tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757509958916289741.post6128792515657468994..comments2023-05-01T07:08:33.419-06:00Comments on Text Crumbs: From Sale To Shelf: Part 2carolwriterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01256696323017219424noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757509958916289741.post-78820397336469745792008-09-27T07:00:00.000-06:002008-09-27T07:00:00.000-06:00Thank you Carol for you time and advice. This is i...Thank you Carol for you time and advice. This is illuminating for me. I'll keep this is mind, should ever happen that another edior becomes interested in my work :-)<BR/><BR/>I also check the forum you mention.<BR/><BR/>Thanks again!<BR/>SarahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757509958916289741.post-73138223963589673702008-09-22T08:37:00.000-06:002008-09-22T08:37:00.000-06:00No, what you've described is not at ALL normal fro...No, what you've described is not at ALL normal from anything I've heard in the industry. <BR/><BR/>Yes, there are jerk editors, but this seems beyond the pale. The key point is - a <B>contract</B>. Once an "editor" indicates you have a good idea and encourages you to "start writing" on a project <I>she</I> has initiated, it is time to ask questions. You should get the terms of your agreement in writing, signed off by both parties (with agent or legal advice!) And you should get paid. If the editor is <I>not</I> offering you a contract, then you should only work on the project if it is something you want to do, and when it's done, you have every right to market it wherever you wish. <BR/><BR/>A work is ALWAYS your story unless the terms of a contract say something different. <BR/><BR/>If you are a first time author, very few houses are going to pay you before you have written the book, so write it and only then try to sell it. <BR/><BR/>Certainly after a contract is in place, the editor represents the publisher and must ensure that the work is publishable. They may have to work more intensely with some authors to bring the book to a marketable package - but this is their <B>job</B>, and not something that implies co-authorship! <BR/><BR/>Sounds as if you were being led down a garden path by a predatory person, and that you did the absolute right thing in walking away. I'd advise following the Preditors and Editors and Writer Beware links to read up on the business. I think there is a Writer Beware discussion forum where you can inquire about deals that sound weird.carolwriterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01256696323017219424noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-757509958916289741.post-25029170821550707802008-09-22T06:58:00.000-06:002008-09-22T06:58:00.000-06:00This is very interesting, especially because I did...This is very interesting, especially because I did have an experience with and editor, which wasn’t very nice for me. <BR/>I was asked to plan a series of five books, a YA series, which was a fantasy series but with lots of historical implications. I wrote down the idea and basic synopsis of the entire series and handed it to the editor. She said she liked the idea very much and asked me to start writing. <BR/>I completed the first book in about one year, with looooots of historic and anthropologic research attached to it. Then, when I and the editor started revising, she told me that she had lots of ideas to improve the story and that, being a lot of these ideas her own, she should be co-author of the project. <BR/><BR/>Now, sorry if I’m speaking about this, but this story made me feel so bad. I tried to come to terms with the editor, but I wouldn’t agree to forsake my story and let her be co-author. I told her the story was formed on my idea, I had already worked two years on it, I had already wrote three drafts of the first book, all on my own, so I didn’t find it fair that I just gave everything to her like that. <BR/>At the end, I just pulled back, and the project died away. <BR/><BR/>This was the only experience I had with an editor. I’m not sure what an editor is supposed to be asking to a writer, so I’ve often wondered whether it was all my fault. I mean, maybe I should have been more cooperative? Maybe what she was asking for was only normal? Doesn’t look like it is, from what you say, but… I’m just not sure what to think…Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com