Hi all, I don't want to get into detail on the content of my book here because it is not relevant, but hopefully this will still make sense. I submitted my non-fiction proposal on topic "A" to several publishers in June '06. I signed a contract with a publisher in Sept. and now am working on completing my manuscript.
Today, I received an e-mail from another publisher that said they like my proposal, but feel the market is saturated for topic "A." But, with my expertise, think I could shift my idea to write a book on topic "B" which is related, but a much different book.
I actually had considered writing a book on topic "B" awhile ago, but thought "A" had a bigger market. I have a file and several notes and planned for my next book to be on topic "B."
My contract with my publisher states that I must submit my next book proposal to them and give them 3 months to consider. Also, I cannot submit my next proposal until after my book is published (summer '07).
Here are my questions:
- Since this second publisher has made it clear that there might be a good market for topic "B", do you think my current publisher might be willing to go against contract and consider my next proposal before my first book is published? I'm sure they want to see how my first book does before investing further, however, I don't want to miss out on a hot topic.
- I don't want the second publisher to think I got the idea for topic "B" from them. I really did have the idea already. Should I tell them that? I am concerned if I end up publishing with my current publisher that they could later say that I got the idea from them. Probably wouldn't be that big of deal, but it just created a concern for me. And also, should I tell them that if my current publisher passes on it, I would be interested in working with them?
Just not sure on proper etiquette here. Thanks for your help!
Today, I received an e-mail from another publisher that said they like my proposal, but feel the market is saturated for topic "A." But, with my expertise, think I could shift my idea to write a book on topic "B" which is related, but a much different book.
I actually had considered writing a book on topic "B" awhile ago, but thought "A" had a bigger market. I have a file and several notes and planned for my next book to be on topic "B."
My contract with my publisher states that I must submit my next book proposal to them and give them 3 months to consider. Also, I cannot submit my next proposal until after my book is published (summer '07).
Here are my questions:
- Since this second publisher has made it clear that there might be a good market for topic "B", do you think my current publisher might be willing to go against contract and consider my next proposal before my first book is published? I'm sure they want to see how my first book does before investing further, however, I don't want to miss out on a hot topic.
- I don't want the second publisher to think I got the idea for topic "B" from them. I really did have the idea already. Should I tell them that? I am concerned if I end up publishing with my current publisher that they could later say that I got the idea from them. Probably wouldn't be that big of deal, but it just created a concern for me. And also, should I tell them that if my current publisher passes on it, I would be interested in working with them?
Just not sure on proper etiquette here. Thanks for your help!
