In the world of publishing, there are a lot of things that are not under a writer’s control. Here’s a list of some of those things:
1. Print Runs
2. Sales
3. The number of folks who show up at a booksigning
4. The book cover. Okay, some of us have more control here than others.
5. Publication dates
6. Reviews
7. Bookstore placement
8. The publisher’s marketing and advertising budgets for our books
The list could go on. I’m sure you can add a couple more yourself.
With everything that we can’t control, there are a few things that we can control:
1. The content of our books (okay, sometimes this can become a challenge)
2. The quality of our writing
3. Getting our books in on time
I’m here to confess that I dropped the ball on #3 with my latest book. I was so late that I won’t even tell you how late I was. Let’s just say my editor had to resort to not so veiled threats.
Yes, this is bad. Yes, this is not professional. Yes, this happened. Yes, this is all my fault. And I really have no excuse, no one to blame but myself.
And this is the price I pay: I’m haunted by how late this book was. Every time I talk to my editor I’m wondering if she’s thinking about how late it was. Every time I think about my option book, I wonder if being late is going to come back and bite me in the behind.
Where do I go from here? Let’s just say, I’ll never be late again. Well, not as late as I was this time.
Anybody else need to confess and reaffirm their commitment to turning in work in a timely manner?
I don't have a deadline, but I'm way late finishing this mystery I'm writing. Now I wonder if selling it will take longer because of it. I had good reasons for not being able to "crank it out", but still I could have made more progress faster. More in my control than I owned at times!
Forgive yourself Angela. You can't turn back the hands of time. You can redeem yourself with your editor by turning in your next novel early.
Lynn, I think having a finished book always works to your advantage. I think it gets you into print quicker. You'll probably be out within a year or so of your contract date, which is not bad. Now if your book wasn't finished, that timeline would probably be much longer.
Rhonda, I had to laugh when I read your comment about my turning the book in early. My goal is to just stay within acceptable lateness. I'm going to ask my editor if I can blog about the whole series of events in detail but for now I'll just say that my editor is the best and even though I was terribly late with the book, they did not slip my pub date. That I count as a miracle and a blessing.
I feel you, Angela! I had worked out an extension with my editor for my upcoming novel, and then I had to ask for an extension to the extension (had to get my agent involved in that one). And I am also determined to be on time with my current project, which is due this summer. I don't expect to have a problem with it. I agree with Rhonda. Don't beat yourself up, just resolve to do better next time.
Angela,
Maybe your editor scheduled for lateness, that way you didn't miss your pub date. I think they understand we writers are sometimes procrastinators. I'm with Rhonda, forgive yourself.
Bettye, I probably should have gotten my agent involved when it seemed things were spiralling out of control for me. Instead, I used the wishful thinking method:
"I'll have it done next week."
"Well, how about next week."
"Okay, just two more weeks."
It got to be crazy.
LaShaunda, you are exactly right about editors padding due dates because they know things can happen that make authors late. My agent says a month is usually a no-brainer that won't even get a blink from the editor. I agree with her. My publishing house is even more lenient than that. After I got to be really late, my editor and I had a good conversation about it. I now know where the "problem point" is.