Agent+You = a unit
You+Editor= a Unit
Publisher+You+ Editor= Unit
Get what I am saying here? If you fight the bond that holds you, you need to break loose. If you find yourself questioning everything you need to break loose. Trust me. Not everything will be rainbows and slides of happiness with dimpled cheeks and weeeee's. But you've got to have faith, trust, and be able to communicate properly. If something isn't working you can't be scared to ask. There's a problem if you're scared to ask.
True story: When I got my first cover back from publisher, I broke down in tears. I mean I literally cried for about an hour. Now I'm not sure about a lot of publishers but mine actually asked what I thought and at first, I said I liked it. But I felt sick for saying that. I mean really sick wanted to curl up next to the toilet and vomit. But then, I said the worse that can happen is they tell me no. So I sucked up my girly tears and told my publisher what I liked and didn't like about the cover that was sent to me. And do you know what? They took my concerns into consideration and decided to change the cover again.
I'm not saying you should do this with everything that makes you sad or confused or even a little upset. But after a few days hell even a week if you still feel upset or torn up inside about whatever is going wrong then you need to speak up. Because that's what the unit is for. You got each other's back. You both strive for the same goals. You're both on the same path.
Very sound advice. Authors shouldn't forget that they still have a lot of authority, even if they have an agent/editor/publisher. If those try to undermine your authority to your own detriment, they're not the right fit.
ReplyDelete