Do you use an agent/did you use one when submitting your first novel for publication? Do you think one is necessary for hammering out a contract? If an editor asks you for a revision of your unsolicitied mss, is it likely he’ll actually buy it once the problems have been cleared? Thanks

We didn’t use an agent.  You can read the entire story here.  However, I do recommend getting an agent.  A good agent is worth its weight in gold.  This is a complicated issue so let’s break it down by where you might be submitting.

Submitting to one of the major houses in New York.

The major houses in New York are Macmillian, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, the Penguin Group, and Random House.  The major publishing houses are large corporations which include several different imprints.  An imprint is a division of the publishing house dealing with a particular genre or format.

For example, Ace ( science fiction and fantasy) is an imprint of Penguin Group, Avon (mass market romance) is an imprint of HarperCollins, and so on.  Which imprint handles what can get confusing.*  But the imprints always list their parent company on their website and in the books they publish.  If you check the copyright page of any of our books, you will see:

ACE

Published by Berkley Publishing Group,

A division of Penguin Group (USA), Inc

If you are submitting to one of the imprints of the big publishing houses, an agent is a necessity for several reasons:

First, an agent acts as a first filter for the publishers.

Having an agent representing the manuscript means that at least one industry professional read your work and thinks it’s good enough to devote his or her time and efforts to bringing it to

publication.  A publisher is more likely to look at the manuscript sent by an agent than to look at the manuscript submitted by an author.

If you look at the guidelines of different imprints, you will see a phrase “no unsolicited submissions.”  That means the publisher will not view unagented submissions.  Your manuscript will be returned to you unopened.

If the publisher does accept unsolicited submissions, like Ace/Roc does, they will often ask you to submit an email query with ten pages of your manuscript, ask you to not submit it anywhere else, and warn you to “Please allow 5 months for a reply to an e-mail query.”  You could be waiting for half a year to get a No, thank you.  An agent is often able to cut that waiting time in a half, if not more.

Second, an agent knows the market.

An agent can navigate the tangled sea of imprints much better than most writers, especially if the writer is just starting out.  The agent knows which editor loathes time travel and which can’t get enough of it.  He knows which imprint is looking for the next big thing in werewolf romance, which imprint is suffering from internal restructuring, and which editor has a reputation of missing deadlines and being non responsive.  Having a good agent on your side is equivalent to going into battle being briefed with an excellent military intelligence.

One of the questions above is “If an editor asks you for a revision of your unsolicited mss, is it likely he’ll actually buy it once the problems have been cleared.”  If you had an agent, they would tell you that an answer is a resounding no.  Also “hell no” would be more accurate.  You can spent years on revising a manuscript and in the end the editor will tell, “Sorry, still don’t like it.”  Should you revise?  I can’t answer this question.  I don’t know you, I don’t know your manuscript, I don’t know the editor – is it a junior editor or a senior editor?  How extensive are revisions?  Does this editor actually have the authority to purchase the manuscript?  Did the editor communicate intent to buy?  I can’t answer this but an agent can.

Third, an agent reviews the contract.

If your manuscript makes the cut and the publisher offers a contract, the agent should be able to negotiate better terms.  Things to look for in a contract:

• Royalty percentage. The agent will know industry standard and should be able to ax any attempt to drop it below the norm.  This is important.  The industry standard for mass market paperback is 8%, for example.  If you sign a contract with 6% and the book earns you $20,000, you will only get $15,000.
• Publication period. For how many years will the publisher own the rights to your work.  Some publishers ask for crazy publication period.  Some ask for an indefinite, which means they can publish your work forever.  (Hint: run like hell from that one.)
• Type of rights. World rights, North American rights, Media rights, what kind of rights are we talking about?  If the publisher purchases world rights, you will only get 40-50% of the foreign sales earnings.  Does the publisher have a robust foreign sales department?  Will they sell the rights or will they just sit on the manuscript?
• Option clause. A clause that gives the publisher the right of first refusal on your next work.  This is important.  Suppose you have series A.  You write three books, it does well, but you are unhappy with how the publisher is treating you.  You want to start Series B with a different house.  And you publisher says, “Hold your horses.  According to the contract you signed, we must refuse any new work of fiction you produce and we are not refusing it.”  You are stuck.  And sometimes option clause will prevent you from publishing anything under your name until the contract with the current publisher has run its course, which could be years.
• Advance. If they are buying world rights, the advance should be larger.  If you’re the first time writer, the advance will be smaller.  We got $5,000 per book for our first two.  If the book is in a hot market, like steam punk is right now, the advance should be larger, but not so large that you can’t earn it out.
• Bonuses. The agent should make sure that if you meet your sales goal, you get extra money.  If the book hits NYT, you get extra money.  And so on.

