Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
I have a few clients who are very prolific. As soon as they’ve finished a manuscript, they’re always excited to move on to another. They immediately brainstorm a new book and get going on it. They can write two or more terrific manuscripts in a year.
For some authors, especially if they’re already established, this works out great because they’re able to contract those books as fast as they can write them. But for other authors, not so much. The problem comes with a writer who is contracting with a publisher for the first time. Let’s say the publisher loves their writing and we get a two-book deal. Those two books may already be complete before we even sign the contract. They’ll have edits and revisions to deal with, but they’re going to want be writing also, since that’s what makes them happy. So they start on a new project.
Six months later, they’ve finished that new project and they’re antsy to do something with it. Unfortunately, it may not be that easy. We are now in the dead zone between signing a contract, and actually having a book released and some sales figures to show for it.
There’s a good chance we can’t shop or sell that new project, because the original publishing contract for those first two books prohibits an author from doing so for a specified length of time, which may last until the first book—or the last book—in the contract has been released.
That publisher has an option on the author’s “next work” and their contract may specify that they won’t exercise the option until a certain date. Their goal will be to get some meaningful sales data on that first book before they decide whether to buy more books from the author.
They also don’t want the author confusing their brand or cannibalizing their own sales by putting out books from another publisher while that first contract is still in play.
So what’s a writer to do? Let’s say you just got a two-book deal, both books are complete, a third is also complete, and you’re nearly finished with a fourth? I’d advise:
1) Keep writing. We should be able to sell those books eventually.
2) Since there’s no hurry to write more books, spend more time on carefully building your brand and platform, writing a blog and a newsletter, and managing social media accounts.
3) Keep your eyes open for writing opportunities that don’t conflict with your contract. This could mean writing articles, guest blogs, or even a novella for a collection.
When you’re an established author, you’ll have more freedom and you may be able to publish with more than one house at a time; we’ll also have more leverage to negotiate these sticky clauses in publisher contracts. But if you’re a new author, be aware that in the beginning, if you sign with a major publisher, that contract may be your only one for a year, two years or more.
Of course, that’s a pretty nice problem to have, don’t you think?
Are you a fast and prolific writer, or do you take your time? How many books do you write in a year?
Morgan Tarpley Smith
I would love to be more of a prolific writer but I’m a careful slow plotter and a semi fast first draft writer but the whole process takes at least 9 months total. The more I write the faster and cleaner of a first draft writer I’m becoming but I’m not sure if I’ll be able to be that fast of a writer especially writing split time fiction. Do you have any advice or tips on speeding up the process? What are expected deadline time limits from publishers for a longer novel such as split time (90-100k)? Still about 9 months? Thanks!
Barbara Harper
I had no idea a contract could stipulate that a writer couldn’t publish other books for a year or two. Thank you for telling us.
Writing my first draft went pretty quickly. Revising, editing, shaping it up is going more slowly, and that’s even before sending it to a professional editor.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
My writing’s great preponderance
is for an audience of one.
Is it correspondence,
or am I just having fun?
It can be a writing slog
to fashion a new sonnet
for a not-well-traveled blog
and offer it as comment.
I try to give encouragement;
we all need a friend to care,
and since that’s my writing fundament,
I’ll place my effort there
because it makes the game worthwhile
to help another writer smile.
Susan Sage
Andrew, I can’t wait to meet you in heaven!…to share a hug with you as my brother in Christ. My heart is always so encouraged by what you write. Sometimes the words make me smile, other times they make me ponder, while other times they make me cry or repent. Thank you for sharing your gift of words, your heart of encouragement, and your character. I know God has called you to a difficult road, but never doubt that there are others traveling with or around you who are very thankful to be in reach of your heart. God bless you today.
Andrew Budek-Schmeisser
Susan, I’m just so honoured, here, by your words…all I can really say is ‘THANK YOU’, for you brought sunshine to a day that is shaping poorly. While there can be no spring in my step nor song on my lips (can’t speak!), you have put a song of joy and praise into my heart.
And I look forward to meeting you, too.
