Good news! Book deals DO happen!

Atlantic12

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I thought a thread about *how* a book deal happens, and what comes after that, might be useful and hopeful for authors looking to trade publish. I had so very little information, and I've been learning about all this on the fly, functioning on instinct and the advice of my agent. It would've been great to have one place/resource where people talked a bit about their own journeys to book deal and publication. Now I'm starting one! I hope others will add their stories, or ask questions. Knowledge is power. :)

The short version is -- My debut adult historical/mainstream suspense went on submission Sept 20, 2018. It had a preempt offer Oct 3, and a final deal with a Big 5 house (UK market) October 8.

That looks like an overnight success, but noooooo. It was very long in coming.

I signed with my agent in 2014. She went on maternity leave shortly after, so nothing much got done the rest of the year. All in all, I revised this book for about 3 and half years (and that counts only the time *after* I had an agent. I'd been writing the book for several years *before* I got her!). During revisions, I wanted to burn all versions of the book. I wanted to throw myself in front of a bus rather than revise it again. I thought the book was dead. I couldn't possibly get anything else out of it. But then I did. My agent read it front to back so many times, I thought she'd run away in disgust. But she didn't.

Fast forward to Sept 20 of this year. Submission day! I honestly thought it would never come.

My agent had drawn up a pitch (that I reviewed), and a bio based on info about me that I sent her. She hit the phones and pitched to UK editors on her sub list. Most said to send them the full manuscript. About 5 days later, a literary agency in New York enthusiastically agreed to handle pitches to the US market. They started a few days later.

That first week, I got at least 3 rejections from the UK market, mostly from more literary imprints. My book straddles commercial and literary, and it wasn't clear where the book might land. Otherwise, my agent started to tell me that there appeared to be "strong interest" in the market. She asked me for a summary of my second book (standalones) so she could follow up with interested editors and "keep the momentum going."

On the evening of Oct 3 I was sitting on the couch watching TV with my kids when I got an email labeled "Good news." I thought the book had gone to acquisitions somewhere. But my agent had texted that a preempt had come in from a major imprint. I think I screamed and jumped around for about 2 hours. (and maybe had a wine or two...) The offer was for World Rights. I received an offer letter that outlined basic terms and percentages according to the standard contracts of the house. So now it was time to discuss whether I wanted to sell World rights, or keep territorial rights. In other words, did I want to give one imprint a percentage of all deals made on the book around the world, or did I want to try to make those deals myself? We decided to try for territorial, turned down the preempt and asked the publisher to offer for UK rights only.

The next day, they raised their offer. My agent was hearing very definite "strong interest" from other publishers in the UK and US. The issue was -- should I turn down the preempt and let the UK rights go to auction? A big risk. We decided to go to auction. Two other imprints were telling us they wanted to bid, but when the deadline came, they asked us for more time to get their bids in. By then, I was a nervous wreck. I wasn't willing to wait another day or two for the others when I had a great imprint offering a good deal, even if it was World Rights. So I basically ended up taking the preempt. I'm glad I did, because the imprint has been awesome ever since.

(end part 1)
 

Atlantic12

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(part 2)

The last stuff above happened 2 days before the Frankfurt Book Fair. My book was called a "Frankfurt book," whisked off to the fair where my new UK publisher pitched foreign rights. I went down to meet my agent and the head of the publisher's rights team, who was really warm and enthusiastic about my book. The publisher put a press release about the deal in the Bookseller.

Now that I'd signed over World Rights to a UK publisher, they took over negotiating deals for all other rights, including US. We had already got that ball rolling, and soon I was talking to several editors at US imprints. I talked for an hour or more with each one about the book's background and mine, possible edits, what the imprints and the editor had been doing lately. There was enough interest for the book to go to auction in the US. My UK publisher set a deadline for bids, then called for best offers. I got to choose the winner, an amazing Big 5 imprint with an editor who expressed real dedication to the book and its vision. Her bid was in the form of a letter that stated some basics of the deal, but was also a very long, personal letter about her feelings about the story and me as an author, and where she could see us going. I nearly cried reading it.

Shortly before the US deal came in, I was in London to meet with my UK publisher, an amazingly warm welcome with hugs and handshakes all around, champagne toasts and little speeches. Then lunch with my agent, new editor and the publishing director. In the publisher's offices, spiral bound copies of my book were stacked on a cabinet for anyone on staff to read. It was bizarre to see that, and to hear people talking about my book and the characters like real fans. After all that, I had a big case of imposter syndrome. It was eye-opening to see how many people are involved with publishing the book, the hopes put in it, how high the expectations and stakes are.

That was last week. On this roller coaster, I hadn't really slept decently in about 2 weeks. This is the first halfway normal week at home, and it's finally sinking in what's happened. I can finally sleep again!

And submissions are not over yet. This week, I found out the book is at auction in one of the bigger European translation markets. I'll get to pick from the top 2 bidders at the end of the week.

My UK editor is my primary editor. She's working with my US editor to draft a joint editorial letter and annotated manuscript for revisions. I've been in direct contact with both, and everyone CC's the mails of everyone else so we're all on the same page. I don't know when the final contracts will be done. It could take a month or more, but we're functioning under the terms and offer letters, which seems standard.

