#90
April 21, 2006
From: amanda

Just wanted to say that I am really enjoying the livejournal stuff....I loved your book, ( and all of Nicola's also) but I also like the unpredictability of the net stuff. I read a fairly selective  # of blogs  plus karate websites cos that's my latest passion...also just think the internet is exciting...anyway, sorry, bit inarticulate tonight....just keep it up! Looking forward to your next book with interest.
best wishes
amanda

Glad you're enjoying the journals. The updates are irregular (and maybe that's part of what you mean by unpredictable, smile), but that's not for lack of interest on my part. It's mostly been a lack of organization, to be honest. I've been juggling lots of things recently, and all things web (this site, and the journals) have suffered from dropping off my radar. But I've got a system now that helps me stay on track a bit better, hence the more regular updates of late.

I'm enjoying the opportunity to explore Jackal and Snow and the others in a more everyday aspect. To tell a story at a more lifelike pace, which would I think be pretty much unacceptable these days in a novel. No one would publish these journals as a book, but they are certainly a continuation of story.

I'm also enjoying looking at the same events from different perspectives. I thought about creating the journals so that the characters could comment on each other's posts, but decided in the end that there were more possibilities for story inherent in keeping the journals ‘private' without that particular cross-commenting. The Solitaire journal exists partly to let characters have those direct conversations and interactions. And of course the beauty of the journals is that if I want to change all that down the road, I can. It's fun to have that freedom.

The internet rocks. I am getting into so many new areas—wikis, telephone, customized radio, mashups, and who knows what's around the corner? And of course, let's not forget the bunnies! (With a wave to Greg Widen, who is writing the screenplay of Solitaire, here is the Bunnies Theatre version of Highlander).

Good luck with karate. I've been missing aikido lately, although if I had one more thing, even a beloved one, added to my plate right now, I would probably just throw myself under a bus.

#89
April 20, 2006
From: Sofia Deleniv

Hi!

I have recently read your article on the internet about the process of being published etc. I was wondering, just out of curiosity—is it possible, or just acceptable to publish one story in two different publishers at one time. For example - get the book accepted by both a publisher from UK and USA . Can the author, in that case, accept both of their offers and work with both.

Thank you horribly much for your time,

I hope you can respond,

Best regards from Sofia Deleniv

Hi Sofia,

I'm not sure which article you mean, but for those people who are curious, here's one.

And the answer to your question is, it depends. It's possible, sure. Most everything depends on how each individual deal is structured.

The approach that I'm most familiar with, since I'm a US writer, is this: an author sells her book to a publisher in the US. That publisher buys the right to publish the book in English in the US , or in North America (US and Canada). Sometimes they also buy foreign edition rights, which means that someone from the publisher offers the book for sale into foreign markets, and in this case the UK would be one of those markets. If that's the case, then the author cannot go off and make a deal on her own with a UK publisher—she no longer has the right to do that.

If she doesn't sell that right to the US publisher, then she and her agent can market the book to other countries, including the UK .

In either of these examples, the US publisher would make sure to publish their edition first, before selling to other markets. Occasionally, for big name authors, a publisher like Random House or HarperCollins, with divisions in the US and UK, will buy the book for both markets and coordinate the publication. For example, I was in the UK when Stephen King's latest came out, and got the UK edition with the (in my opinion) cooler cover.

As for submitting your novel at the same time to a US and a UK publisher, sure, you can do that if your agent thinks it's not going to upset anyone. There used to be a firm, fast rule against simultaneous submissions, but it seems less rigid than it used to, although the author and agent need to be very clear with all the parties involved about what's going on. It makes editors grumpy to make an offer and only then find out that they are in competition with other people.

So the short answer to your question is that you can sell your book in any way you have the right to. And every time you sell the book, you sell some of your rights to it. The game is balancing the short-term money against the long-term potential, your time and energy, et cetera. There's no one right way.

#88
April 5, 2006
From: Kelley

And another winter goes whizzing by while I was cooking soup and looking for my glasses and fixing the storm door. I'm always amazed when I send off the tax returns and realize it's spring. (Did you know some people use trees blossoming and nature stuff to tell the changing of the seasons? How about that?)

It hasn't all been home domesticity and writing time: we also have been to visit Nicola's family. I hadn't been to the north of England in February before. It's cold. A long trip, made longer and more unpleasant on the way home by British Midland Airlines, who will never ever ever get my business again, or yours if I can possibly persuade you.

But it's well past time to get settled into the virtual pub and catch up on all the news. If you're interested in chatting, use the form above or send an email.

And in the meantime, have fun with this. I certainly did (thanks, Mom).

And this.

Cheers from she who will now be known among you as Sister Boot Knife of Enlightenment.