Hurry up and wait

[JCSurrey]

I was fortunate to have my non-fiction book accepted by a reputable mid sized publisher.
The editor in chief emailed to say he really liked my project and was going to present it to the editorial board.
Immediately after that happened, I received an offer which I accepted in principle with a few minor questions on audio rights etc.
I know that until the contract has been drawn up, there’s not much to talk about, but the silence now feels so unsettling! (It’s been a couple of weeks.)
I keep pinching myself and wondering if it was all a dream. I’m sure it will all feel more real once everything is signed and there’s a sense of things progressing.
Wondering how others have managed this part of the process?
Many thanks

 

[Maryn]

Alcohol? (Just kidding. Or not.)

I imagine the best way out of the Now What? anxiety is to get started on the next book. Nail down the concept, start doing research, whatever approach gets you deeply involved enough that you can stop fretting about this book, which is now in a situation outside your control.

 

[JCSurrey]

You're so right. (And thank you!)
Currently alternating between further refining and pruning the current manuscript ahead of handing it over for in-house copyediting, and starting to flesh out the next one (I actually have a series of three related books planned). On that, a corollary question: At what point should I reveal this fact to the publisher?
I don't want to seem lacking in focus, or like I'm trying to sell them a watch on the side. But I also think it might be a good thing for them to realise there is potential here for more than just one book and that I'm thinking ahead...

 

[Maryn]

I'm hardly the one to ask--every publisher I've had has gone out of business!--but I would reason thusly:

If the second and third books only work as sequels to the one that's now going to be published, tell them soon. But if they might stand alone (perhaps with revision to incorporate core concepts from book one), then maybe wait until you see if you're happy with this publisher's edits, royalty payments, promotion, etc. before you offer them anything more. That way, if your present publisher is anything less than acceptable, you wouldn't be locked into them publishing two more books but could seek somebody else.

Do be careful about your contract, making sure it doesn't have a clause committing you to offering them the sequels before shopping them around.

 

[JCSurrey]

Thanks Maryn.
This is the publisher I've had my heart set on since I first thought of writing decades ago.
It's something of a dream come true.

 

[Janine R]

Congratulations!

 

[JCSurrey]

So kind of you, thank you.
I know everyone here will relate to what a solitary pursuit it is to write.
The strangest feeling to spend so much time in your own head with no real idea whether or not anyone else will have even the slightest inclination to join you there.

 

[Maryn]

Well, I haven't exactly been invited inside your head--yet!

That's one of the great things about a site for writers that is also a community. Writing really is a thing you do entirely alone, yet when I come here, the place is packed with people who totally get it because they're doing it entirely alone, too.

 

[JCSurrey]

Consider yourself invited.
But be warned: It's slightly odd in here!

And yes. There is nothing quite like the fellowship of others who 'get it'.

 

[Maryn]

Luckily I'm not afraid of whatever's moving around in the shadowy part... Should I be?

 

[JCSurrey]

You don't strike me as the afraid type.
I'm just looking at your message count and join date, and I suddenly feel like a horrendous noob.

 

[Maryn]

Well, remember, I joined up when I was dewy with youth. And could not edit for length. You missed my recent signature quote, something about how I was once young and a bad writer, but now, after many years of hard effort, I am no longer young.

During my time here, my writing goal changed. I've quit writing twice after seeing books I considered worse than my own found publishers when mine did not, and I got real good at choosing small publishers who were about to go under. (Luckily, I got my rights back in the nick of time.) Like the mafia, though, those story ideas keep reeling me back in. At one time I wanted to be a career writer in my genre. Now I write entirely for myself, occasionally submitting something but just as happy when I don't. I missed a submission deadline only last week. No hundred-buck payment for me!

You, though, you've got your dream publisher, which is fully awesome. Hats off to you, man.

Maryn, now dewy with drool

 

[Unimportant]

You're so right. (And thank you!)
Currently alternating between further refining and pruning the current manuscript ahead of handing it over for in-house copyediting, and starting to flesh out the next one (I actually have a series of three related books planned). On that, a corollary question: At what point should I reveal this fact to the publisher?
I don't want to seem lacking in focus, or like I'm trying to sell them a watch on the side. But I also think it might be a good thing for them to realise there is potential here for more than just one book and that I'm thinking ahead...

You could, if you wished, query literary agents and tell them your situation -- if you were wanting to have an agent negotiate your next contracts for you.

 

[JCSurrey]

Well, remember, I joined up when I was dewy with youth. And could not edit for length. You missed my recent signature quote, something about how I was once young and a bad writer, but now, after many years of hard effort, I am no longer young.

During my time here, my writing goal changed. I've quit writing twice after seeing books I considered worse than my own found publishers when mine did not, and I got real good at choosing small publishers who were about to go under. (Luckily, I got my rights back in the nick of time.) Like the mafia, though, those story ideas keep reeling me back in. At one time I wanted to be a career writer in my genre. Now I write entirely for myself, occasionally submitting something but just as happy when I don't. I missed a submission deadline only last week. No hundred-buck payment for me!

You, though, you've got your dream publisher, which is fully awesome. Hats off to you, man.

Maryn, now dewy with drool

You're very kind.
I couldn't write a novel if my life depended on it.
I think I just happened to have the right idea at the right time for the right publisher.
I totally understand that need to create.

 

[JCSurrey]

You could, if you wished, query literary agents and tell them your situation -- if you were wanting to have an agent negotiate your next contracts for you.

Thanks for this. We'll see how this all plays out. I seem somehow to have done ok so far on my own, but I know having an experienced person act on your behalf can pay dividends, too.

 

[Maryn]

My first writing instructor got her agent when she had an offer in hand. That opened some doors that had been previously closed to her. The agent was able to spot some things in the contract that favored the publisher over the author and have it amended before she signed. (Her husband was an attorney, but this was way outside his area of expertise.) That agent repped her next two books, then they parted ways.

So it might not be a terrible idea to identify dream agents to negotiate on your behalf, or review your contract.

Can you share, in a very general way, what your book is about?

 

[JCSurrey]

My first writing instructor got her agent when she had an offer in hand. That opened some doors that had been previously closed to her. The agent was able to spot some things in the contract that favored the publisher over the author and have it amended before she signed. (Her husband was an attorney, but this was way outside his area of expertise.) That agent repped her next two books, then they parted ways.

So it might not be a terrible idea to identify dream agents to negotiate on your behalf, or review your contract.

Can you share, in a very general way, what your book is about?

I hear you.
My 'other career' is in the music business, and I've always had a manager and lawyer review all my contracts. I will have my usual lawyer take a look at it. He has a background in music publishing but has people on his team who get involved in literary stuff too.
The book is about the nature of belief, specifically the degree to which our beliefs are a matter of choice.