When To Nudge

Back in May I submitted a synopsis and query letter to a publisher (their standard submission requirement). That was on a Friday.

Two days later (Sunday afternoon) I got a request from one of their acquisition editors for the first 100 pages. I sent the file that evening.

The next afternoon (Monday) I got a request for the full.

It's been about three months since I heard anything. When is an appropriate time to nudge? And how should I nudge?

Any advice?

Thanks so much for your advice, Old Hack

I waited another two weeks before nudging the publisher. They responded the other day with an offer.

Now I'm waiting for the contract. I have three more questions.

1. How long does it usually take between the time a publisher makes an offer and sends a contract?

2. What do I do about my outstanding submissions with other publishers?

3. Do you know approximately how much a literary attorney charges to look over a publishing contract and/or negotiate one? I don't have an agent.

Hi Old Hack,

Yes, the publisher is very reputable. As for their offer, I thanked them and told them I'm looking forward to reviewing the contract. I don't know if that counts as an acceptance or not. I would hope not because I don't want to agree to anything until I see the terms on paper and then sign on the dotted line. I'm just cautious that way.

Before I signed with my old agent, there was another who'd offered to rep me, but she had an in perpetuity clause in her agency contract. That was a deal killer, so I ended up signing with someone else. However, things didn't really work out well in the end with that agent and we parted ways.

Long story short, I think I would rather just have a lit attorney look over it, but I did some additional research and it looks like it can be a bit pricey. So I guess I'm going to have to pay piper.

Susan Littlefield said:

Yep, have the lit attorney look over it. It's better to be safe than sorry.

Congratulations, by the way!

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Thank you so much, Susan! The AE said I should look for the contract this week.

Debbie V said:

The Authors' Guild in the US also offers free legal advice as far as I know. Membership may be cheaper than paying an attorney.

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You may have just saved me a bundle! Thank you, Debbie. I'm going to go check that out. You're a life saver!

Update: Editing and stuff

I received the contract and I'm in the process of dealing with that, but I have an unrelated question.

I have no idea what they plan to do with my story as I have not had any dealings with anyone from editorial, save the acquisition's editor who first requested the manuscript and someone from legal who sent the contract. No one has discussed anything with me about the creative aspect of things, particularly what vision they have for the novel. All I know is that they want to publish my book and they sent the contract.

And that's all I know.

What sort of questions should I be asking, editorially-speaking, before I sign the contract? I gather these things are usually discussed during "the call," but that was in the old days when everything was done by phone. I didn't get a call. I got an email telling me my manuscript had been accepted and to expect a contract soon. Well, I got the contract (the business part), but again, I'm in the dark about the work (the creative part).

thelittleprince said:

I wouldn't worry about inconveniencing or annoying anyone by requesting the call - at this stage, they want your book. They want you on side.

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This is my thinking. I mean, I'm about to sign my novel over to them. I at least want to know what their expectations are of me and how they plan to frame my book. It's all about looking before leaping as far as I'm concerned. I just want to make sure we're all on the same page because after I put my name on the dotted line, all bets are off.

triceretops said:

It's kind of tricky. The problem with that is, is that you might be setting yourself up for major revisions that you didn't expect. I'd say contact beforehand saves you the grief of any surprises.

tri

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I hate surprises. Always have. So I'm trying to make this wonderful experience as stress-free as possible. Going blindly into something this significant isn't wise. I just want to know what their thinking is and the direction they want to take things.

Another Update

I took everyone's advice and hired a literary attorney. She went through the contract line by line and made a lot of changes. It's been about three and a half weeks since she sent the contract back to the publisher and now we're just waiting. We heard from them over the weekend and they're a bit backlogged.

What an odyssey this has been. I always rolled my eyes at my published friends whenever they complained about the business side of things, you know, contract negotiations, print runs, marketing and royalties. I naively blew them off. I just didn't think it was a big deal. They were published so I thought they should stop complaining and just suck it up. BOY WAS I WRONG. Once you open that door and see what's beyond it you realize how much you don't know. It's very humbling.

So now I sit here and wait to see what's going to happen. If the deal goes through I'll rejoice. If it doesn't, I have a Plan B, which is great because, again, my only concern before was the creative side. I never really thought about the business end of things. Since getting this offer and going into these negotiations, I'm seeing the writing world, and my career in general, through enlightened eyes. So no matter what happens with this, I've been changed for the better.

I just want to thank everyone here who has given me advice. I'll update again when/if this contract situation is sorted.

Epilogue

I said I'd come back to update so here I am. The gist of it is, I declined the offer. Yep. I did. Long story short, my lawyer sent them suggested contract revisions and they rejected 98% of them. So I could've taken what they offered (which wasn't much) or I could walk.

I chose to walk.

I could look at this situation as a glass half empty or half full. The half empty part: I spent money on the lawyer and I'm walking away without a contract. The half full part: I spent money on a lawyer who saved me from giving up everything except my first born, which in the long run would've come back to bite me.

I'd been wrestling with this decision for weeks, and deep down I think I already knew I wouldn't sign, but I was hoping against hope that something (I don't know what) would change.

Here's a word of advice to anyone out there who is about to sign a contract. READ IT. And if you don't understand what you're reading, HIRE SOMEONE WHO DOES. These days, from the research I've been doing, many publishers big, small and midsize are putting some nasty things in their contracts. I suspect ebooks and the self-publishing revolution may have something to do with it.

Whatever the case, I've made the difficult decision to forgo another submission merry-go-round and just self-publish my novel. It's been a rather stressful several months, and I'm just not in the mood to do this again. I know more about publishing contracts now than I'd like, and to be frank, what I've seen is absolutely frightening.

I know it doesn't sound like it, but I do feel much better now that I've made this decision. Once I pulled the trigger, a huge weight lifted. I know that self-publishing isn't going to be a cake walk. Far from it, but I can say I'm making an informed choice, one that I'm sure won't be for everyone. However, it's the one I'm making right now. Wish me luck.