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I hope I'm not about to make a big mistake, but I'm about to pull The Wicked from the shelves at the request of a publisher. The book has only been up a few days, but sales have started to accelerate. I sold over thirty copies yesterday at $3.99, have seen my first two reviews come in, and have started to show up in the also-bought lists. The book might be unavailable in any location for months, maybe even a couple of years. It seems insane to be doing this. In fact, I'm writing this post in part to convince myself that it's necessary, and in part to avoid the pain of yanking the fishhook out of my thumb for a few more minutes.
In April, when The Righteous climbed into the top 20 of the overall Kindle store, I was approached by a large publisher about publishing the series traditionally. The interest seemed serious enough that I got agency representation lined up and had an initial conversation. I figured it wouldn't hurt to hear what was offered while I continued to do what I was already doing. There was an intense period of discussion for a few weeks and then things died down. There has also been some interest from other publishers, but it is not yet as advanced. Meanwhile, I finished The Wicked and published it.
My agent got an email last night from the publisher who said they were just about to make their offer, but having The Wicked for sale as a self-pubbed title was complicating things. It would be better if I were to pull the book while they finished with their offer, and then we could figure out if we were going to sign or not. So I think I'm going to pull it.
I'm doing this not knowing dollar figures or royalties, although I'm guessing, based on our conversation, that the numbers will be respectable. I've been developing my one-foot-in, one-foot-out strategy for awhile and think that having some books independent and some books traditional might be the best solution for me. I'm also aware of the pitfalls awaiting writers these days and go into this without stars in my eyes. I'll walk away if the deal isn't good enough.
Having said all that, losing sales and momentum for The Wicked is going to be painful.
ETA: I know that rank and "also boughts" will go bye-bye, but can anyone confirm that my reviews will also die? That's going to be almost worse if I have to republish in a few weeks or months. I wish I knew how long this period in purgatory was going to last.
In April, when The Righteous climbed into the top 20 of the overall Kindle store, I was approached by a large publisher about publishing the series traditionally. The interest seemed serious enough that I got agency representation lined up and had an initial conversation. I figured it wouldn't hurt to hear what was offered while I continued to do what I was already doing. There was an intense period of discussion for a few weeks and then things died down. There has also been some interest from other publishers, but it is not yet as advanced. Meanwhile, I finished The Wicked and published it.
My agent got an email last night from the publisher who said they were just about to make their offer, but having The Wicked for sale as a self-pubbed title was complicating things. It would be better if I were to pull the book while they finished with their offer, and then we could figure out if we were going to sign or not. So I think I'm going to pull it.
I'm doing this not knowing dollar figures or royalties, although I'm guessing, based on our conversation, that the numbers will be respectable. I've been developing my one-foot-in, one-foot-out strategy for awhile and think that having some books independent and some books traditional might be the best solution for me. I'm also aware of the pitfalls awaiting writers these days and go into this without stars in my eyes. I'll walk away if the deal isn't good enough.
Having said all that, losing sales and momentum for The Wicked is going to be painful.

ETA: I know that rank and "also boughts" will go bye-bye, but can anyone confirm that my reviews will also die? That's going to be almost worse if I have to republish in a few weeks or months. I wish I knew how long this period in purgatory was going to last.