No news = bad news proposal

Bubastes · Aug 13, 2006

I'm collaborating with someone on a book project (it's book #1 for me, book #2 for him). He collaborated with a well-known author on his previous book and it's selling quite well.

Here's the slap in the face for me: the editor of the previous book looked at the proposal that I wrote and said, "I like this proposal and I want to publish this new book, but not with MeowGirl as the author. I want the other guy. I'm even willing to give [big $$$ advance]." The other author, in the meantime, has moved on to other projects. There haven't been other offers, so now the proposal is DOA.

Man, I must really suck....

Cath · Aug 13, 2006

I guess it's a numbers game - the other guy already has a good selling book.

That sucks - but the proposal can't be that bad if they like the idea.

:Hug2:

Keep at it.

Sheryl Nantus · Aug 13, 2006

actually, it's *his* loss - if he's such a snob that he only wants one person to work on the book and that person's not available.... well, too bad for the editor and the house.

I'd keep on flogging the proposal and keep moving onwards and upwards!

Bubastes · Aug 13, 2006

Sheryl Nantus said:
actually, it's *his* loss - if he's such a snob that he only wants one person to work on the book and that person's not available.... well, too bad for the editor and the house.

I'd keep on flogging the proposal and keep moving onwards and upwards!

Thanks for the encouragement. What got both of us really angry was that we were willing to take 1/5th of the proposed advance if I wrote the book instead of the well-known author, and the #@$#%@* editor said "no deal." Snob, indeed!!

triceretops · Aug 13, 2006

Boy, that's enough to get your fur ruffled and your claws out, MeowGirl. That editor wasn't worth the time and effort to begin with. Forge on!

Tri

Novelhistorian · Aug 13, 2006

the editor is bad news

No, Meow Girl, I don't think it's fair to say you suck. After all, you (a) got your proposal read; (b) it was your writing that got noticed; and (c) your coauthor was willing to make a deal to take less money. Those are all signs that you're on the right track. If there is a practical reason this editor decided to cut you out of the project, it may have something to do with that idiotic concept known as platform. (I say idiotic because it's got nothing to do with what you write, only with who you are.) Is your coauthor better-known than you? have an entree into a particular readership? Anyway, keep plugging. If you got this far, you'll get farther.

Scrawler · Aug 13, 2006

Wow. What a jerky editor.
On the bright side.... at least you found out he's a snob BEFORE you got involved with a project. Hard to look at it this way, but not working with that editor probably saved you major headaches down the line.

Also, I think maybe he was blowing smoke to inflate his own importance when he offered "big $$$ advance", knowing it wasn't going to happen. (Like the one that got away, it was THIS BIG.)

As Sheryl said, onwards and upwards!

triceretops · Aug 13, 2006

This sounds like a non-fiction book, hense the proposal. So I will say that platform is a major item here. And it's getting worse in the industry--the demand for them, I mean. It sounds like the other guy had plenty of stage, and that Meow had little or nothing. Okay. The worst case scenario of this would be that Mr. Platform gets first by-line credit with the "by" author conotation. However, your ghost/collaborator should pull the secondary author's by-line accompanied by a "With" connotation.

Example:

The Great Ice Age
By Joe Gotsplenty Platform
with MeowGirl Kitten Paws.

There is still no reason to throw her off the cover, refusing her co-authorship. It's just plain wrong. It's very common for a known quantity to share title with another writer. Two writers does not mean a publisher has to double the advance. So what was the spook here? Probably cold-hearted editor, wot?

Tri

Bubastes · Aug 13, 2006

triceretops said:
This sounds like a non-fiction book, hense the proposal. So I will say that platform is a major item here. And it's getting worse in the industry--the demand for them, I mean. It sounds like the other guy had plenty of stage, and that Meow had little or nothing. Okay. The worst case scenario of this would be that Mr. Platform gets first by-line credit with the "by" author conotation. However, your ghost/collaborator should pull the secondary author's by-line accompanied by a "With" connotation.

Yep, the problem was definitely lack of a platform. The scenario was more like this:

Book #1 (selling very well and award-nominated!):
Do-It-Yourself Litter Training
by Alpha Cat and Beta Cat (Beta Cat was the primary authority on the book topic, but Alpha Cat was listed first because he's more well-known)

Book #2 (what we're trying for):
Stop Scratching That Sofa!
by Beta Cat with MeowGirl

The problem was that snob editor didn't think that Beta Cat could pull in book sales with his name alone, despite the success of Book #1, because he felt that Alpha Cat was the main draw for Book #1. Apparently he didn't think much of Beta Cat's own platform, even though it is respectable (I'm just the hired scribe because I have virtually NO platform).

*sigh* I'll keep plugging along. I'm not bitter about it, just a bit frustrated because I felt like the "yes, but..." was soooo close to a win.

triceretops · Aug 13, 2006

I know the feeling entirely. I had a dynamite proposal for a dinosaur discovery in my home town--one of the biggest in the U.S. I got scads of interest, with "best seller" written all over it. I did all the reseach, got the permissions, retrieved all the science papers and clippings, and even got the free artwork. They all told me I had no platforms because I was just a news paper reporter and I was just a "fossile collector."

They told me to get the paleontogist onboard and have THEM write it, then they would take the project to the highest level.

Yeah, right. Toss me to the wind and set YOU up with my sources. Whadda hurt.

Tri

Bubastes · Aug 14, 2006

triceretops said:
They told me to get the paleontogist onboard and have THEM write it, then they would take the project to the highest level.

Yeah, right. Toss me to the wind and set YOU up with my sources. Whadda hurt.

Tri

Oh ick, how obnoxious. That just sucks. I can see the smarmy editor now, rubbing his hands and giving you "that" look as he spouts business-speak like "highest level" and "win-win."

Ah well, onward and upward.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 14, 2006

MeowGirl said:
Oh ick, how obnoxious. That just sucks. I can see the smarmy editor now, rubbing his hands and giving you "that" look as he spouts business-speak like "highest level" and "win-win."

Ah well, onward and upward.

The editor isn't being personal. He has a business decision to make, and his job is to make one that stands the best chance of giving his boss a profit. If he ignores the business side, he won't be an editor for very long.

It hurts when you're the one they don't want, but with most nonfiction you have to bring something to the table other than writing ability.

The editor is merely doing his job.

No news = bad news proposal

Bubastes

bananaed

Cath

The mean one

Sheryl Nantus

Holding out for a Superhero...

Bubastes

bananaed

triceretops

Novelhistorian

Scrawler

Bored fanatic

triceretops

Bubastes

bananaed

triceretops

Bubastes

bananaed

Jamesaritchie