Lucienne DiverI’ve already talked here at Magical Words about writing, about the query process and the path to first publication. I think there’s a lot less said about what comes after attaining that first book contract, and consequently, most authors don’t really know what to expect. Certain things can come as a rude shock. It’s not just getting published, but staying published that builds a writing career.
So, I’m going to touch on a few things here. Long-term thinking and career-building start even before you sign that first contract, when terms are being discussed and contract language haggled. It’s extremely important to have an agent who knows publishing contracts backward and forward who can look at things like option language (what you have to show next to your publisher and when they have to respond), competitive works, grant of rights, reversion, royalties and other percentages, etc. Just for example, if [...]
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