Okay, I'm not complainin' - hell, yes, I am. The publishing industry is soooooo s-l-o-wwwww... I won't discuss here the turnaround time for manuscripts submitted to literary agents and editors at publishing houses. Today my peeve is the time it's taking for a draft of the publishing contract to materialize in front of my eyes.
I got THE CALL from my agent on April 6. In case you don't know what THE CALL is, it's the one the agent makes to you when she has sold your book. Well, I got the call, congratulations were exchanged, libations to the gods performed, and the negotiations between the agent and editor took off. Cool. Wonderful. Head in clouds, etc etc. So what's my darned problem?
Well, we're almost into July and I haven't even seen the draft contract yet. And the book is supposed to be released at the end of this year; it normally takes 18 months to 2 years to appear on shelves, so I have reason to be thankful, right? But the waiting hurts!
I moan and complain, although I should really know by now that this is publishing! The pace is glacial! So I watch my nails grow, and my hair go gray, and I entertain myself by wondering if the publishers have changed their minds about my book. Instead of working on polishing my second novel, I surf the net aimlessly, work at non-urgent projects and conjure up worst-case scenarios.
Don't envy writers. We're a pitiful lot.
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