Blogger: Janet Kobobel Grant
Books & Such agents and staff are on a writers’ retreat with our clients at the Monterey Plaza Hotel this week and lavishing them with attention. (See photo below showing our clients on the hotel’s terrace at our last retreat.) We’ll be re-posting blogs that received a goodly number of visitors and garnered considerable conversation.
Let’s say you missed your book deadline not by a few days, not by a few weeks but by a few months…or years. If you’re seriously late, a whole host of departments in the publishing house pay the price for your missed deadline. And so do you. The book won’t receive the editorial attention that would make it a better book, and marketing has committed to a marketing/publicity plan that will have to be trashed because the book is no longer coming out in the season it was scheduled for. Everyone loses now.
Your marketing dollars have been spent and can’t be retrieved. So your book now has no marketing budget left for when it really releases. Bookstores have placed orders, but now the publisher’s sales reps have to explain that the book will be releasing later. The sales reps’ efforts are lost. The bookstore’s decision to buy your book proved to be a bad choice (and the bookstore’s buyer will remember that you can’t make your deadlines)…See the ripple effect? It’s not pretty.
If you end up writing the book of the century…too bad, the publisher and the book buyers won’t be able to gear up for the big burst necessary to get your stunning book noticed. So much for missed deadlines not being a big deal. The ultimate losers? The publisher, who becomes less and less likely to garner enough sales on the project to make a profit (and who has been carrying the first portion of your advance as a loan to you); the bookstore buyer, who took a chance on ordering your book but learned not to do that again; and you, who fell out of favor with the publisher and everyone employed therein.
A few weeks ago, one of my clients, who is late, late, late on a deadline, emailed that he was vacationing in Paris, sipping an espresso and pondering his manuscript–but not actually working on it. To whom did he send this email? To several individuals at his publishing house whose jobs would be more secure if the author would come through with what is supposed to be an important book. (I was cc’d on the email. ) I understand that the author was assuaging his guilty conscience with the missive, but still, the communication did more damage than it did damage control.
So what’s with this callous view toward deadlines? First, let me say that life happens to everyone, including authors. Sometimes illness, moving to a new location, writer’s block, and accidents interfere with the best laid plans to complete a manuscript on time. That’s not what we’re talking about here. I’m thinking about the authors who have lunch with their friends, blog and tweet endlessly, take vacations, make sure their houses are decorated just so and their gardens are pristine but never manage to fit in time to work on their manuscripts until a couple of weeks before the due date. Then, it’s a mad dash to the deadline, which often is missed. And the work is less than it could have been. I wish that modus operandi were unusual, but it’s not. I recall one publisher saying to me, “What really kills me is when an author is late on a deadline, but every blog I read has a comment from that person, or they’re commenting on all kinds of professional loops. I’m thinking, if you just wrote that number of words on your manuscript, you’d be that much closer to handing it in.”
Yeah, everyone in publishing notices if an author is showing up online but no manuscript is showing up at the publishing house. I can only conclude three reasons, from my observations, as to why deadlines are seriously missed:
1) procrastinating is a common ailment among writers. Any activity is more appealing than putting butt in chair and actually working on the manuscript;
2) authors are inherently optimistic (and sometimes unrealistic) when they commit to a deadline by signing their contract;
3) advances have lost their meaning. Why did advances come into existence? So authors would have sufficient money to set aside other financial pursuits, enabling the writer to concentrate on writing the book contracted. Hello! If the author can’t meet his deadline, why does he think his publisher should pay him an advance for his next book? Or even offer him another contract? Well, publishers are beginning to ask themselves that very question. As a matter of fact, in this economic slowdown, a number of publishers have remembered that their contracts enable them to cancel publishing a book, if the author misses the deadline. (The details of just how late an author can be are spelled out in each contract.) So some authors are receiving a nasty surprise when they turn in their late manuscript. The publisher is saying, “No thanks.” (I’m happy to report this hasn’t happened with any of my clients.) On a side note: Some of you might be thinking, I certainly could live off the advance my publisher paid me. True, the median size of advances is going down, but still, the advance is an advance payment on royalties that you receive to help you to be free from other concerns to write the book.
Now, talk to me: For unpublished writers, do you set deadlines for yourself? Do they help you to complete the stated goal?
For published authors, what do you do to make sure you’ll have your manuscript in on time? If you’ve missed a deadline, did you see any fallout from it?
Now that you’ve read my blog, do you think there was some fallout, but you hadn’t realized it?
Question for all: What keeps you from writing?
