I walked into Larry’s office and he closed the door. He smiled and kind of chuckled as he said he was ready to talk about “The Deal.” And then we got serious. He sighed. And then he made me an offer to edit the women’s humor book for Travelers’ Tales.
I knew that I was going to be doing this book with them for a few months now. I’d talked about it several times with James and Larry, and now we were just nailing down the particulars.
And I guess it was just that…particulars. Numbers and percentages. Word counts and due dates…a talk crammed into an already busy day.
This will be my first book with solo name credit on the cover, and that’s a whole story in itself. But I think the thing I will walk away remembering is how I wasn’t intimidated about negotiating. When you get to the point where you are sitting at the table with your editor, and the paper and figures are in front of you, remember one of my life mottos, you don’t get what you don’t ask for. In preparing for that, know what you want ahead of time, and be ready to prove what makes you worthy of it.
Larry and James were more fair than I had expected. They were incredibly flexible, and as usual, thoroughly supportive. The negotiating was a process, but damn if signing the contract wasn’t the coolest…
Three autographs in blue ink. Wahoo! I wish James had been there. It felt good to sign, Larry and I had a hug and then went back to work.
What’s next? All I have to do is go find some real good grins and gutbusters. And turn in the lot in 3 months….Ahhh! 🙂