Before and After the Book Deal

Immensely readable and informative, BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL is like having many of your best professional writer friends dispensing their best advice—about the good and the bad of publishing—all in one book. Maum is an excellent host (and funny I might add) and provides a comprehensive list of things most writers need to know before, during, and after their first book deal. Not everything will apply to every writer. For instance, the sections about getting an MFA were not as important to me (I'm writing my tenth book and will most likely never, ever get an MFA because I don't care). And the tone and ideal reader seems to be an author whose first book is being published by a traditional publisher (hence the DEAL part of the title), which is fine unless the reader is an author who has self-published. I published eight of my books myself, but sold my ninth to a university press (my FIRST book deal!!!). I read this book as if I've never published a book before which was interesting and insightful. But even though I've published before, I haven't experienced getting a book deal and traversing the channels of traditional publishing. I've discovered that the entire process is SLOOOOOW and there have been things I've encountered that this book has very useful advice for, so I can't recommend it enough for writers experiencing their first book deal, whether they've published other books or not.

At the end of this book is a section of advice from several writers, editors, agents, etc. Here's a nugget from Author Lindsay Hunter, “Most importantly: expect nothing. No life change, no windfall, no salivating Hollywood queue. It's just you and your astonishing achievement. It's just you and your work, always. For better or for worse. Once that thing is out in the world, you cannot control how it's received. You can only return to your passion for it, which, when you inevitably ask yourself why, is all the reason you'll need.”

I can't agree more.

Highly recommended and I'd give this book five stars!