🚀 go-pugleaf

This week I learned from my agent that I haven't just sold Redmagic, but also
the proposed third book of the trilogy, Blackmagic. This is good news, in a
way, but not entirely. The contract calls, in effect, for paying half the
advance of both books on signing the contract I've just received. That's not
a huge sum, but it's certainly welcome. When I submit Redmagic (by Nov. 1
93), I get the second half of my advance for it--in other words, half what
I'll be receiving in a few weeks. Then I have another year to complete
Blackmagic, and when it's finished I'll get the second half of my advance for
*that* book...when it will seem like not a heck of a lot for 120,000 words
and months of work.

However, mass-market writers are generally best off with as much money up
front as possible. Even in today's depressed economy, inflation eats into
whatever you're going to be paid in future. Payment on acceptance is always
preferable to payment on (or after publication).

Since the advance is not huge (see ref. to depressed economy), I have that
much more incentive to write both books as fast as possible and to go on to
other projects. That's just what I intend to do. So after almost two months
of slow work on Redmagic, this weekend I've been blasting away and done about
3000 words--most of it today. This not only feels good, it gives me a sense
of momentum. As I tell my students, the first hundred pages are the hardest.
After that, you get your second wind and just slog along until you hit page
550 or thereabouts and send the ms. in.

I'm also encouraged by the impending reprinting of Lifter by a small Canadian
house, and by that publisher's interest in doing an anthology of my columns
and articles. And my agent tells me word is pending on some other publisher's
decision about yet another novel I've been hoping to complete. Nice to have
lots of irons in the fire...

--
Crawford Kilian   Communications Department   Capilano College
North Vancouver BC Canada V7J 3H5
Usenet: Crawford_Kilian@mindlink.bc.ca
Internet: ckilian@first.etc.bc.ca