Fourth, the agent acts as a buffer between you and the publisher.

You were told that your book comes out in February.  But a Big Name Author was late with his manuscript and you’ve been dropped to May.  All of your marketing – the blog appearances, the interview with a local radio station, your signings, your book mark orders, your email campaign, everything is set up for February. On top of everything else, the editor wants you to completely rewrite the manuscript for the sequel, and the royalty department made a mistake on your last return.

There will come a time when you will email your agent ranting like a lunatic.  Ask any author.  Anyone.  The agent will listen to you, reassure you that you are pretty and your books are gorgeous and politely but firmly go to war on your behalf.  Instead of unloading all of that negativity onto your editor, you unload it on the agent.  Professional relationship is preserved and everyone carries on.

Fifth, if you make it, there will come a time when you must consider your career.

A good agent will help you cultivate a successful career as a writer by steering you away from the pitfalls.  A good agent will assist you in growing your brand.  Without it, you might find yourself writing four books a year, all of which are failing.

When you are starting out, you don’t know any of this, and that’s when a good agent is your friend.  If you are planning on making it at one of the bigger houses, I recommend getting an agent first.  It is a necessity.

Submitting to a small publisher (independent) or e-press.

If you are submitting to an indy or an e-press, and agent is not necessary but is beneficial.  If you follow the writing scene, you will see small e-presses having scandals and burning out left and right.  People go out of business.  People start witch hunts, when criticized.  People threaten each other with lawyers.  An agent can assist you with making sure that a) your contract is sound and b) the publisher you submitted to has a good reputation.

However, while an agent helps, you can also fudge things a little and instead of having a full time agent at the cost of 15% of your earnings, you simply take your manuscript to a reputable lawyer, preferably one who specialized in the entertainment and freelancing.  They will vet your contract and keep you from doing something you will later regret.

There we go, I hope that helps. 

[hr]

* For more information, I recommend reading Sarah Weinman’s series on publishing houses and imprints. Here are the links to her articles: Macmillan, Simon & Schuster , Hachette, HarperCollins, The Penguin Group & Random House.

Will there be more in Days of Swine and Roses/Silent Blade/ A Mere Formality worlds? Will there be a novel set in Days of Swine and Roses/Silent Blade/ A Mere Formality worlds?  Why don’t we have a novel now?

Because we’re hard-pressed by deadlines.  We’re really not short story writers.  Once in a while an idea strikes, but mostly, we write novels.

You should totally sell the short stories.

:Scratches head:  It’s already available for free, so I don’t know if I feel right about selling them.

What about a tip jar?

Heh, you guys are totally awesome.  Thanks.  But I think we’re okay.  Besides, last time I had one, people started donating $50 at a time, and while I appreciate it, I have an idea of how much our work is worth and it’s not $50, I can tell you that.

Is there going to be a beta thing for Kate 5?

We have to keep a very strict schedule right now, which means that as a beta you may have to read 2,000 words a day as they’re written.  It’s almost a job.  While I’d like to have another beta – we have one now and she is much awesome – I don’t know if I can inflict that kind of punishment on someone. I always feel funny about asking because a lot of people who used to beta are friends and I know they may want to feel emotionally obligated to take on this load of work, when they really don’t have the time.

What is happening with Curran POVs?

I need to format it and then they will go on Smashwords as a file for download.  Already have a cover of sorts.  Just need to get it done.

Never, ever, ever apologize about getting a book from the library.  Library is a place dedicated to books and there is a reason why librarianship is a noble profession.

When I was a kid, going to a library on my way back from school and getting a bag full of books was the first independent grown up experience for me.  I was treated as an adult, I could make my own choices, and getting that stack of book made me so happy, I didn’t mind dragging the heavy bag across two tram stops and up and down two hills.

