Book Questions part III

Our meeting with the purchasing editor went perfectly, particularly because she started by buying us a big lunch and concluded by marching us into a room with lots of marketing people who had eyes, and questions, only for my co-author. I got to stay mum and take notes, as it should be. He's got to promote the thing afterward. He's going to be answering questions from strangers for years to come. In this context, I'm just another pretty laptop. So, he answered his questions smoothly and with much charm, and everyone was really impressed by him. Bravo! Then we all stood up and 7 people handed us business cards. The online marketing person, the publicity person, the publisher, the associate publisher, the head of the imprint. On and on. One of them turned to me on her way out and said "Great to meet you." I agreed. She said, "You've got a lot of writing to do." I agreed again. And the meeting ended with hugs all around.

Out on the sidewalk, we co-authors scheduled a meeting to get started on the writing part. And he said to me, "Do you think we'll have to come back to New York often?" I thought, "Oh, honey, no." Secretly, I'm wondering if we'll ever see those people again. We'll talk to them, sure, and in a year from now, we'll hear from them plenty. Still, I have friends who've never met editors they've worked with for many years over multiple projects. I've worked with an editor at Worth for four years and I've never once laid eyes on him.  I have friends who've never met their agents in person. I had to say to my co-author, who couldn't be a sweeter guy, and who works in a profession that demands face-to-face encounters, that this is really unusual. Highly unusual. And it speaks to the pressure that's building already.