I refer you to my previous post Worries of a mid-list Author. You will see how a writer friend and I were worrying together. This is now explained by the fact that Accent Press have been sold to Headline, part of the great Hachette Group, one of the Big Five Publishing Groups in the world. Now my friend Chrissie and I are used to being published by a smaller, independent press. Although Chrissie was one of the big names, along with our other friends, Katie Fforde and Jill Mansell, she has had publisher problems before, as explained in the aforementioned previous post. And I have never aspired to be at the forefront of popular genre publishing, so how were we going to fit in with this go-getting young publisher? Would we be shoved into a corner and forgotten? Would they understand us - and our public?
Well, some of the worries have been addressed, but there are still people who tell me I just like worrying and "it's all going to be all right". Mainly my children. And no - it isn't. There are typographical errors in the ebook that came out last week (where did my corrected proofs go?), there has been no promotion, orders have been cancelled. I now know the paperback will come out on December 5th - almost two months late - and no idea about the next book for which I'm contracted.
However, tomorrow I'm going to have a chat with the publishing director and hope we can clarify the situation. After all, it's quite a Big Thing to be published by one of the largest and most successful of all the genre publishers, but it's going to take some getting used to!
Along with the chaotic disaster that has taken over our country at the moment, about which I also constantly worry and get angry, it hasn't been the happiest of summers. On Monday I go off on my annual pilgrimage to rural Turkey to metaphorically hide under the duvet. See you when I get back!