When we had no money, library was the only place we could get books.  Not everyone can afford to buy a book, but everyone deserves a chance to read one. Gordon found his first Parker book at a library and if he got books from the library, his aunt and uncle, who are very conservative in their religious beliefs, were reluctant to say no to it.  It was a big deal to him and it’s a big deal to me.

So, don’t apologize!  Sometimes it’s a choice between a gallon of milk and buying a book.  Get the milk and go to the library.

“Please, please, please release Magic Bleeds on Kindle format. I live in a small town. We don’t even have a bookstore! The closest bookstore is half an hour away, and it takes too long too order the print version. I love your books. I’ve been waiting for Magic Bleeds forever. Please don’t make me wait any longer.”

Nancy pleads:

“Hi – i just received a cancellation notice from Amazon indicating my Kindle pre-order of Magic Bleeds was cancelled because there is no longer a scheduled release date.  Is this temporary?  i’ve become so used to have multiple books at my beck and call in my kindle when i travel that trying to gather up paperbacks and find spots in my tiny luggage is a horrible thought.  please please please put it out on kindle!!”

For the last time, we don’t put the books on Kindle.  We have no affiliation with Amazon or it’s proprietary electronic reader the Kindle.  We don’t know why they’re not available.  Our best guess is that Amazon and our publisher Ace have had a disagreement about the books (many books, not just ours) and how much Amazon should charge for them, in this case specifically how much they should charge for an electronic version.

I think the Kindle is great and I love getting goodies from Amazon.  We do the majority of our Xmas shopping online.  I am sorry that those of you that ordered the book or that planed on ordering for the Kindle have been temporarily stymied.  As far as I know it is still available for the Nook (Ilona has one) and probably the Sony E-reader.  I just checked iTunes and did not see it, frankly surprised that they do have the other books.

As we have stated before, all we do is write the books and if we’re lucky sell them to Ace.  Our publisher decides when, where and to whom the book will be sold.  That is it.  End of story.

i’m in NZ n u guys don’t do signing here, do u?  any plans in Australia?

I was wondering if y’all ever come out around Florence, AL for book signings

Right now we have a signing scheduled On May 25th in Portland and We will be at the ArmadilloCon in Texas later this year.  That’s it, guys.  No plans for overseas travel at this time. Mostly due to cost of overseas travel.

But! The Kate series is being released in UK and Commonwealth later in the year, and if it does well, we will make it a point to get out there and meet UK fans.  (Also my father keeps pointing out that it’s only a very short plane ride from London to Russia…)  I’d love to go to Australia as well.  I’m just worried that we’ll land, Lord Panda will take a look around, and say, “G’day.  I’m not leaving.  I think we should buy a house.” I wouldn’t put it past him.

Question about signing at Powell’s:

Are you going to be reading? Doing Q&A? Or is it mainly focused on signing?

Well, it will be Devon, Lili, and Gordon and I, so I am not sure how the official part of the signing will go.    Most likely some reading, some Q&A, and the signing.  That said, after the “official” part is over, Gordon and I will do what we usually do at conventions: we’ll arm ourselves with coffee and park ourselves in an easily accessible area.  You are welcome to come and chat and ask questions, and hang out or get things signed.  You are not bugging us, we’re there specifically to hang out with you.  So if there is something you’ve been dying to ask, we’ll be available until Powell’s kicks us out or until all questions are answered.

We don’t get out much, but when we’re invited somewhere in a professional capacity, we make the best of it.  

Also, we’re getting requests for the interviews and blog appearances.   I’m afraid we might be a touch overexposed, so we’ll probably limit the number of interviews we give to no more than 5 in the week of May 25th.  (Trust me, there is nothing more boring than getting the same author on every single blog on your roll.)

So if you want to book an appearance on your site, please let us know in advance.  You can either email us directly or email ACE’s publicist Rosanne Romanello.  Her information is in the footer.  If you email the publicist, you are much more likely to get a yes, because Rosanne does not take no for an answer and I have never been able to weasel out of anything she schedules.  If you do email us directly, I have to warn you that we may say no, simply because the number of requests is getting a touch overwhelming.

I had a question about word counts. I’m trying to figure out what the proper format for a manuscript is and came across a snag. What would you consider to be an average word count for your books or at least a word count for a new author? The story I’m working on already hit 150,000 and it’s not even done, but I heard that if it’s too long then some editors automatically reject it.

