I Am Signed!

After many weeks of waiting and waiting, it has finally happened. A publisher has offered to take me on and I have accepted. Which means that when The Cronian Incident is finally available, it will be a Castrum Publishing product. But before you go thinking its all good news, let me tell you that the road getting here was a bit awkward!

For starters, I was first approached by the man I’m currently working with (let’s call him Paul) back in October. At the time, he was the acquiring editor (AE) for the science-fiction and space opera division of a UK-based publishing company. After the usual back and forth with edits and suggestions, he said he wanted to sign me for a three book deal and a short story.

Shortly thereafter, he announced to all those authors who he had been working with that he had quit the company over “creative differences”. He also told me in a private email that he would still be interested in signing me once he got his own press up and running. I was flattered, but kept talking to the press to see where things stood. I was told by Paul’s boss (the AE for the entire operation) I was still in good standing, and he asked me to submit my latest draft for them to look over.

Then, after about a month of waiting, the editor told me he was handing me off to someone they had hired to fill Paul’s shoes. At about the same time, Paul contacted me again and said his press was up and rolling and wanted to know if I had signed anything yet. I said I had not, but was still waiting on a reply. He said cool, and that if I was interested, he would give me a contract with the standard rules, rights, and royalties. In other words, distribution via paperback, ebook and audiobook, with a 40% cut of each.

I was more than prepared to jump ship because honestly, I wasn’t sure about them and only really decided to sign on because I had had the chance to talk to Paul extensively and trusted him as an editor. You could say we shared a lot of the same goals and he seemed entirely on the up and up. But of course, I wanted to do my due diligence.

So I naturally started knocking on Tickety Boo’s door to see what was going on. The owner himself got back to me and asked me to send him my latest manuscript. He said if it grabbed him in the first ten pages, we would be good to go. I seriously didn’t know what the hell was going on, as I’d already submitted my manuscript to his company multiple times and had been given the green light by his former acquiring editor (Paul), and the AE above him.

In any case, I did as he asked and was told he would get back to me in 24 hours. When that time has passed, I let him know that I had a competing and needed an answer. He messages me back to say  he was willing publish my book, but that it would need like two big editing sweeps, and he was only willing to give me 30% royalties until it proved its worth. He also made it clear he wasn’t about to get into any bidding.

Less than an hour later, he messaged me again and said his editors had “overruled” him and he was not going to publish me. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. But it genuinely felt like he was at first trying to shake me down, and then just dropped me. I also noted the timing and how it seemed rather conspiratorial. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought the mention of another offer made him get defensive.

This also came after a month of runaround from his operation, which Paul had quit because (as he explained just recently) he didn’t like the way they were treating their authors. After all this, I could certainly see why some people felt this way. And so I emailed Paul back and said we were a go. I also let him know that I had already decided to sign with him, but wanted to make sure I didn’t leap without looking.

So the good news is that I am a go and should be ready to see my book in print within a few months time! The only bad news would be it took awhile to get to this point and I had to get the runaround from some jerkoff and his printing press in the process! But it’s the journey, not the destination, right?

So expect to hear regular updates on the progress of this story as it goes from final draft to on sale. And expect updates on its proposed sequel – The Jovian Manifesto – which is currently in the works!