As a writer, landing a contract is a sign that you’ve made it. You’re getting paid to write. It’s amazing! Maybe even a dream come true.
And, like anything, there are things that aren’t amazing about it. C'est la vie.
I’ve spent most of the last three years writing under two separate contracts for one publisher, and have some thoughts on what I’ve liked and haven’t liked about writing professionally. Having also self-published, I feel like I've gotten to see the best of both worlds, and the challenges of each.
I'd thought I'd share my perspective from writing under contract. YMMV.
The Good:
Getting an advance and being a contracted writer translates to getting paid to do what you love. This is AWESOME! It’s the dream.
If you’re lucky enough to work with a talented editor, like I have, it means having consistent feedback from someone who understands the vision for your work and also understands what readers (or, in the case of interactive fiction, players) want in a story.
Being on contract with a publisher willing to pay an advance means they’re invested in your success. They will take care of the art and often the description for your book. They will formate it and publish it. With self-publishing, all of this is a considerable amount of work and often expense. Having a publisher take that on means more time for actual writing.
Sometimes, your publisher will take care of the majority of marketing. Sometimes, they don't.
My publisher comes with a large audience so the marketing is largely done by them, but I'm writing interactive fiction and the market is quite niche. These days in the world of traditional publishing it seems less and less is being done to market, even by big name publishers. Much of that work is falling to authors. I'm glad to be able to add this to the pro category here, as having a publisher with audience reach is a major benefit!
A contract sets clear expectations and deadlines, which is excellent motivation to finish a project. It also applies a decent bit of pressure.
Which leads me to…
The Bad:
Deadlines can create a significant amount of stress. While they’re necessary when writing on contract, the freedom of writing without a deadline is not to be underestimated. As someone whose free time can fluctuate drastically, being under contract for the last three years means I’ve done many late nights to get work done as quickly as possible.
Admittedly, I put most of that pressure on myself, but when I tell someone I’ll do something, I try to make sure I do it.
Being under contract with a publisher often means giving up some creative freedom, too. Decisions about the title, description, and artwork are up to the publisher.
Sometimes the direction of a story and specific parts of it are expected to be altered to fit the publisher’s requirements and requests. Often, the publisher knows best what their audience wants and makes decisions based on marketing and sales, which isn’t always a bad thing. It can be a good thing. In my case, often the editor and publisher are right, it just takes me a while to see it.
Working with a publisher definitely involves compromise, and giving up creative freedom isn't easy.
The Ugly:
Thankfully I don’t have any horror stories, but I know others who have had contracts with publishers who didn’t follow through on their part of the deal. Signing a contract means entering into a binding agreement with someone who may or may not have your best interests at heart. Things can go wrong. Terms are important.
I'm grateful to have had good experiences with the contracts I've been offered.
I’m sure there are more details I could add under each of these categories, but these are the biggest points that come to mind.
I’ve pushed hard on this last project, staying ahead of deadline. I wanted to get this story finished asap so I’d have two titles earning royalties and fans would have more options to explore the world and characters I’ve created.
As hard as I’ve driven myself to get this done, and after being under contract for the last 3 years, I’m ready for a break.
I’m feeling the need to do things on my own time. To focus on homeschooling my kids without the pressure of a deadline. I’ve hardly played music in the last three years because I felt like any free time I had should be spent writing.
I might focus on smaller projects for a bit. Fun stuff that doesn’t involve year-long commitments.
I’m extremely grateful to have earned contracts to write my stories. My goal was to be a hybrid author—someone who does both self-publishing and has contracts with a publisher—and I’ve achieved that goal. My contracts have good terms and the publisher I’ve been working with is professional and has followed through with everything they promised. My editor is fantastic and my stories have improved under her guidance. I have several more interactive fiction concepts I want to write.
All that said, I’m looking forward to the deep breath after this contract is complete.
I’m going to savor it.
Thanks for reading!
Peace @Katrina-Ariel
The images included in this blog post were designed in Canva.