Editors don’t typically automatically reject things on the basis of length alone.  Most often they reject them because writing isn’t quite there, or their line-up already has something similar, or the novel doesn’t fit with what they already publish.

A typical length for a UF is around 90,000-100,000 words.  It used to be typographic word count, but now more and more people just go with MS Word’s word count.

Unfortunately,  150,000 is what’s colloquially known among writers as BFB – Big F-ing Brick.  There are genres in which such length is acceptable.  Epic fantasies, for example, tend to be long.  Historic fiction, also – you could kill someone with  an early Sharon K. Penman’s book.  But if you’re writing a UF, a paranormal, a contemporary fantasy, ora  mystery, you have to prepare yourself to make some sacrifices.  You may be asked to split the novel in two.  You may be asked to cut.  Gordon and I had to chop off a quarter of the MAGIC BITES to make it fit into 90,000 limit.  It took hitting some bestseller lists before the word limit was relaxed.  That’s the good thing about having a little bit of sales – you get more leeway.

The question to ask yourself is , why is your book so long?  Are you meandering?  Is there a ten day trip in there that can be summarized in two sentences?  Do people have terribly important debates that add nothing to the plot?  Are you in love with a page-long description of an abandoned movie theater?

My advice would be to take a good hard look at the narrative and cut the fat.  Give your novel to someone who doesn’t feel obligated to pet you on the head.  Is he bored reading it?  Cut the boring parts.

But, if you are completely and definitely sure that your work must remain at the current length, then write the best query letter you can write and make sure your first chapter would knock the editor’s socks off.  They will take it from there.

M writes

I’m curious about how drafts work when you’re published. I know when you’re unpublished, the general rule of thumb is 3+ drafts before subbing it out. How many drafts do you guys generally go through before you hand the manuscript in? Also, do you do a lot of editing while you write or do you wait to make changes and corrections to the story during copy-edits?

As many as it takes.

The point of redrafting is to produce the best book possible.  If there is some kind of rule out there that tells you to rewrite an arbitrary number of times, that rule is stupid and should be kicked to the curb.  I’d like to meet the person who came up with that nonsense and pop him upside the head for driving future writers crazy.

The number of drafts doesn’t matter.  Only the end product does.  Some books take one draft, some take eight.

We do edit as we write.  Most of the editing comes in the form of adjusting the narrative.  For example,  we have an exploding corpse in Kate 5.  Gordon and I wrote the scene, but it felt off.  The scene would be better set during magic instead of tech, because magic would let us get creepier.  But as it was, the scene couldn’t have magic because magic fell that morning.  It took me a whole weekend to realize that I must split the scene off and move it to next day.  As a result, I had to go back, rename Chapter 4 as Chapter 5, move the front scene to the end of Chapter 3 and write an entirely new Chapter 4.

That’s normal, just as the cleaning as you go along is normal. I type with my key board in my lap because regular chairs kill my back and I typo a lot as I write.  (I do wish Liquid Binder would run the spellcheck all the time, but they don’t.  If I find software that let me do the same file management as the Binder but runs the spellcheck, I will pounce on it.)  I usually go back and clean what I wrote every day or two.  Plus, Gordon cleans it in rewrites.

To reiterate, focus on the book, not the rewrites. 

Price

Question:

And on the earlier post you mentioned how much you make on a average book. Do you know the general breakdown of costs? like how much goes to the publisher, the bookstore, etc. And using a coupon or buying the book for cheaper doesn’t take away money from the authors does it?

Answer:

The answer to this question is a little more complicated.  Before I answer, let’s talk about costs.

Author’s cost

The author incurs cost

• in man-hours spent writing the novel,
• postage required to send it out,
• utility bills and computer costs,
• office supplies,
• and once the book is published, in promotional expenses.  Book contests, taking adds in online and print publications, convention appearances – all of that takes money
• agent fees, which are 15% for domestic sales and 20% for foreign sales.

Publisher’s cost

The publisher pays advance to the author.  Advance functions like a retainer.  The publisher pays the author a set sum against future money the books will earn, so the author doesn’t take the manuscript some place else.  For some authors that amount is $5,000, for others, $500,000.  This advance is a risk for the publisher, because the author gets to keep it even if the book flops.

