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Tuesday, 17 July 2012

I got offered a contract!

Yesterday I was in the very surreal position of being offered a three-book publishing contract - yeah, I know, wow! - you can probably imagine my happy dance and it all happened very fast.

I still can't quite believe I'm saying this, but...



I declined!

It was incredibly flattering and I do know authors that are published with this particular publishing house but I had to listen to my gut. (And no, I do not wish to name them as I wouldn't rule out working with them in the future)

I am a brand new author and yes, being a 'published' author would be great and it would have given greater credibility when submitting new projects, but when I get launched onto the reading world at large, I want to be truly comfortable. I want to believe in my heart and my gut that I am making the right choices for me and for my writing career.

So, there we are.

It's back to the drawing board, working hard on my various projects but it's nice to know that somebody loves my work enough to want to publish it. I'd like to think it took courage to say no, there's no guarantee that another contract will fall into my lap, and a part of me, mainly my ego, did want to accept just for the label it would afford me and to see my work out there. If nothing else, it offered me some hope of securing another contract at some point in the hopefully not-too-distant future too.

My time will come...

Have you ever been in a similar situation or have a story to tell?
Would you have turned down the contract or would you have snatched their hand off despite any misgivings?
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6 comments:

  1. Unknown17 July 2012 at 16:07

    Massive congrats on the offer! And respect for turning it down! I think it takes real courage to do that, but you are so right to go with gut instinct and push on for what you really want instead of settling. More power to you. Nice confidence boost though :0)

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    1. Aurelia B Rowl18 July 2012 at 07:00

      Thank you Charlotte. It wasn't an easy decision but a couple of days on and I still feel it was the right one. Thankfully!

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  2. Madeline Ash18 July 2012 at 03:23

    Such bravery to turn down an offer, well done! And huge congratulations for being sought after, your ego deserves a big boost from that. My similar experience would be when I was offered e-publication last year with a new, unknown e-press. I accepted, but the imprint closed down before I was published. In hindsight, I'm relieved, as it wasn't my best work and I would have been disappointed (possibly embarrassed) to have that represent the standard of my writing. I have learned and developed so much since then, that while the ego boost was good, the outcome was better :)

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    1. Aurelia B Rowl18 July 2012 at 07:02

      Thank you Madeline and thank you for sharing your story. It sounds like you had a lucky escape and it's heartening to know that you went on to better things.

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  3. Rachel Schieffelbein19 July 2012 at 18:36

    Congratulations on the offer! I think it's good that you stuck with your gut. You need to feel happy with where you end up.
    And thank you for commenting on my blog so that I could find you! I am following now. :)

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    Replies
    1. Aurelia B Rowl19 July 2012 at 18:41

      Thanks Rachel, it's lovely to see you over here too.

      Delete

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