Thursday, April 3rd, 2014

I Turned Down a Book Deal!

Colored PencilsDid I get your attention?

The offer came at the end of last year for a novel that I’ve been shopping for a long time. It was from a highly respected company, and one I’d been courting for a while.

But the offer was bad. I had to walk away from it.

Why am I telling you this now?

Well…it explains the inactivity here on the blog, and gives me a chance to tell you about some changes.

The reason for the inactivity: I’ve been working hard to complete a three-book urban fantasy series. It’s a bit of departure for me, since I usually like my fantasy in a fantasy world. But this character called to me.

As a result: I’ll have an urban fantasy novel coming out at the end of May, just in time for Balticon. And because I’m not going to publish these books traditionally, I’ll have the second book in the series out before the end of the year. (Maybe in time for your Thanksgiving pleasure. It all depends on how quickly I can get the manuscript back from the editor!) The third book is about one-third written–I hope to have it published by May 2015. (If not sooner.)

The first book has been copy edited and proof read, and I’ve been working with an artist for the cover. In fact: I made a decision tonight, and I’m just waiting on the artist to hand over the files.

When he does, I’ll post the cover here to give you all an idea of what’s coming in May.

So what does that mean for this blog?

It’s going to be a lot more irregular, I think, until all the parts of this series are out. I’ve stopped my Friday Writing Prompts until I can get the series publishing bits under control.

(I’m planning a writing prompt book, too: but it’s going to have to wait.)

And this Web site is likely to get a facelift, too: one where the front page becomes more static and the blog moves to a secondary page.

But everything is secondary to the novel. Thanks for your patience while we get that done!

6 comments to I Turned Down a Book Deal!

  • Sue Black

    I’ve been wondering where you’ve been. Sounds like you have been really busy.

  • It’s easy to forget that a contract is an agreement between two willing parties. If you ain’t willing, then don’t agree! Sounds like you made a tough call, and I’m sure it’s the right one for you. Best of luck with the urban fantasy series, and glad to see you’re blogging again, even if sporadically.

    • Hi Steve! It was terrible to walk away from a book deal…a potential multi-book deal. But I couldn’t sign away the rights they were asking for. It didn’t make good business sense.

      The author in me cringed though. There’s a lot of emotional attachment to a book. A contract is like confirmation that everything you’ve been working on is terrific. It’s gut-wrenching (from that standpoint) to pass it up!

  • Hung Vuong

    It’s good that you’re back

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