***That's about it for now. Writing it down, I still can't believe it all happened. I hope this is useful and interesting for other people. And I'm excited to hear about other people's experiences.
 

Enlightened

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Awesome news! Thanks for sharing; very informative for those of us who never been through this process yet.

I have a question. You were asked for a summary of book two. Is this a series; if yes, how many books and how long did you contract between books? In other words, what is the maximum time you will need before you finish the next book?
 
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Atlantic12

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Thanks! I never in a million years expected things to work out like this. So there is definitely hope for everyone!

I have a question. You were asked for a summary of book two. Is this a series; if yes, how many books and how long did you contract between books? In other words, what is the maximum time you will need before you finish the next book?

My books are standalones. The publisher has an option on my second book. I could take as much time as I need, but the publisher would definitely like to see it in about a year. The first book is supposed to come out in hardback in spring 2020. By then, the publisher could have the second book in the pipeline already. They liked the summary of the second book, it's just a matter of me writing it now. (as if that's so easy....)
 

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Thanks for the detailed write-up, Atlantic. Lots of really interesting inside, industry info here. Also very cool that you actually got to meet with your editors and other publishing staff!
 

mccardey

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What a great, generous, happy thread! And congratulations, you!!!
 

Enlightened

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My books are standalones. The publisher has an option on my second book. I could take as much time as I need, but the publisher would definitely like to see it in about a year. The first book is supposed to come out in hardback in spring 2020. By then, the publisher could have the second book in the pipeline already. They liked the summary of the second book, it's just a matter of me writing it now. (as if that's so easy....)

Awesome. Thank you for the response!
 

Chaki1718

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Atlantic, this makes me even more hungry for publication. It was a bit discouraging when I saw just how long and hard you had to work to finally get the book auction ready but it sounds like it all paid off. Also, it's nice to hear that the industry is warm and inclusive and respectful of your wishes. I was worried that they tossed you to the side when they have the rights. Most importantly, you seem pleased and that's comforting. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
 

Elle.

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Rollercoaster of a journey but all worth it. Congratulations and enjoy after all the hard work and years you put in!
 

Lady Fox

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The first book is supposed to come out in hardback in spring 2020.

Holy Moly - 2020!! I imagine the wait will be excruciating - but then again sounds like you're going to be a busy bee.

Biggest congratulations - a dream come true and by the sounds of it, well deserved. Thank you for posting this up - it's always inspiring to read a success story.
 

Treehouseman

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Woo! And UK publishers are a lot more collaborative than the US ones, so you’ll have a great experience with them!
 

Atlantic12

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Thanks, everyone. There really is no "normal" when it comes to this publishing thing. I bet everyone has done it differently and way faster than me, but better late than never!

Atlantic, this makes me even more hungry for publication. It was a bit discouraging when I saw just how long and hard you had to work to finally get the book auction ready but it sounds like it all paid off. Also, it's nice to hear that the industry is warm and inclusive and respectful of your wishes. I was worried that they tossed you to the side when they have the rights. Most importantly, you seem pleased and that's comforting. Thank you so much for sharing!!!

I did revise a long time. To be fair, the book is pretty complicated and controversial, and it mixed some genres a bit. So I was walking a mine field, and it took a long, long time to navigate it. I have more to fix per editor's notes. Someone with more experience and a more straightforward story could pull it off much faster than I did. It's definitely not normal to edit so long for an agent, I think. She just really believed in the book's potential and was willing to put the work in (for free!), and that helped motivate me to keep going when I thought I couldn't revise one more word. And yes, I was hungry. I've wanted this my whole life. But by the time we submitted the book, I knew my hard work might not pay off. I was proud of the book anyway, and that I hadn't given up on it. It's so hard to know when to let go of a book, or keep hacking at it. In the end, I honestly didn't know if it would sell at all. That's why I was so shocked by all the interest.
 

Atlantic12

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Woo! And UK publishers are a lot more collaborative than the US ones, so you’ll have a great experience with them!

I'm really interested to see how this shakes out. I'm an American living in Europe, that's why I chose UK as my home market. I wanted to be able to visit my publishers and agent now and then. But I made it clear to them and to my new US editor that I consider the US my other home market, and I want to be involved. They seemed pretty pleased by that. But we'll see how it works in reality.
 

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Whoa, what a great story! Congratulations! This really demonstrates the individual path each journey can take.
 

Shoeless

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Woo! And UK publishers are a lot more collaborative than the US ones, so you’ll have a great experience with them!

I'm actually pretty curious about this statement. Is this just a difference in corporate culture, or is it because UK publishers are smaller, or because marketing departments have more pull with US publishers?
 

Kensi99

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Congrats to you for your tenacity and ability to keep going even in the face of wanting to vomit before doing another edit. :) I know the feeling!

Savor this hard won victory and be proud!
 

Treehouseman

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I'm actually pretty curious about this statement. Is this just a difference in corporate culture, or is it because UK publishers are smaller, or because marketing departments have more pull with US publishers?

No idea, but it is across the board from my friends who’ve had both. I would only be 50% surprised if someone emailed to say I was published in 2004 and they’d neglected to tell me...