There is more fallout than I realized by missing a deadline. I knew it had an impact,but I didn’t see the extent of it. I do set deadlines for myself, and I work hard to meet or beat them. As a newer writer, I’m still figuring out what realistic deadlines look like for me. Meeting them feels good. 🙂
Things that keep me from meeting deadlines right now have to do with real life. Having young kids at home hinders writing time, especially when they’re home for fall break. 🙂 I’m learning how to work through that, but weaving writing life with real life child rearing can be tricky on weeks like this.
Call me silly, but I hadn’t realized that a purpose of publisher’s advances was to provide some income to free authors up to complete their books. Thanks for sharing your insights today, Janet!
Jeanne, I completely agree with your comment about figuring out what realistic deadlines look like. I’m at this stage also. Setting deadlines needs to become more a part of my writing process as the self-discipline in this area will reap huge benefits in the future.
I would love to have the perfect formula figured out for my writing schedule such as:
1. Place large cup of coffee within reach of my computer.
2. Pour eloquent words uninterrupted into the computer for hours on end.
But as you know this rarely happens. Good thing we love writing, eh?
That formula sounds good to me, Jenni, but you forgot number three. Send eloquent words to dream agent who emails back instantly with effusive words of praise and adoration.
Completely agree, Jenni! 🙂 Happy writing.
Oh, Meghan, I like your addition. I’m going with that one too. 😉
I’ve spent my career in journalism (writing and editing), so I have a definite appreciation for deadlines. I set them for myself and have an accountability group that keeps me honest about whether I’ve kept to them!
What keeps me from writing? Usually I’m tired from working my day job, honestly. And I put it off. I find that if I go to the library right after work and put in an hour of writing, that’s much better than coming home, making dinner, and THEN sitting down to write. I simply don’t feel like it at that point. I’m ready to settle in and watch TV or read.
Hi Lindsay.
I am a journalist too. 🙂 I also like to go someplace to write before I go home after work. It’s usually at a local coffee shop (or the library).
I do agree that I feel better if I can write even for an hour after work before taking care of other things. We must do what we can without becoming overwhelmed. I find that if I am overwhelmed I cannot write at all. One hour is better than nothing. 🙂
I used to be a journalist and now I write grants. The thought of being late for a deadline gives me hives.
What gets in the way of my self-imposed deadlines? Guilt over writing rather than spending time with my husband. All you writer moms out there who juggle husbands and kids? Hats off to you!
I write freelance for the local newspaper, but even us freelancers feel the wrath if our work is even 30 minutes late. I work in a team of three, and if one of us misses dealine, all three don’t get published, or paid. I don’t make much in my job, but it’s MY JOB. Therefore, if I’m late once or twice, buh bye job!
A friend of mine was a TV reporter and if he missed a “live hit” (that’s when they report from the scene live on the air) even by a few seconds, he was fired immediately. Five seconds of dead air was a long time for the anchor to stall.
I’ve missed my team deadline once, by exactly 30 minutes. That was 3 years ago. I’ve never done it again. I knew exactly how far down the line the annoyance flowed.
“My job” really is the key, isn’t it? The essence of proactive is responsibility.
Thank you for the blog post. I knew missing deadlines messed some things up, but not all that.
All of my deadlines have been self-imposed. It’s taken me a while to figure out the pace of this whole writing process. Writing first drafts are much quicker than the revision process. At least for me.
I try to write 5k a week on a specific project. The rest of the time is spent working on revisions, plotting other stories and anything else that I can fit in.
Hi Janet,
This kind of post gets my dander up… because I’m a writer who’s LONGING for a deadline to meet! I have books piled up and waiting for a publisher, but I’m stuck waiting in line behind the guy on vacation in Paris… ARGH!
So I just keep writing, and keep praying, and keep knocking on doors, and keep reminding myself that God is in control, and when I stand before HIM, He’ll say, “Well done, faithful one.”
BUT before that day comes, I want to stand before a publisher BEFORE my deadline is up, and have that publisher say, “Well done, faithful one.”
I’m a writer. I may procrastinate when it comes to dying the gray out of my hair or washing up last night’s dishes, or even getting the load out of the washing machine before I have to run it a second time with baking soda (does anyone else do this???), but writing is like breathing to me, and I don’t know about you, but I can only hold my breath so long….
Maybe your author will read this post and these comments and wake up… BEFORE his spot gets taken by one of us ravenous writers.
Blessings,
Becky
Praying for an abundance of patience for you Becky. I very much admire your dedication to your craft. Piles waiting for a publisher? Wow.
Well written, faithful friend.
Amen. My thoughts exactly. Well, I suppose you could say to the Parisian vacationer “You never know what you got till it’s gone,” because sooner or later, publishers are going to cut him/her loose. Then the rest of us can step in and fill that gap, my stellar writing friend.
I want to know about the baking soda in the washing machine.
Well said, Becky!!
