Let's Talk Thursday: Episode 4
Hello Awesome Visitors!
Let's talk for a minute.
Disclaimer: Before we go on, I want to let you know on these topics, I'm no expert. I am just speaking on my own experiences or those by others.
Let's get to it.
There are some writers who dream of having an agent, publisher and/or both. Yet, you're in a catch 22. An agent won't represent you if your manuscript isn't worth a damn. Quite a few publishers won't even give your manuscript a glance if you don't have an agent. It's like all is out of your control.
There are a few where you can submit to them unsolicited. I'm not talking about vanity presses. You shouldn't even deal with those to begin with. Publishers who say they are looking for well written original works.
I think that phrase should be reworded because not every publisher is true to his word. One of my close writer friend is going through a nightmare. Like me, he is a bit unorthodox and out the box at times. Yet there was this publisher that a fellow writer friend of his couldn't stop raving about. This friend was very sure that he would accept my friend's work. Because of all of the good things my friend heard about this publisher, he submitted his manuscript and waited patiently for the response.
When he got accepted, he was thrilled. There was something about having a publisher behind the name. What he didn't realize was the price that came with it. I am not talking about money but other intangibles.
The main thing was the terms in the contact and the actions didn't match up. For one, my friend's contract stated that he could either submit his own cover or have the company develop a cover for him. Yet it didn't say anything about him NOT having the option to give input on the company developed cover. In the end, not only did the company cover didn't do the story justice but the company didn't go with any of the proposed changes.
Not too long ago, my friend alerted me to something else which upset him. He checked out the publicized version of his work and compared it to the copies he had sent out as ARC's. He found out that additional editing had been done to his work unrelated to proofreading/syntax that didn't get his full approval.
I don't know about you but whether you're under a traditional publisher or indie publisher that sounds like a no-no to me. I don't think a publisher should tamper with essential components of a story without discussing it with the writer. To me, then it doesn't remain the author's story anymore.
I am so thankful I have not had to go through with this at my company. They know the type of writer I am coming into the fray. My attitude is this: If you can't take my work as it is, then don't take me period. I'd rather stay true to self than to have someone accept my work, butcher it to look like everything else in the market, and try to peddle it as quality product.
I am sure this isn't the first author this has happened to--who wanted to publish under a publisher/publishing house and everything wasn't as cracked up to be as it seemed.
What's your story? Feel free to share.
Until next time,
Desire
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