Thursday, September 14, 2006

Contracts and Rejections



I got a contract for publication on my first book, Runaway Swimmer. Why did that last sentence not have an exclamation point at the end, you might ask? Check this place out:

http://www.thereadersretreat.com/

They're an ebook publisher and completely legit. They pay 45% royalties and all that good stuff. But, they don't have a Google ranking to speak of, don't appear to be hooked up with Amazon, B&N, etc., and don't seem to have any good stats on sales and other marketing plans.

So, while it is encouraging to have a contract, I think I'll probably turn the tables and reject them.

This feels weird, but I also have to consider that I have two different agents reviewing two different books right now and a print publisher is reviewing Runaway Swimmer. So, there's still hope. There's always hope.

11 comments:

Mat Brewster said...

Good decision. I'd say if they were publishing an actual book and didn't have any major ratings to speak of it, go for it. But an e-book with no google rating? You might as well create your own.

bigsip said...

No doubt, my friend. Patience and a level head must prevail.

lilsip said...

What is a google rating and where does one find it??? Or is it just how far down the page the site is?

mullinz8 said...

Copy that, dump those guys and wait on the that bites something real.

Congrats none the less.

JS said...

I actually felt the rejection letter I got for some art i submitted more comforting than the email I got offering me a contract. I dont think I was designed to let someone else deal with my creations.

bigsip said...

This situation just didn't feel right. I think I'll know when the right thing comes along. I've been researching, querying, etc. for so long, I can tell a not-so-good thing when I see it.

Patience.

Mat Brewster said...

Rachel a google rating is an internal google way to rate every site. Essentially the higher your rating the more important google figures your site is which in turn means you'll get higher placement in relevant search engine results.

Higher search engine results means more people finding your site which for a lot of folks means more $$ in there pockets.

Search engine optimization, or how to get your site to pop up in the first page of google for multiple search strings is major business.

Mat Brewster said...

Oh and the only way I know to actually see the ranking is if you have the google tool bar. It has a little icon that lists the page you are on. For instance our little blog gets a 0 out of 10

bigsip said...

Yeah, I have that rank button. My Runaway Swimmer site is 1 out of 10...woohoo!

bigsip said...

Brew's site is 5 out of 10. I'd say that's pretty good for a blog with all the competition, etc.

bigsip said...

I just checked that page and it is ranked. They have a 3 out of 10. I don't think that's great for a business whose responsibility is to promote their writers' works, but at least they're ranked.