You guys. I have been sitting on my little secret over here…I did it! I sold my autobiographical novel, THE BORED AND THE BEAUTIFUL. It all went down last month—honestly, right after the manuscript hit the market on September 3rd. I’d remembered from shopping the proposal for HOW TO MURDER YOUR LIFE that selling a book goes really fast, like way faster than you think it will. Editors who want your project pounce, and when one comes early, wanting you to take it off the market, the initial offer is high. This is called a pre-empt.
Sure enough, offers came in fast, with the first pre-empt hitting my agent’s inbox within 48 hours. Byrd and I didn’t take TBATB off the market then; we gave it more time, since editors needed more time to read a good chunk of the completed 360-page manuscript.
Another offer arrived on day four—great money, great editor, great publisher. I slipped into a happy, half-lucid state where I woke up every morning and remembered, “It’s all happening, just like I wanted it to.” Multiple healthy offers from Big Five publishing imprints in the first week was the best possible outcome, and while I had every reason to believe that editors would want THE BORED AND THE BEAUTIFUL, there is truly no better feeling than having it all confirmed: my three years of hard work would pay off. I was definitely getting my second book deal!
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What can I tell you about THE BORED AND THE BEAUTIFUL?