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Local Authors => Brandon Sanderson => Topic started by: EUOL on November 06, 2003, 07:50:11 PM

Title: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on November 06, 2003, 07:50:11 PM
I decided that 'The Next Step' was a kind of strange and uninformative title for the thread, so I thought I'd start a new one.  Mostly, I thought it would be nice to have a place where I can post some of the more interesting correspondences I get from the various people I'm working with.  Some of you may find these things interesting or helpful--many of them are responses to questions I had.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on November 06, 2003, 07:53:33 PM
It looks like the publication date is going to be later than I thought--somewhere around May of '05.  When I asked why so late, here is what Joshua (my agent) had to say:


> Brandon:  In publishing terms, May 2005 is not all that far off, only a few
> months later than the February date we'd been thinking about over the course of
> World Fantasy, and as far away as it seems right now, the time will go much
> quicker than you think.  
>
> Even for a book that's been on the schedule (let's say it's part of a
> multi-book deal, or sold on the basis of an outline) and is moving very quickly from
> delivery to store shelves, the publisher is hoping to have eight or ten months
> to put the book through copy-editing, revisions, production, etc. from the
> time it's turned in until the month it's to go on sale.  It's not good to be
> crashing deadlines like Robert Jordan, rushing from manuscript to finished books
> in ten weeks.  ELANTRIS isn't a book that Tor signed up in 2002 or 2001 and
> has had on its projected schedule for a year or two already, so I certainly
> wouldn't have expected it to be published until the first quarter or first half of
> 2005.
>
> May '05 means you can turn in a revised manuscript in February, that there's
> time for Moshe to read, for you to do any additional tweaking, for the
> finished product to be sent to blurbers over early Summer so quotes would be
> available for the catalog, solicitation jackets, galley or advanced reader copies,
> etc. which are being worked on in late summer and very early fall.  As we get
> along in 2004, I think you'll be happy there are a few more months for the buzz
> to build.  It also gives a bit more leeway for finding a British publisher that
> can coordinate a release in the same season as Tor.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: 42 on November 06, 2003, 07:56:10 PM
Actually, May 2005 is sooner than when I expected it to get out.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on November 10, 2003, 01:01:24 AM
The Leading Edge could do a review of it even before you send out the advance copies.   ;D
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 05:41:35 PM
Well, we just sold Russian rights to Elantris.  Kind of a strange story--a Russian publishing house saw in Locus (the big sf&f news magazine) that TOR had bought a stand-alone fantasy from a new author, and decided (without knowing anything about the novel) that they wanted it.  They got in touch with Joshua, and made their offer.  We decided to accept because it would take us another six months or so to get an edited copy to other Russian houses and get back counter-offers.

So, yay.  I'm in two languages!
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: House of Mustard on December 11, 2003, 05:48:35 PM
How does Russia compare money-wise?
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on December 11, 2003, 06:01:44 PM
Awesome, I want a copy of the Russian text. Signed and autographed, or whatever it is you novelists do to books.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 06:14:01 PM
Actually, the advance is larger than I expected.  $1,500 (as opposed to 10k in America) with 10% on the royalties.  
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: House of Mustard on December 11, 2003, 06:27:36 PM
Is the Russian market big?
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 06:48:55 PM
Besides America, the only moderately big market is the UK market.  Everything else is kind of marginal.  

From what Dave said in class about royalties, he expected to make his advance over again from all the foreign markets combined.  If you figure that the UK is going to pay about half what America does, then that leaves about 50% of your advance (5k in my case) to be spread across Russia, Germany, France, and Spanish and Asian markets.  

These are rough estimates.  I'm sure I'll know more eventually.  I'm not sure about other European markets (Italy, Poland, Scandinavia.)  Germany, France, and Russia are the three I hear mentioned most often.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Tage on December 11, 2003, 06:56:16 PM
I know from experience that the German SF&F market is fairly large, but little more than that.

I'm curious about this company, though. I mean, doesn't Tor put out stand-alone fantasy novels from new authors fairly often? And $15k advance when your US advance was only $10k? Sounds odd, but congrats nonetheless.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Entsuropi on December 11, 2003, 06:59:35 PM
Hum. So britain (59 million chaps) has 50% of the book market size that america (290 million chaps).  Guess us brits are more book friendly?

Incidentially, how long till you reckon a UK publisher? We get the shaft on movies (1.5 months later usually) and games (same) so having it on books stinks.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 07:00:49 PM
I'm not sure why they jumped on buying this book so quickly.  Stand-alone Epic Fantasies (as locus described Elantris) are rather rare, and perhaps they smelt out that Tor is launching a new author that could get very big (I hope) and want to snatch him up before anyone else can.

As for the money--I think you moved the comma one over.  I wish it was 15k, but it's only 1.5.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 07:14:32 PM
Entropy: The plan is to do a simultaneous release if possible.  That's one of the reasons Joshua doesn't mind the 15 month wait for publication--it gives him time to find a British publisher and give them the chance to put out the book around the same time as Tor (the Brits don't like being behind on these things.)

And, yes, Britain (despite its smaller population) is VERY book friendly.  It's also very fantasy friendly--after all, you guys did found the genre in the first place....

Anyway, we mailed off manuscripts to two major British publishers last month, both of whom had nibbled a bit already.  One is Gollancz (an imprint of Orion--they publish Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter.)  I can't remember the other.  Harper UK, maybe?
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Entsuropi on December 11, 2003, 07:23:12 PM
I guess Terry Prattchets author will be fantasy friendly  ;D
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on December 11, 2003, 07:26:32 PM
hey, congrats!
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on December 11, 2003, 07:45:06 PM
Quote
perhaps they smelt out that Tor is launching a new author that could get very big (I hope) and want to snatch him up before anyone else can.




