• Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

  • Editing Services
  • Me & My Creative Life
    • My Books
      • Metaphysical Fiction
    • My Poetry
    • My Masks
    • My Hats
    • Permaculture, Forest & Garden
    • Performing Arts
  • Blog
  • Contact

WWW #17 The Publisher’s Brush-off

March 19, 2014 by Tahlia Newland

This  post is part of  ‘WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS’, a series of writings about Prunella (Ella) Smith, author, editor & reviewer, and the many worlds she inhabits: her physical reality; her online world where disgruntled author Dita stalks;  the worlds of the books she edits; her dream world, and the world beneath the veil of her ordinary reality.
Click
 here for the previous offerings in reverse order, or here for links to  them in order.

The Publisher’s Brush-off

Downward Dog is a strange name for an arrangement of the body. Bum up, head down, arms and legs straight. Imagine someone lifting up your hips ….Ssttrreeeettcchh. Ahhhh. It feels goood. I bring myself upright, stretch my spine up and arch backwards. Three times and I’m done. Pain is a great discipliner. If I don’t do my daily exercises, my back soon reminds me. So I do what the physio told me to, I strengthen my core muscles in a regime I attend to more religiously than my meditation.

I walk from my studio—polished floorboards, a mirrored wall and a dance barre,  all that remains of my life as a dancer—and into my office, ready to start the day. I turn on the computer and the internet and stare out the window while everything is loading. The misty bush calls to me, and I wonder if the drizzle will stop. The eucalypt forest that wraps my house in its deep-green embrace is like an addiction. I have to have my regular hit, but it’s rained the last few days. Am I willing to take an umbrella and risk leeches to visit the lookout? Probably, but Merlin will have to stay behind. The little ones get between his paws and are hard to get out. I can sprinkle them with salt—then they shrivel up and die—but that isn’t exactly sticking to my vow to do no harm. Nah. It’s better he stays here. Besides, he’s not that keen on getting his paws wet.

A lyre bird with a full tail of arched feathers is scratching at the bottom of the garden. He’s singing, mimicking a bellbird, and his voice really does sound like bells. I love the way it cuts through the stillness with a clarity so powerful that it’s almost unreal—super real. I’d like to throw a stick at the bloody great chook. Its huge claws tear up my lawn and make it really hard to mow.

My laptop comes to life, drawing my attention back inside. The grey day casts only a dim light into the room, and the computer screen glows brilliant blue in stark contrast to the wooden desk on which it sits.  The light is a magnet for my eyes, the screen a window to another world. I sit down, click an icon and let the screen suck me in.

I’m in my inbox again, a familiar place. Rows of neatly ordered subject lines surround me. I skip over the top of most of them, my gaze tuned to pick out anything important. There it is!

Re: sequel to Catnip Creek

My heart leaps, and I take a moment to remind myself not to fall into hope and fear—hope that my publisher will want a sequel and fear that they won’t. A deep breath brings me back to the equanimity I had in my morning meditation. On the deepest, most important layer of reality, it really doesn’t matter.

I open the door to this particular room and dive into the words, wondering if those I land on will be soft or spiky. Either way, I could easily turn them soggy. No, I will not cry.

Dear Prunella

We [the impersonal we; not a good start] like the idea of a sequel very much; [heart leaps] however, [heart sinks—what happened to no hope and fear?] Catnip Creek has not performed as well as expected. Therefore, we are unable to offer publication of a sequel.

We wish you the best of luck with your future endeavours as a writer and are sorry that we cannot be of more assistance at this time.

Yours sincerely… blah blah blah.

My heart’s in my ugg boots now. Sitting there like a lead weight.

Spiky. Fine. So be it.

I’m not really surprised. I glance up at the photo on the noticeboard above my desk. There’s me in the local bookstore pointing to Catnip Creek on the shelf. I was so over the moon about that. I figured my career was made. I had a publisher! I never dreamed they would only want one book. And I never dreamed that the book would only just make back the advance they gave me—it wasn’t a big one either. Catnip Creek disappeared from the shelves even before three months was up and despite all my online efforts, sales dropped right off. Despite its fans and rave reviews, my début novel just didn’t take off.

Then, I thought I had found success. Now, I feel like a failure. What use is finding a publisher if they don’t sell your books? And if I have to market my books myself—as my publisher expects me to—then why bother with them when they take the lion’s share of the income? It’s not as if we don’t have options these days. No wonder authors decide to self-publish.

They didn’t even offer to look at a different title, should I ever write one—unlikely now. That last sentence sounded like a big fat goodbye, done, we’re finished with you.

Yes. I am disappointed. I run from the room—both figuratively and literally—out of the computer world into my world, and out of my office into the kitchen. I need a coffee.

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Other stuff Tagged With: contemporary fiction, Dealing with crticism & rejection, getting published, The writing life

« The Full Diamond Peak Series is Now Out on Paperback.
Can fiction be real? »

Search

Recent Posts

  • Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin
  • Book Genres – What you Need to Know.
  • How to See Edits in Word Documents
  • Finding an Editor You Can Trust
  • Review of ‘The Guild Codex Spellbound Series’ by Annette Marie

View Posts by Category

Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. 

DOWNLOAD  NOW

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Free Book Download  
Get Lethal Inheritance free when you sign up to my new release email list.  I won’t share your details and you can unsubscribe at any time.

My Latest Books

  • Fallout: Recovering from Abuse in Tibetan Buddhism
  • The Elements of Active Prose: Writing Tips to Make Your Prose Shine
  • The Locksmith's Secret
    Rated 5.00 out of 5

Alliance of Independent Authors

Alliance of Independent Authors

Click HERE to see all my books.

Books
Reviews, Writing, Cats & Contemplation
Editing

Click HERE to subscribe to my newsletter and get my fantasy novel Lethal Inheritance FREE. 

How to Meditate – the crucial points

See more

Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

All my books are

Visit my Mask & Steampunk Accessories Shop

2015-03-19 15.46.12
Blue Burmese
Like cats in stories? Check out my books. And click the photo to read the cat colomn.

Click Here for More Articles in This Series

Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

More Posts from this Category

My gorgeous Burmese cats

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

More Posts from this Category

Seven of my novels have an Awesome Indies Seal of Excellence

Four of my books earned BRAG Medallions

I abide by the ethical author code

I'm an Ethical Author
Alliance of Independent Authors

Copyright

All material on this website is under copyright to Tahlia Newland and cannot be shared without written permission.

  • Editing Services
  • About Me
  • My Books
  • My Masks
  • Blog
  • Contact

Copyright © 2023 · Amoré Theme by Oh, Hello Designs on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

FREE Novel Revision Checklist

Written a book? Need some help reviewing and revising it? Download my Novel Revision Checklist for step by step guidance.  

DOWNLOAD NOW

no thanks

{"cookieName":"wBounce","isAggressive":false,"isSitewide":true,"hesitation":"120","openAnimation":false,"exitAnimation":false,"timer":"","sensitivity":"","cookieExpire":"7","cookieDomain":"","autoFire":"","isAnalyticsEnabled":false}

Please note: I am closed for holidays from Christmas day until Jan 30th 2023. Dismiss