The publisher also has production expenses:

• they must pay salary to the editor, editorial assistant, copyeditor, managing editor (the person who oversees the production), design editor, cover artist, cover designer and so on.
• They must pay for the book to be bound and printed.
• They have to ship the book and market it.
• And if the book doesn’t sell, the stores actually return unsold copies or claim them as loss, and the publisher eats that cost as well.  (They pass it on to the author somewhat but they shoulder the bulk of it.)

Distributor cost:

There are so many stores, the publisher doesn’t have the capacity to work with every single one individually, so they pass that burden on to distributors.  For example, Ingram is a distributor.  It takes orders from individual stores or store chains and processes them.

Distributors incur costs in:

• salaries of their employees,
• shipping the books
• storing the books
• printing of catalogs

Retailer cost:

The retailer incurs cost in

• storing the books,
• paying salaries to their employees,
• shipping of the book to customers,
• promoting the book

As you can see, the publisher shoulders the greatest cost.  Now the break-down of the price will make more sense.  Please remember that these are approximate numbers for a mass market paperback.

Price of the book: $7.99

Author’s cut: about 8% or $0.639

Publisher’s cut: about 40% or $3.196

Distributor’s cut: about 10% or $0.799

Retailer’s cut: about 40% or $3.196

As you can see, it’s not a 100% all together.  That’s because these are ballpark costs for a mythical book.  In reality, this model is different for each title.

A Big Name Author (BNA) might get 15% in royalties or more, and the publisher and distributor might jump back and forth on their profits by 5-10%.

It must be pointed out that the publisher’s expenses are about 25-30% of the total book price and sometimes higher, so really the publisher only makes 10-15% on each title.  (Again, approximate numbers.)  Also, the printing costs for the publisher typically account for only 10% of the total book cost.  (This will be important later for the ebooks questions.)

Who Eats the Discount?

If the book is discounted in the store, that discount does not affect the author.  We still get our 8%.  This discount is eaten either by the retailer, or, more frequently, by the publisher.  That’s why the numbers are individual for each title.  For example, printing books by BNA X  is like printing money: they are a guaranteed sale.  Even if the publisher’s profit margin falls to only $1 on her titles, she will likely sell 500,000 books in the first year and that’s $500,000 to the publisher.

By contrast, Author Y may only sell 20,000 books in the first year (and this is considered a good solid performance).  Even if the publisher makes $3 of profit (I’m being unreasonably generous here for the sake of example) on each sale, that’s only $60,000.

Because we’re talking thousands of units sold here, even a small  change makes a difference.

MAGIC BITES was originally priced at $6.99.  Our contract specified a 6% royalty.  That’s $0.419 per book.  Let’s say we sold 50,000 units.  If our royalty was the industry standard 8%, or $0.559 per book, we would get $27, 960 in royalties.  But at the $0.419, we would only make $20, 950.

Is the publisher the bad guy in this?  No.  Book publishing is not an exact science.  Suppose the publisher puts out a debut by Writer Z at the advance of $5,000 to the author.  It becomes a run away bestseller.  Everybody makes money.   The publisher shells out $250,000 for the second book and it dies like a dying thing in the middle of the desert selling a fraction of what was expected.  The publisher is in a hole by $200,000 and that deficit destroys all of the profits from the first book.

The publisher takes the greatest risk and of course, they want to grab every chance possible to minimize that risk,  negotiating for lower royalty percentage or advance.  That’s why you should have an agent.  (More on that later.)

The thing to remember: nobody makes enormous amount of profits in this business.  Most publishing houses have a ridiculously low profit margin.

What about Ebooks?

That will be a new post.

Deadlines

Question:

I am curious about deadlines, as I’ve read a lot of complaint/comment on them by authors. Mostly about missing them.

So, first, when you’re doing a contract, do you normally have deadlines for when a book is supposed to be complete? and what happens if you miss it?

…some authors seems to not have deadlines for series, and come out with other books instead, even when they say they have, say a 5 book contract or something…so how does that work?

Also, whats the general timeline from when you start working on a book to the time its published?

Answer:

Deadlines are a standard part of most professional publisher contracts.

Example:

3.  (a) The Author shall deliver to the Publisher on or before April 1, 2008* one disk and two (2) complete typewritten copies of the manuscript of the Book in its final form, in the English language, consisting of approximately 90,000 words in style, content, length, and form satisfactory to the Publisher.

