Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s topic is: If you were given a large advance by a traditional publishing company and told to produce a series of books in a certain amount of time that obviously you would have to give up the rights to (maybe they would alter your writing too) and do all your own marketing, would you take them up on the offer?

And remember to visit my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!

The simple answer to this one for me is no. I wouldn’t. To spend my days writing would be wonderful. But I don’t have that option. I started writing As the Crow Flies in late 2020, almost as soon as I had finished Chasing Shadows. I’m still in the process of refining and editing it as we speak. The better part of three years of stop start work. I work full time which takes a large chunk out of my time when it comes to writing.

I enjoy writing. The process of seeing a story grow and evolve from nothing, words appearing on the page. I mentioned how I used to try and write every day, tracking my word count after every session. That became too constraining as I realised that really I should only have been writing when I was in the right headspace for it. My book doesn’t make anywhere close to enough in sales to be able to stop work and focus entirely on writing. With that in mind, a contract with a major publisher would add too much pressure and stress for me. I’d hate working to a deadline like that. Then there’s the loss of creative control as my work is altered and adjusted to their liking. Again, not for me. I write what I want to read, so I’d struggle with that.

Much as it would be great to be represented by a major publisher, right now it’s just not an option for me.