Greetings, one and all! I’m new to the site but looking forward to getting to know my way around, despite an embarrassing lack of computer savvy! I hope no one minds if I dive straight in with a question/plea for advice…

A small publishing house has recently expressed a certain amount of interest in a collection of comic verse I have written. Nothing concrete has materialised yet, since, as they explained, ‘to publish the poems in their current form would mean an entirely new format for us so we will have to investigate the relevant markets before we can give you a firm commitment. As a result, the earliest we would be able to fit it into the publishing programme would be 2006.’ They go on to say that they know I have already been waiting a long time for a reply, they are sorry that they can't act immediately and that, this being the case, I am under no obligation to them but if it does turn out to be possible, they really would like to work on the project and they 'will be in touch a.s.a.p.'.

My question is what should I do next? It has been three months since then and, for a variety of reasons, I need to move forward somehow. Going by the limited contact I have had with these publishers, I have to say that I like them and think they would be nice to work with. However, they are the first and only publishers to have seen the collection so far and it is possible that another publisher – assuming they were at all interested! – might be able to move faster or give me more of a guarantee (say, a publishing contract, for example! ). Alternatively, I wonder if I should perhaps look for an agent, using the letter from the publisher as evidence that someone who knows what they’re talking about has already seen and liked the collection?

In summary, should I contact the interested publishers to see how things are going, submit the collection to a new publisher, or try to find an agent on the strength of the interest that has been expressed, bearing in mind that if I was lucky enough to find someone to take me on, they might end up insisting I went to another publisher anyway?!

Many thanks in advance for bothering to plough through this longer-than-planned message. Any advice you have would be gratefully received!

Snowcat - I don't know anything about marketing verse, comic or otherwise, but what on earth can they mean by 'an entirely new format for us' and 'researching the market'?

Does your proposed book (it's a book?) have particular technical challenges for a printer/publisher - like pop-up, or microchip technology embedded (like some greetings cards for example)?

If not, what on earth do they mean? Sorry to be so dense.

Joe

Not dense, at all, Joe! I should have explained. It would be a new format because so far they have only published picture books and are just now starting to expand into the wider children’s market, starting with the next age group up, around 5-8 year olds.

I originally submitted one of the poems as a possible picture book which is how I first made contact with them. They didn’t think it was quite suitable for tiny people to read, but liked it enough to request a look at the whole collection once I had finished it and, having taken a look, then expressed great interest. So, no microchips or pop-ups (though now that I think about it that could work very nicely too!), but even as an illustrated book of verse it would still be something entirely new for them.

Snowcat

Snowcat - thanks for the clarification, all is now clear. Well, to answer your question (from a base of profound ignorance, I'm afraid), I guess I would give them a little bit longer if they're a respectable house. These things can take time. Do you have contact with an editor there, a name you can write to? Perhaps you could drop a line, just 'touching base' as it were - reminding them that you're waiting.

In the meantime, I'd get on with other writing, and wait to see how this pans out. A lot depends of course on how firm you judge their initial interest.

No harm in jogging their elbow though.

Joe

Hi Joe,

Thanks for the advice – very much appreciated. I was leaning that way myself but needed someone impartial to give me the final push!

This morning I finally sent an enquiring, but hopefully polite, e-mail to the editor with whom I had previously corresponded and this afternoon I received a reply saying that they should have an answer in the next few weeks. That being the case I am going to hang in there with them and not submit to another publisher…yet! Just have to cross my fingers and wait to see what happens next…

Thanks again!

Snowcat

If you get a good lead, go with it, I say. Imagine the despair if you pass this up and later don't have such success with the work? I know the waiting time is unbearable, but in the end, at least you know you'll be published right?

My book contract is for publication in 2007. I still signed it, because after 20 odd rejections, I felt I should make the leap. It's only a year and half away, and I could easily have spent that time in a fruitless search for a publisher.

JB

Snowcat - you're welcome ... best wishes and good luck with it. Waiting is always tough!

Joe

Cheers, Joe!

Hi JB,

Congratulations on the book contract – great news that gives everyone else hope! Out of interest, were any number of the ‘20 odd rejections’ related to the work that has now got a contract, or to other pieces of writing?

I’m sure you’re right about sticking with a good lead. As you say, I’d kick myself if I missed out, and if nothing comes of it then I’ll just have to submit somewhere else. At least I now have a more accurate idea of how much longer I’ll have to wait before getting an answer – whichever way it eventually goes…

Snowcat

All the rejections were relative to the book I have a contract for. They ranged from the very praise worthy to the downright damning, so you mustn't give up. Remember that they told Orwell his 'Animal Farm' would never be published on either side of the Atlantic, and that one agent told J.G Ballard he was beyond professional help.

JB