______________________________________

* (a) The Author shall have approval of the final copyedited manuscript for the Work, such approval not to be unreasonably withheld or denied.

Note that this paragraph of the contract specifies several things: date of delivery, length of the work, and form of the work, including language and content.

Let’s take care of the date first.  The publishing process goes somewhat like this (We will talk about proposal vs full length in another post and assumed for the time being that the author provides full manuscript at the start.):

First Edit

The author provides a completed copy of the manuscript.

The editor reads the copy and requests changes.  These changes can be light as in “I think the ending needs to make a stronger impact” to heavy “The romance plotline needs a lot of work.  Perhaps you could add more scenes with the hero’s point of view so we can understand why he wants the heroine.”  Usually this is the stage where the major changes take place, such as taking out a character, adding a character, cutting down length or increasing length and so on.

Second Edit

The author implements changes and returns the manuscript to the editor.

Editor reviews the changes.  Ideally, the heavy lifting had been done in the first edit and the editor makes light corrections.  However, there are times when a breakdown in communication occurs.  The author may have misunderstood what the editor wanted, or the editor might have been mistaken and the changes he requested made the book worse, or perhaps the author dug her heels in and is refusing to alter the manuscript.

I do not recommend the last.  Usually when they tell you to make changes, you make them.  If the editor requests that you add more scenes about the character’s childhood, trying to get away with a couple of paragraphs here and there probably won’t go over well.

If the changes are not satisfactory, the editor returns the manuscript to the author requesting further alterations until the manuscript is satisfactory to both parties or until they agree to disagree and dissolve the contract.

Copyedit

A copyeditor is a special type of editor who checks the manuscript for grammatical, punctuation, and continuity errors.  A copyeditor has one mission: to make sure that the manuscript is clear and doesn’t contradict itself.  If the character has brown eyes on page 3, he can;t have blue eyes on page 57.  If the wording of a phrase is unclear, the copyeditor will point it out.

Here is an example of a copy-edited page (Click the image to enlarge):

As you can see, the CE pointed an inconsistency, I acknowledged it and corrected.

The editor usually goes through the manuscript again at this stage and you may get corrections from both (Click to enlarge):

Galleys

Once the author returns the copyedited manuscript, it is set with the appropriate font, margins and so on and made to look like a book.  This almost-book is printed and sent to the author once again to weed out typographical mistakes and glaring mistakes.  Changing the book at this point is very expensive, because any significant change will result in a resetting of the page, so the author is usually asked to limit their changes to 10% or a set number.

Simultaneously with the author, a proofreader goes through the galleys as well.

Pre-Publication Promotion

The publisher may print ARC’s, Advanced Reader/Review Copies. (I’ve heard it called both.)  These are the galley almost-books, and they usually do contain mistakes.  These ARCs require time to print and to be sent to reviews in time for the reviews to hit the page in time to coincide with the books release.

The author also must allow some time for promotion on their end.  Some people don’t do promotion or fan service.  I personally think it does help a little bit and it also shows the publisher that you are committed to the project.

To reiterate, this is the timeline from the author’s side:

• First Edit
• Second Edit
• Copyedit
• Galleys
• Promo

The timeline from the publisher’s side is slightly different.  It has all of the components of the author’s timeline, but in addition, the editor, the marketing, and the art department must meet and agree on the cover, the art department must hire an artist, obtain the cover, and  design the book jacket.  This may cause delays.

The marketing department must evaluate the book and hand-sell it to buyers for major chains and distributors.  This also can cause delays.  Big book chains have certain buyers.  Suppose B&N buyer hates the cover.  The publisher has a choice: change the cover or lose all those potential sales.   Or one of the big chains might want the date of publication moved so the book might be included into a special promotion or won’t conflict with some other title.

And, while the author is only concerned about this one title, everyone on the publisher’s side juggles dozens of titles every month.  That’s why once the marketing and the editor determine the best possible calendar date for the release of the book, that date is considered to be set in stone.  Otherwise the publisher runs the risk of having their own titles compete with each other.

For example, suppose Jim Butcher and Patti Briggs are released on the same day.  The customer loves both, but only has enough money for one hardback.  But if these titles are spread to different months, it’s likely that both of them would be purchased.

Another example: MAGIC BITES was bumped back by two months so it wouldn’t compete with Mark del Franco’s UNSHAPELY THINGS.  We were both debut authors and our works are similar in tone: both are lone wolf UF mysteries.