Maybe someone tipped them off....   ;D

Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 11, 2003, 09:16:53 PM
Heh.  Joshua was kind of surprised at the entire event.  He told me not to expect to sell too many foreign rights (excluding UK) until the book had been out a year or so.  Foreign publishers, with smaller markets, tend to be more picky.  Apparently, events like this one are exceptions, and far from the rule.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Lieutenant Kije on December 13, 2003, 05:26:37 PM
Did they say what the title would be in Russian?  I think Cyrillic looks super-cool.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 13, 2003, 06:38:26 PM
Heh.  Haven't gotten that far yet.  We're not even 100% sure on the English title yet...
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: fuzzyoctopus on December 13, 2003, 06:58:01 PM
We'll have to make sure Ady gets sent a Russian copy.  She'd get a kick out of owning a fantsy novel, in Russian by someone she knows.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on December 13, 2003, 07:06:37 PM
Heh.  Heck, I'll get a kick out of owning a Russian version of one of my novels.  The idea of my work being translated into another language still amuses me to no end.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Lieutenant Kije on December 13, 2003, 08:12:33 PM
do you get to speak with the translator at all?  A translator can either do glorious things to a work, or royally screw it up.  Or just do an ordinary good job, which is probably most often the case.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on April 27, 2004, 07:26:11 AM
So, the end of the latest revision is in sight.  Moshe just sent me the last 300 or so pages of his line-edit.  I started on the final push this morning.  We'll see how long I can keep going before I decide to be responsible and grade the stack of papers sitting on the chair next to me.

You know, I always wondered how it would feel to have some random editor looking at my work and forcing me to change things.  However, it's actually rather pleasant--there isn't much 'forcing' going on at all.  It's like I have this personal assistant who is willing to go through my manuscript line by line and find all the dumb little mistakes and fix them for me.  

(We're not talking about spelling or grammar errors--there aren't many of those left in ELANTRIS.  Other things, like sentence constructions or awkward phrasings, make up the bulk of the changes.)

It does feel a bit embarrassing when I come across one of those pages that bleeds red, though.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: stacer on April 27, 2004, 09:30:25 AM
I'm glad to hear that (about the personal assistant part, not the embarrassing part). I've had a lot of diplomacy ingrained into me in my editing classes and as you work with writers, you learn what matters to mention and what doesn't. The final decision is the writer's, but it's my job to point out places I feel have problems of one sort or another, and I hope that when I point things out it's helpful rather than picky. I think most editors would say the same.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 16, 2004, 06:00:07 PM
First Quote is in:

"Brandon Sanderson is the real thing--an exciting storyteller with a unique and powerful vision.  

ELANTRIS is one of the finest debuts I've seen in years."
--David Farland
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: House of Mustard on July 16, 2004, 06:08:17 PM
Sweet, EUOL.  Congratulations!
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: stacer on July 16, 2004, 06:08:30 PM
Whoo hoo!  Ain't that the truth.

Pssst... Who's David Farland? I feel like I should know the name.  :-/
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 16, 2004, 06:23:48 PM
David Farland=Dave Wolverton

Author of the RUNELORDS, occasional teacher at BYU.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 16, 2004, 06:24:39 PM
Dave Wolverton's good twin.

Definitely a nice one!
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 16, 2004, 06:26:06 PM
Though, to be honest, Dave's quote was pretty much a given.  He promised he'd give one.

The real question will be to see if anyone else quotes for me.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 16, 2004, 07:48:33 PM
still, that's pretty cool.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 17, 2004, 06:09:07 AM
gonna hit some people up at worldcon?
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: stacer on July 17, 2004, 09:28:36 AM
Oh! Okay. I know who Dave Wolverton is.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 17, 2004, 02:50:58 PM
Yeah, I'm planning on it.  We'll see who I can weasel into giving the book a read.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Peter Ahlstrom on July 17, 2004, 03:43:16 PM
No simple task with a 1000-page book.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 19, 2004, 06:06:31 PM
Quote Number Two!


While every new fantasy author is hailed as unique, new, and different, Brandon Sanderson's ELANTRIS does indeed provide an absorbing adventure in a unique, different, and well-thought-out fantasy world, with a few nifty twists as well.

--L. E. Modesitt
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Prometheus on July 19, 2004, 06:14:03 PM
Excellent. You passed your own definition for the test.  ;)

This new quote is a little weird--saying something is done a lot and then doing it again is always awkward--but it's definitely not a bad thing.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers on July 19, 2004, 10:38:44 PM
well, he's not sayign "it's done a lot" he's saying, unfortunately, it's said a lot, but this time it's TRUE.

Plus he said "nifty"
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on July 20, 2004, 12:39:08 AM
Don't forget, Russian Copy, sent to me. Por favor.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 20, 2004, 12:41:04 AM
You want a Russian copy of ELANTRIS as your reward for inspiring a character in MISTBORN?  Or, do you want to wait for MISTBORN to be published?
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on July 20, 2004, 12:43:53 AM
Yes

Except, clarity is not defined by you.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 20, 2004, 01:23:29 AM
Uh...thanks, Spook.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock on July 20, 2004, 01:27:14 AM
One passion of life: Completed.

What I mean EUOL, is that why are you offering me Mistborn now, when that most likely won't be out until 06, or 07? And Elantris will be out by 05.
Title: Re: Publication News
Post by: EUOL on July 20, 2004, 01:29:56 AM
Good point.