Two Publishers

[lvcabbie]

Am I doing the right thing?

I've got a publisher for my novel about a soldier, an Indian and the Sonora Desert. I'm quite pleased with the relationship as we already have a decent cover and an editor who works with Marines. He should understand my MC and his situation. The only problem is that the publisher, XOXO Publishing has a long list of erotic works. It's not really that much of a drawback as it's quite possible the majority of buyers for this novel and its sequel will be guys serving in the military and veterans.

When we first signed the contract, I submitted the first two novels of my Father Serra's Legacy to them and told another publisher that I was withdrawing it from them. But novels about Roman Catholic priests spreading The Word of God to Indians and building their mission in California somehow does not seem to be a good fit for a publisher with a lot of erotic books.

So, after a lot of thought, I contacted the second publisher and asked if they were still interested in the Father Serra Trilogy. Their answer was, "I will send the contract as soon as we receive the manuscript."

So now, I've got two publishers! And, I had to write XOXO to withdraw the submission of the two Father Serra novels. Hopefully, I laid it on very clearly how happy I am with our current efforts and am not withdrawing it for any other reason than how they fit with their list.

Am I stepping on it here? {Bluewood Publishing seems okay with, now to hope XOXO is too.}

[R. L. Royall, Jr.]

As long as you lay it on the table and be honest with XOXO, I think they'll understand why you're withdrawing your manuscripts, provided they haven't invested much effort in publishing your works. From what little I understand of traditional publishing, imprints are created for exactly this reason - so readers aren't confused when they find novels in different unrelated genres by apparently the same publisher. I wouldn't make a habit of this, though, as future deals might get held up if a publisher thinks you might back out at the last minute.

[lvcabbie]

Thanks. As it turned out, XOXO responded by being concerned I was not picking a "bad" publisher to deal with. When I told them it was Bluewood Publishing, they wished me success saying they'd heard nothing bad about them.