Jeanne Takenaka
The angle from which you address this makes so much sense. I’m a fairly fast first-drafter, but I have discovered the rewriting, editing, and polishing take me much longer. I’m working on finding more effective ways to do this. Hopefully it comes more easily the more books I write. 🙂
Thanks for sharing a bit of a glimpse on the publisher’s end considerations for prolific writers. 🙂
Carol Ashby
Since I’m retired and can write full time, I spend enough hours that I can produce two finely polished manuscripts a year that have about 1000 hours invested in research, writing, and careful editing. Most of my historical novels are between 100K and 115K pages. The first took longer, but after seven published since 2016, I’m reasonably efficient.
Because I chose to go indie, I’m not hamstrung by a contract that limits when and how I can release. My only limitation is how long it takes me to write and polish a manuscript to traditional publication quality. But being a successful indie means running a small business, and I always tell people considering the indie route that it takes constant attention to marketing (not fun!) to sell at my rate that’s about 10-20% of what a traditional publisher would need to consider a book a success.
But a book can accomplish what God wants it to without hitting trad-pub book numbers. Each time a reader tells me how my stories encouraged their faith, I am so glad I listened to Allen Arnold’s advice and went indie. (Arnold was the founder and former publisher of Thomas Nelson Fiction, so I figured I would be wise to take his advice. Turns out I was right!) But for those with their hearts set on the traditional route, I think that’s a great dream to pursue.
Linda Rodante
Carol, I agree with you. And another thing to consider is readers now like to read series–and not just 2 or 3 books in a series but some with 6 or 7 books, and they don’t want to wait years to read them. I have readers asking me quite frequently when my next book will be out–but I’m one of the “slow’ indie writers. Like you, two a year is my max. However, many are writing 4, 5 or 6. Even in traditional publishing we see this starting to take off. For instance, Lynette Eason told me she writes about 6 books a year. I know we’re talking new authors, but I would say that traditional publishers have some catching up to do. Readers are looking for more–and they’re/we’re looking for new authors, too.
Carol Ashby
I’ve noticed more traditional authors expanding into hybrid mode, bringing out their older, out-of-print works as re-issues from their own indie companies after getting print rights back. It’s nice for authors to be able to make money again on their books that had only been available as used copies.
One of the finest traditional CF authors I know writes stand-alone series for two well-known trad publishers and has her own press as well for her earlier work. She is one productive lady!
I write stand-alones, so anyone could enter the series with any of the books and not feel they missed something important, but there are some shared characters. Three times now the hero or heroine of a future volume was chosen because people loved a secondary character and kept telling me that character needed his or her own story told. I LOVE it when readers give me that kind of encouraging and useful feedback. It also tells me my work is satisfying a felt need for the people who read and love the books. I thank God for that every day!
Tonya
I had no idea contracts could include that. I always thought they wanted authors to come up with as much as they could.
Terrie Todd
Thanks for this, Rachelle! I’m an author who loves the editing far more than the writing, so brainstorming a new book and hammering out a first draft is the hard part. I was surprised by how much I loved the editing process with my first contract! After my third novel, however, my publisher (Waterfall Press) discontinued its fiction line and my agent (Jessie Kirkland) is pitching to new publishers. I’ve written three more novels but, despite 83K in sales for my first three, we have not yet landed a publisher. I’m finding it a real challenge to stay motivated and appreciate your advice to keep writing and look for other avenues. I do also write a weekly column, blog, a few articles here and there, and say yes to as many speaking engagements as come my way. “We should be able to sell those books eventually” is what I’m hanging on to.
Kristen Joy Wilks
I write at least one book length manuscript a year, usually smashing out the rough draft during NaNoWriMo and then choosing one or two of the rough drafts that are floating around to edit during the rest of the year. After nineteen years of serious writing (not all of which resulted in a ms. a year) the rough drafts are starting to pile up. But I’m getting better at that fast writing and the editing as well. I have 5 published books and so many rough drafts, ha! I think that in the end it will be good to have all these though. As I got the chance to pound out what should be a really cool giveaway for my newsletter readers eventually. And that wouldn’t have happened without all that NaNo fun.