Thursday, March 4, 2010

Holy crap, this is really happening

Yesterday my agent, Michelle Wolfson, emailed with some happy news. Publishers Marketplace (the industry publication in the world of publishing) posted my official deal announcement.

Well, pretty much. The wording changed from what Michelle submitted, and for some reason they posted it twice (which we’ve decided to assume means my three-book deal is now a six-book deal).

But bottom line, the announcement is out there.

For some reason, this kind of freaked me out. Not in a hide-under-my-desk-and-hum-while-sucking-my-knuckles way, but in a holy-crap-this-is-really-happening way.

I went through some of this five years ago with my book deal that wasn’t meant to be with Silhouette Bombshell. When they posted a small article about my sale on the Harlequin website (scroll way down, I’m near the bottom) I had this same sense of joy mixed with dread mixed with disbelief.

For some reason, the disbelief always seemed strongest. That’s not to suggest I had psychic premonitions of the line being canceled (though the marketing-geek in me suspected from the start that Bombshell wasn’t set up to succeed).

But something about that earlier book deal never seemed quite real.

This new deal? It feels real. Having an agent and an editor remind me of it makes it feel real. Having Pythagoras boast about it to co-workers makes it feel real. Having friends and strangers visit my blog and chat about it on Twitter makes it feel real.

And even without all that, the Publishers Marketplace announcement makes it feel real (if you click it gets bigger – no need to give yourself a hernia squinting at it):

9 comments :

Dorothy Dreyer said...

Awesome! So if it was a six-book deal, that means twice as much money, right? *wink*
Congrats again!

Linda G. said...

It really is real. You better print that out and frame it, girl! Or, I know--take a screen shot of it, blow it up, and use it as your computer wallpaper. Have it greet you before every computer session. Because you and Michelle worked hard for it, and now you need to enjoy it a little at every opportunity. :)

TAWNA FENSKE said...

Dorothy, good point about the money. Will have to start making demands immediately!

Linda G, good idea about blowing up the screenshot and using it as computer wallpaper. Or heck, forget the computer wallpaper. I wonder how many copies it would take to cover the walls of my bedroom?

Tawna

Claire Dawn said...

Yay for six book deals! Wow! Congrats! lol!

Rhonda said...

Congratulations!!! Enjoy this moment, you've earned it!! :)

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that other book publisher cancelled on you. Well, they're really going to regret that now, right?!

TAWNA FENSKE said...

Claire, I know, six books are surely better than three! Now we just have to convince my editor.

Rhonda, thanks for the congrats. Sorta makes it real seeing it in print like that.

Xuxana, is it wrong of me to want to rub it in their face someday? :)

Tawna

Anonymous said...

Rub away, Tawna!

Jeffe Kennedy said...

I asked if someone could *really* get a hernia from squinting?

And I said CONGRATULATIONS! Super-duper cool, Tawna! Looking forward to seeing your books out there on the scene!