Publishers do not like to change the publication date without a really, really good reason.  But things happen, so they try to allow for an optimal amount of time from manuscript to publication date.  When we started out, it was about a year.

MAGIC BITES was released on March 31, 2007.

MAGIC BURNS was due on March 31, 2007 also.

The edits took about 6-8 months, with first edit having the largest chunk of time, second edit having a deadline of roughly a month or two, copyedit was three weeks, galleys were maybe ten days or two weeks.

Missing deadlines

Missing one of those deadlines means that the entire schedule is thrown out of whack.  Think of it as a relay race.

First, missing a deadline is selfish – you took extra time, but everybody else on the publisher’s side must now drop everything and make up the time.

Second, the quality of the manuscript may suffer and you make things harder on yourself.  If you have 6 months to send in a manuscript, and you take ten, you might just get two weeks for your second edit.

Third, you risk messing with the calendar: your title might get bumped to a different month, your fans will send you long and fussy emails, and the publisher will have to readjust the schedule. And in some cases, the publisher and you have to pull your advertisements, because now all of the adds have the wrong date and you and they wasted your money.  Publishers can’t afford to waste money.

Can you ask for an extension?  Yes.  Usually with a year schedule, you get about a month or two of breathing room on the first edit.  That time is significantly shorter for other stages.  For example, BAYOU MOON was due October 31st.  There was no way we could’ve made it, because we just came off the second edit of MAGIC BLEEDS.  It was a difficult book and we were tired.  So I called our editor and I said, “I have a problem.  We can’t make it.”  She said, “I understand.  How does December sound?”

Now, sometimes that 12 month schedule is shortened and you might have a book every nine, seven, or six months.  Then there is no room for mistakes.  As an author, you must make the deadline or your publication date will be moved.

What about all those authors who don’t seem to have a deadline?  In reality, they probably do.  You, as a reader, just don’t know about it.  Yes, there are some exceptions to the rule: an author might be ill and can’t provide a firm date due to health reasons.  An author might be suffering from a creative crisis.  We’re not machines.  We can’t always produce on demand.  Or, the publisher might have a secret plan for the author’s works.

Let’s take an imaginary Author X.  Author X has a very successful series.  Author X has also written a book in a second series.  The publisher knows that the author’s fans are frothing at the mouth for her original series, but it wants to get them addicted to the new one just as well.  So the publisher makes a mercenary decision: they will delay the next book in the original series by 18 months and meanwhile throw the  first few titles of the new series out there.

Will the readers be told about this master plan?  Well, no, probably not.  It’s a business decision.  After all, Coke doesn’t really tell you, “Hey, we’re discontinuing mango coke and launching pineapple coke instead.”  Nor will the publisher advertise a book 18 months prior to publication – why?  Most readers won’t remember it.  So it might appear as if Author X doesn’t have a deadline, when in fact she turned the book in six months ago.

I hope that cleared things up a bit.

I will take follow-up questions in the comments.

Just to clarify things, when I wrote of the delay, I was referring to MAGIC BLEEDS being moved several months ago from its usual spot in late March to late May.

Several publishing questions sprung up from that discussion, so he and I will be putting together a big post answering them.  We have several questions already and if you’re curious about publishing process or details of promo or finance, now is the chance to ask it in the comments.   Or you can email it to us.

PS.  For all of the anonymous people on lj, just in case, we do have a non-lj blog: http://www.ilona-andrews.com/blog/ so if you would prefer to comment here or there, it’s all the same.

Magic Bites:  260
Magic Burns:  260
Magic Strikes:  310
On the Edge:  336 (according to Amazon)

I noticed some series start out small paperback and eventually turn into decent sized hardbacks (Dresden Files and Mercy Thompson come to mind).  Do you know if your page counts will continue to increase?  Is there a story behind it?  Do you think Kate or Edge will ever be a hardback?  How does the page count come into play during the editing process?  Does the profit have anything to do with it?  (ie:  you sell more books, they let you write more story)

I’d appreciate any elaboration to the answers besides ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ 

For the first two books we had a strict 95,000 word limit so the book could be sold at $6.99.  For the second two, we were just told to hit it in the ballpark of 100,000.   There is no story behind it and there is no correlation between how long a book is and the format it comes out in.

