Hello Fellow Writers: I'm in the happy position of having my novel provisionally accepted by a small press, with a sample contract sent to me. This happened yesterday. After jumping around the room in joy, I have now cooled down and am faced with some questions. The situation is as follows: I don't have an agent, so I have to figure out the contract myself. I have not yet signed it, and probably won't for a few days at least, until I have a chat with the publisher. The big question is: What do I do about all the simultaneous submissions I sent to other publishers? As I understand it, publication is not guaranteed until I sign the contract (and even then, it might still not be guaranteed). If I withdraw all the submissions from other publishers now, and the deal with my publisher falls through, I'll be back where I started. But if I don't withdraw the submissions, and I get another acceptance in the next few days, I'll be in an awkward situation. What would you do in such a situation?
First of all, congratulations! That's wonderful news! I don't have knowledge of this exact situation, but in general I would not withdraw anything until the contract is signed, just as I wouldn't cancel other job interviews on the strength of a verbal offer. Once it is signed, however, I would withdraw submissions to other publishers. While you're right that nothing is ever set in stone, the signing of the contract generally indicates good faith on both sides, so in your shoes I would proceed on that basis unless/until you have reason to do otherwise.
Thank you, that makes sense. It's really a form of insurance. It's very unlikely I'll get another acceptance within the next few days, and also unlikely the deal will fall through. But the unlikely is not the impossible. BTW do you think it worth informing my current publisher that my MS is still being considered by other presses? Or would that be considered an unacceptable way to exert pressure on my part?
A follow-up to the above. I signed the contract with the publisher on Saturday. But here's the crazy thing. On Friday, I received another acceptance from a different publisher. I said above "it's very unlikely I'll get another acceptance within the next few days," but that's exactly what happened. How it happened: I was rejected by one imprint of a publishing house. I thought that was the end of it, but without telling me, they sent my MS to another imprint of the same house. It was this latter imprint that accepted it. I explained the situation to Publisher No. 2 and they were cool about it. In fact, this gives me a backup in case the deal with Publisher No. 1 falls through. A contract is not a guarantee of publication - small presses can easily go bankrupt or out of business - so it's good to know there's someone else interested in your book.
this all sounds interesting and complicated. I hope someone who knows how to handle this stuff without an agent comes along soon!
