Offer to publish - should you accept or wait?
We have received an offer from a US-based publisher (new company, good concept, good marketing strategy, good royalties, no fees) to publish a novel in print, eBook, and audio format. We (the author and I) are based in Northern Ireland and we're keen to have it published here. However, the publishers we have submitted to here haven't been as quick to come back to us.
The question is: If the US publisher can satisfy us that they are geared to promote the book in NI and the UK as well as the US, should we accept the offer or wait until the other submission responses are received?
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1 answer
If you have an agent, ask them first. If you don't have an agent, this might be a good time to try to consult with one. The specifics of your book and the specific market can be crucial to the decision. This is the agent's area of expertise - negotiating contracts, and understanding what distribution of rights maximizes your potential. Having an offer in hand makes getting an agent's attention easier to handle; an agent can also come onboard merely to negotiate a single contract.
In general, receiving a serious offer is sufficient reason to follow up with your other options. If it's been awhile without hearing back, re-contact the North Ireland publishers, and explain that you have a standing offer. (If the US publisher was very quick, you can certainly tell them that you're waiting to receive offers from local publishers.)
Bear in mind that you might also negotiate with the US publisher to not publish in NI and the UK, or to allow X time to find a better local offer, and if you don't find one, then promote there... or any other situation you feel meets your interests.
At any rate, I would be wary of signing over international promotion to a fledgling publishing company. Promoting "nearby" is tough (and rare) enough; handling promotion across the Atlantic is more than you can really expect of them at this stage.
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