Thanks, everyone, what a busy week. We've been helping a friend turn over the tenants in her rental condo, our kid is leaving for college in just 23 hours, and we have four other houseguests this month. But we got to spend the afternoon strolling Chinatown, and tomorrow morning we're going surfing.
Over the last year I've sent out proposals to eight publishers, five of whom have given me a very cynical view of the industry. The only thing worse than their communications skills was their ability to make a decision. So of course when I sent a proposal to Impact Publications the week before last, I didn't expect to hear back from them for a couple months.
It turns out that Ron Krannich knows what he wants when he sees it, and he knows to make a decision. He called me the day after he got the proposal to let me know the contract was coming. I'm mailing it back (with the manuscript) tomorrow.
Technically he bought not one but two books-- The Military Guide, which we've all written & reviewed, plus a 64-page 4”x5” pocket guide which I have yet to distill from the full manuscript. Both will be published in 8-12 months, depending on how much editing is needed and how much lead time the distributors & military exchanges want.
Impact sells through catalogs and their online bookstores, of course (
Impact Publications and
www.veteransworld.com), but they're huge in the military market. Their distributor has exclusive control of the book section in the military exchanges.
The deal is generous. Shared revenues for subsidiary rights (like a Kindle version!), 15% royalties, discounted prices for the author to hand out to reviewers and other influential readers. We're going to try to distribute a substantial number of galley proofs for E-R.org veterans to scrub before it goes to print. I think Ron plans to use the pocket guide with the military transition assistance planning seminars, so we'll be talking to those people. We still have to choose a cover (that's a separate thread I'll start in a day or two), I'll start up separate threads to discuss the setup of the website & blog, and of course there will be a book tour.
You veterans/families on the social group helped me write it. I'm happy to have the rest of the board's help to get it edited, published, and marketed!
Then we can start thinking about a sequel...