Delayed Gratification
My husband, The Prof, calls writing books "the greatest example of delayed gratification" that he's ever seen.
He has had first-hand proof of this over the years. I wrote my first book the year between 1981-1982. I sent it off to Harlequin Mills & Boon in April 1982. After a long and boring saga (and a manuscript box that looked as if it should have had passport stamps from several countries) almost exactly two years later Harlequin bought it (along with the third book I wrote). The second book had been bought by the Harlequin American line three months earlier.
The advance checks arrived a few months after that. The books came out a year later. Publishing is sort of the Chinese water torture approach to making a living.
However . . .
Just last week I got one more royalty check for Starstruck, the second of those three books. Amazing. Definitely delayed gratification. I'm so pleased that Harlequin re-released it yet again (in something like its 4th incarnation) and that what amounts to a new generation can read it.
I haven't seen it in this new version, though in theory I'm supposed to get a copy. Maybe it will drift in one of these days. Hope so.
Kate Walker informed me this morning that another of my books is being re-released for Christmas in UK. She saw it in the shops yesterday. It's in a two-fer with Cathy Gillen Thacker called Their Little Miracles, and features my Silhouette Special Edition, The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle and Cathy's Their Instant Baby.
I will ask my webmistress to be sure to get the Silhouette Special Edition material up on my website, so anyone who wants can read an excerpt of The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle. At the moment it's still in her backlist of things to re-post from when we did the website revamp. We hadn't anticipated a new edition.
Who knew?
ps: The new book is whipping right along. Four days of amazingly regular production. No discernible angst. Is this what it's like to be Nora Roberts? Or Kate Hardy?
I like it. I can tell you that!
He has had first-hand proof of this over the years. I wrote my first book the year between 1981-1982. I sent it off to Harlequin Mills & Boon in April 1982. After a long and boring saga (and a manuscript box that looked as if it should have had passport stamps from several countries) almost exactly two years later Harlequin bought it (along with the third book I wrote). The second book had been bought by the Harlequin American line three months earlier.
The advance checks arrived a few months after that. The books came out a year later. Publishing is sort of the Chinese water torture approach to making a living.
However . . .
Just last week I got one more royalty check for Starstruck, the second of those three books. Amazing. Definitely delayed gratification. I'm so pleased that Harlequin re-released it yet again (in something like its 4th incarnation) and that what amounts to a new generation can read it.
I haven't seen it in this new version, though in theory I'm supposed to get a copy. Maybe it will drift in one of these days. Hope so.
Kate Walker informed me this morning that another of my books is being re-released for Christmas in UK. She saw it in the shops yesterday. It's in a two-fer with Cathy Gillen Thacker called Their Little Miracles, and features my Silhouette Special Edition, The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle and Cathy's Their Instant Baby.
I will ask my webmistress to be sure to get the Silhouette Special Edition material up on my website, so anyone who wants can read an excerpt of The Cowboy's Christmas Miracle. At the moment it's still in her backlist of things to re-post from when we did the website revamp. We hadn't anticipated a new edition.
Who knew?
ps: The new book is whipping right along. Four days of amazingly regular production. No discernible angst. Is this what it's like to be Nora Roberts? Or Kate Hardy?
I like it. I can tell you that!
posted by Anne McAllister at 10:31 AM
4 Comments:
LOL, Anne - I can't answer for Nora but that's exactly what it's like to be me on a good day.
Excellent news re your Christmas release. (Goody. Something for me to treat myself to near Christmas that isn't chocolate-related...)
Still smiling at being in the same paragraph as La Nora.
Well, Kate. I'm frankly envious. I am really enjoying these days. Of course I don't dare take them for granted, but they are definitely what makes writing enjoyable. Even when they only come along two or three times a book, they make the rest of the slog worthwhile. (Not that you would know that -- about the 'slog' part, anyway).
Re the Christmas release, I was really surprised when Kate told me she'd seen it. Had to go check it out myself, and yep, it's there. On Amazon.co.uk, though, you need to know the title because it doesn't come up under "Anne McAllister" -- as the listing leaves off my first name and Cathy's. Sigh.
I am happy the say that I have a copy of one of the incarnations of Starstruck in the form of Wisconsin in the Men Made in Amerca theme collection
Hi Christa!
Glad to hear you've got a copy of Starstruck! I hope you enjoy it.
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