Publishing (or not publishing) in a time of Covid

Hello. It's late August 2020. That means general weirdness; it's hard to plan because there is no normalcy, no predictability, no light at the end of the tunnel. People are sick, people are in financial trouble, and the world has tipped too far on its axis. Still, it's important to move forward as best as one is able - if not for oneself then for people that need you. So I've been moving.

cover art by Joseph Lappie/typography by MaryNeal Meador

A history of my book publishing: In 2014 my first novel (Good For Nothing) was published in theUK by a now defunct press called Skyscraper. I started writing GFN in 2008, set it aside, picked it up again in '10, finished in '11, and then spent two plus years going through the traditional process of finding an agent who then found a couple publishers. Here is a link to an earlier post during the ups and downs of finding my first agent. It was a long and stressful process.

 

At the end of 2013 I had an editor at Simon and Schuster who wanted to publish me, and an offer for UK rights (only) from Skyscraper. I signed the contract with Skyscraper. The Simon and Schuster deal fell through. That is generally how my first novel was a physical object on a shelf across an ocean that I could only witness virtually. 

My book is better traveled than I

I continued writing. I finished a second novel (Missing People) while my agents continued to shop GFN. I received an offer for MP from a good literary press called Tyrus. I let the publisher know my first novel was available. He read it, loved it, offered to publish both books. I went through edits for both manuscripts, they went to press. Tyrus was acquired by Simon and Schuster. Both titles were printed by Tyrus (now no more) and distributed in the US by Simon and Schuster in 2017. It was so satisfying to bop into my local independent bookshop and find my titles, hold them in my hand, watch people purchase them. Here's a link to a detailed explanation of the Tyrus to S&S transition. 

Since 2017 I've written a third novel (Half Dead), switched agents, moved, and in the past couple weeks received an offer from a publisher. I've also, inexplicably, received requests from three movie studios to read the the unpublished manuscript; a mystery but a good thing to puzzle out. There has been a hint of some interest from a second publisher. So now we wait for people to return from summer vacation, for kids to start school of one kind or another, and for the negotiations for Half Dead to be resolved. I'm going to start where I finished: moving as best I can through general weirdness. Wish me luck. I certainly am happy to return the favor. Be well.