Big day yesterday. That second publisher offered a contract for KILLER OF KILLERS, and it was a good contract. So I signed it, and emailed it back to them. So that's my third publishing contract now that I've signed. Fourth if you count the contract I signed with Literary Agent Anita Kushen.
But there is something I must say. Signing a contract doesn't mean a book will get published. I've chronicled on this blog the bumpy road that's called the path to being published.
My first contract with the agent resulted in nothing. Agent Anita called me, and told me how much she loved KOK. And I think she would have found a publisher for it, too, but she retired. I've already written about it, but the short version is that her subordinates took over KOK, and did nothing with it. At the most they submitted it to the Big Six, and left it at that.
Most disappointing with those agents was that they didn't want to represent THE VASE, even though it was a story with wider appeal. The "terrorist" angle scared them, and shortly thereafter we parted ways.
So I took over submissions for THE VASE on my own, and my first contract with a publisher, (Virtual Tales) might have been nice, but within two months of signing with them, they folded. So now some additional news which I haven't divulged yet. The second publisher I signed with for THE VASE, Cogito, also has failed. They are having problems of their own, but unlike VT, they haven't been forthcoming about it. I was notified by the acquisitions manager that she quit the company, and after my follow up, I found out that the Editor-in-Chief had also quit. Which left me hanging. So I invoked a clause in the contract to terminate that contract.
So THE VASE is once again available. But KOK is now under contract. It seems complicated, but whatever, you just ride with it and keep on plugging away. Let's see how this new contract goes. The publisher is Melange Books, LLC, and they seem to be well established, and so far so good, but it's only been one day. So goes the world of publishing!
Man. I've been there and done it with you. I had a second publisher (after VT) go under on me also. I'm on my third and hopefully lucky pub. Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteAnd good luck to you, too, Ricky. I can't wait to read River Bottom Blues!
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