Mass market books go to hardback when the sales are strong enough to support a hardback release.  Some books are released in hardback right out of the gate.  Typically this happens when a) the author is a Big Name, b) the book has generated a lot of prepublication publicity and is being actively pushed by the publisher, and c) the book is aimed at a specific market, like libraries, for example.  Libraries generally tend to purchase books in hardback, because mass market books fall apart after prolonged use.  I doubt either Kate or Edge will be released in hardback any time soon.

The page count doesn’t come into play during editing process, unless Gordon and I severely overshoot our goal or have a strict word limit.   Profit does have some small effect on it – for example, our sales were strong enough to support a small bump in price and a higher word count.  But I also note that the reprints of Magic Bites and Magic Burns were bumped by a dollar too, so it might just the fact that our name appreciated a little as a brand.

D writes:

I was just wondering if there was a prodigal or restrictions to promoting a book? That we as readers have to fallow? I don’t want to overstep the boundaries.
For example, could I go into my local book store and talk to the manager(whom I know pretty good) and see about placing the book where those who would not normal see will be able to. Like a readers pick display?
Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much, it’s very nice of you to ask.  I’d love for our books to be on reader’s pick display.  My only request is that you don’t reshelve the books.  Publishers pay for placement in stores like B&N and Borders, meaning that any prominent spot has a price tag attached to it.  If someone covertly moves our books into that spot, not only it cheats the other author out of their promotion, but it also makes our books hard to find.    Facing them out is cool and funny, just please don’t bump somebody else’s work off the end table to put ours on there.

K writes:

Do Y’all make as much on an e-book sale as you do a regular book? I was curious after reading another authors blog & her making e-books look like the work of the  . A sale is sale, yes?

Actually, I do believe we make more.  For Kate and Kate 2, we make 6% on mass market, which basically amounts to 42 cents of $6.99 or 48 cents for $7.99.  (Standard in the industry is 8%, by the way.  That’s why you need a good agent.)   The royalties on e-books are at 15%, which gives us roughly $1.05 per book.

These numbers will vary for each author, depending on their contract.

I don’t know why the author in question said what he/she said or what exactly they said.  There are a couple of scenarios when e-book might create a bit of an issue.

The first, obvious one, is that e-books are routinely pirated, which shaves some profits off the release sales.  Don’t get me wrong, a large majority of pirates would never buy the book anyway, but there is a small percentage who fully mean to purchase it, when they download a free copy.  They just never do.

The second, slightly more convoluted scenario happens when an author is trying to hit a bestseller list.  Bestseller lists are a big deal, because they get you more promotion.  Unfortunately, after having tracked New York Times Bestseller list, I can tell you that it is divined through a secret ritual in the dark forest by a group of mysterious druids.  There is no rhyme or reason to it.  I’ve seen people with large first week sales fail to make it and people with so-so sales place high.  The one thing that everyone agrees on is that most of the e-book retail sales are not counted toward the NYT list.  I know Amazon does, but after that it’s anyone’s guess. If the author gets a huge amount of e-book sales in the first week, it might keep them off the list, but I find it very unlikely.  E-book sales just don’t happen in such a great volume.

For example, my dead tree unit sales for Magic Bites as of the last royalty period stand at 65, 480 units.  The e-book sales are broken down by format, and most of which hover around 60 or so units sold.  The biggie here, I suspect this is probably the Kindle, shows 1,719 units sold to date.  65K vs 1.7 K.  Doesn’t seem like e-book sales would sway the balance one way or another.

This last one is me really reaching out there.  In the end, the lists don’t count as much as sales, so all that silliness shouldn’t really matter either.

That said, I am so sick of hearing about e-books, you have no idea.  I own a Sony, I’m getting a Book Nook for Christmas and about 60% of my book purchases are electronic, so I am not a hater.  But I stopped reading a particular blog because most of its content consisted of standing on the soap box and yelling how e-books are oppressed, evil authors are not selling e-rights (which is absurd: e-rights are a staple of just about every contract now and no, you don’t get a choice of holding on to your e-rights), and how e-books will save the publishing industry.  They are just books in a different format, guys.  That’s all they are.  Sure, there are price point differences between dead tree book and e-books and other issues, but as an author, I really have absolutely no control over the prices of my books.

And that does it for Q&A for today.  Phew.  Now I am depressed about money.  ><