Yeah, life gets in the way of deadlines, especially when the deadlines are self-imposed.
For an unpublished writer without a contract, it’s easy to get sidetracked by housework and other little things. Throw people into the mix (kids, spouse, family, friends) and add a “day job” and it becomes darn near impossible to put writing at the top of the to-do list.
Having deadlines (or daily/weekly goals) helps me take my writing more seriously. Writing the goals down and checking them off as they’re met also makes it harder to “forget” them.
I do have to say, if someone gave me money upfront to do a job, you can be darn sure I’m not taking any vacations until the work is done. That just seems like stealing to me. Even if there’s no money involved, an agreement is an agreement. If I can’t honor a commitment, how can I expect anyone else to do so?
I agree, Elissa. It’s totally dishonest to promise something and not deliver unless a major catastrophe makes it impossible.You’d think especially Christian authors would keep their word.
Hi Janet, I’m ADD, so deadlines are a must. Without discipline, my focus would on the squeaks coming from the wheel on which the squirrel in my brain scampers.
When I was in college, I discovered the only way to get my work done was to have a deadline BEFORE the due date. This self-imposed mark enabled me to go back and edit, revise and rethink. It helped me graduate seminary with honors instead of leaving with regrets.
Today, I’m a minister. My sermon deadline for this Sunday was last Friday. While I work on next weeks, this week’s stews in my mind. The same applies to my novels, even though I’m not formally published. I have markers in place to keep me on task, because the squirrel is always squeaking.
I’m too busy to procrastinate, so I always put that off. 😉
I like to say that my parents will be late for their own funerals. As a teenager I would cringe because we always walked in late to everything; it drove me bonkers. I tell my children that not meeting commitments is the ultimate statement of selfishness, because you are saying that your life and schedule is more important than anyone else’s.
There is a great trick to plan for unavoidable setbacks that my boss taught me. He says, “Under commit and over-deliver.” I tell him when I can be done with something, and he doubles the time it’ll take to his boss. I’ve sat in a meeting, and had to keep from laughing as his boss then doubled that time to his boss. I must say, the boss’s boss’s boss was quite impressed when I turned in the work in a quarter of the time expected!
I really appreciate you painting it out like it is. While not yet published in fiction I have set deadlines (lifelines, really if you think about it) for myself and have done this with CPers. I have an accountability partner and serve as one in return to others. One of the blessings in having a lot of published friends is following behind them and seeing what happens in the process. So I began setting deadlines for myself that I tried to treat as inviolate because one day, they will be. That is unless I act like those who thumb their nose at the very people who have put them where they are as a published author. Not a good plan!
When I get a deadline, I print up my calendar and draw a highlighted square around all my available writing days between now and then (no weekends counted.) I take my final word count, divided by my available days, and voila! I have a daily word quota. And I stick to it. I leave two weeks at the end to reread the entire manuscript. Yes, things come up, but then I make up the words, or even reassess what my quota needs to be. I’ve never been late. But I need this structure to keep me going. Honestly knowing yourself and what you need is essential.
A contract is an oath. It’s important to keep your word. Yes tough times come and everyone gets that. But a deal is a deal. Get it done.
My dad taught me the value of a good name. I’m grateful.
Deadlines make me itch, and I can’t stand having them loom over me. My monthly column is due three months prior to publication, so I give myself a deadline of four months prior, just so I have a little wiggle room. I really believe being on the ball has opened doors for me with not only the magazine I write for but other publications as well.
It’s not because I’m so great about coming through on time; it’s really only because I start to sweat when life unexpectedly bumps my deadline back.
Perhaps creating a self-imposed deadline that is sooner than the publisher-imposed date would be the answer for some chronically late authors?
I spent years in jobs where deadlines were vital, first as a journalist, then as a radio writer at Focus on the Family. And I learned I wrote best under deadlines.
Unfortunately, where my WIP is concerned, I’ve let fear & insecurity keep me from setting goals & actually finishing something. Well, except my first novel, which I’m not sure is salvageable.
That changed in August, though, when I was named a finalist in a writing contest. I have until the end of the year to finish my manuscript if I want to be in the running. It’s a great motivator, not just because it gives me a deadline, but because I’m concentrating on finishing. I don’t have time to be afraid.
Lord willing, it’s the first of many novel deadlines!
This is a scary thing to read. If you expect to make it as a published writer, you need to put in the time to do so. Although I’m not agented at the moment, I work hard everyday on something related to my book or short stories, sometimes both. I want to deliver what I say I will. It takes responsibility on a writer’s part to get into the publishing ring, to stay there shouldn’t be taken lightly. You’re right, life does happen, but you should inform your agent/editor right away if that’s the situation. Courtesy is very important in this industry. At least, those are the guidelines I choose to live by.