This week I got paid! This is kind of a big deal. Oh, not the whole getting-paid-to-write thing (that is a big deal, of course, just not what I'm talkin' about here) but the whole it's-finally-here part. Because this was the paycheck for a contract I signed months ago. For you normals out there (aka people sane enough to not become writers) let me catch you up...
When a publisher decides to buy an author's work, first there are negotiations--between author and publisher or agent and publisher or author and agent and publisher. This could go on for months. Then, once that finally gets settled, the contract has to get signed by both author and publisher. Then your contract gets put in some sort of queue (I'm not sure what kind of queue, but I know there is one) and you wait for your check to get cut. And wait. And wait. And wait. The publisher sends the check to the agent who, after taking out their commission, sends the check on to the author. Then, when you finally get the check, if you're feeling especially dumb--like me--you deposit the check instead of cashing it, thereby ensuring you have to wait even longer for it to clear.
(This is only a portion of your negotiated advance, mind you. Depending on the contract, you might get half or a third of your advance on signing, the rest to be paid on acceptance and on publication.)
So, for me, this week was the culmination of the above process for my second book. (Which I sold, incidentally, last summer.) That's just how the publishing world works. Anyway, this week I got paid, which means I felt compelled to stimulate the economy; I went shopping.
Here's a summary of the damage:
1. TARGET -- If aliens attacked our planet and decreed there could only be one store left on Earth, I would lead the campaign for Target. I showed uncharacteristic restraint. Some of my finds: a wooden kitchen utensil holder (on clearance), red candles (for some good feng shui), and socks (trust me, I needed socks).
2. IKEA -- Without this Swedish wonderland, I'd be sleeping on a air matress in an apartment with an office chair and clothes piled on the floor. Literally! So today I got a few more "essentials" like: a cute little side table for my laptop (way better than the tray-on-a-milk-carton I'd been using), a pair of cardboard origami drawers for housing my rarely-used-thanks-to-iTunes CD collection, and three decorative pillows for my previously acquired Ikea futon.
3. BARNES & NOBLE -- If their sales numbers aren't up this quarter, it's not for lack of effort on my part. Here's a list of my book purchases from this week alone:
Fly On the Wall by E. Lockhart
Forever... by Judy Blume
Looking For Alaska by John Green
Oblivion Road by Alex McAulay
Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson
Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
I am officially not allowed to buy anything else until Spring. Or at least not until I finish all the books in my To Be Read pile.
Hugs,
TLC
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