C is for Contracts and Conventions

On Being a Published Writer
April 3, 2012
Day 3
A to Z Blogging Challenge 

Oh, my goodness the offer of that first contract! It was a Saturday night and so I checked my email and there it was. The Offer.

I screamed. I cried. I scared my poor partner right out of his recliner (no mean feat, that).

It was surely a magical moment. Looking back with older, wiser, and sometimes jaded, eyes, I see how fortunate I was to land with a reputable company.

Of all the advice I could give you about any contract, the best would be to read it and understand it. If the language isn’t plain enough for me to understand without legal counsel, I’m going to turn it down. What are they hiding in all the mumble-jumble? I don’t care to get burned to find out.

These days, there’s less magic in a new contract, maybe because I understand what to expect each time through the process that takes the author and publisher to release day. I know what can go wrong. And being an older hand at this, I know just because some publishing house offers me a contract doesn’t mean I’m going to jump to sign it. I don’t have to – and neither do you.

A bad contract is a thousand times worse than no contract, so use your head. If you have questions, ask them. If you don’t like the answer, give the contract a pass. Don’t worry. There will be more offers. Don’t be in such a hurry to get published, or get into company XYZ, that you bind yourself up in misery. And that is some of the best advice I can give you.

***

Conventions. I’ve been to one and it was absolutely fabulous! If I could afford it, I’d go to a convention every month.

Yes, it was a hassle to drive four hours to get there. Yes, the food was lousy. Yes, the hotel was in the middle of renovations. But what could be more exciting than twelve hundred people speaking my language? Nothing in the intervening years has come close.

I went to 2007 Romantic Times Pittsburgh with one purpose in mind. I didn’t make any agent or editor bookings. I didn’t sign up for the book fair. I went so I could quietly observe the actions of publishers, editors and other writers. I came away from Pittsburgh convinced of the validity of my future in epublishing, and with valuable insights on career paths to avoid. In my opinion, knowing where not to go is equally important with knowing where I should go.

A convention on the scale of Romantic Times is the publishing world encapsulated. If you have the opportunity to attend conventions, you owe it to yourself to go. Observe. Participate. Talk to the people around you. Absorb everything you can from everyone you come in contact with, even the guy behind the coffee bar.

This is your business. Use everything at your disposal to learn it well.

You’re a writer, and everything you learn will feed your passion and create your success.

KC Kendricks

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