digital program was being discontinued as of November 2014 and my contact was being terminated and my book wouldn’t be published after all.
Sigh.
I realize that at the end of the day, publishing is a business and this was strictly a business decision. I’m grateful that I was at least able to benefit from professional editing services for the better part of the year and get a peek inside the life of a published author.
Picking Yourself Up
I thought long and hard about how I would react to this new and disappointing turn of events and decided that I would allow myself 24 hours to be truly upset over this and then I was moving on with my life. I was going to spend the month of October not writing but reading a lot, swimming and deciding what I was going to write next.
I have done all of the above and was buoyed by a visit by my sisters in the middle of the month. I feel refreshed and am now yet again compiling a list of agents and publishers and then if nothing comes of that, then perhaps I will self-publish or put it in the drawer and move onto the next writing project.
Most importantly, I am writing again. Because at the end of the day, that is what it’s all about. It is what is most important to me.
Laura Roberts says
How disappointing! Do you think you will continue to shop the book, or maybe self-publish it?
Michele says
Laura, I’m currently looking for an agent (again) and then I’ll try a couple digital publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts. I’m still not sure about self-publishing as I feel it would involve alot of marketing which involves alot of time and savvy, neither of which I have. However, I am moving on.
Holly Ingraham says
Michele, this is the sucky side of the business. But, as you note, it is all business. Just stop and think how many other authors got cut off the same way. Shame you can’t all get together for rant, rave, and chocolate.
All publishers want you to do as much promy as you can, and many are astonished if you don’t spend all your advance on promotion. Honest, they act like authors do this all for ego and don’t need the money to, say, pay bills. Slightly psycho publishers are one of the many things that make self-publishing look good. So don’t think that getting an agent or publisher is going to mean they do all the promy and you get to work on your writing. You still need to learn to hustle.
Still, there’s that status thing of a “regular publisher” that feels so good. This ms ought to be really ready to roll now. Look at the experience as free workshopping with professionals. When you send this to an agent, you can say it was bought, but Harlequin canceled the line out from under you. An agent worth the name will have heard all about this change, may have clients who were caught in it, and should view it as a positive for you.
All steam ahead!
Holly