An inquiring reader wants to know.

Every writer is different and deadlines, while mostly set by the publisher, are negotiable. Deadlines must be met because production schedules are built around them. For example, I know right now that my paranormal romances for NAL/Signet will be released in April and October of 2008. They are in the production schedule, though it is tentative because of how far away that date is. My deadline is based on those dates. I won’t even start writing until January (which my editor knows) but the cogs in the wheel are already churning.

I had plenty of time to write this book that I’m now struggling to finish so quickly. But life happened and career happened and all my good intentions flew out the window. However, the production schedule didn’t change as my book is the second of a three book, multi-author series (with Tori Carrington and our own Leslie Kelly) and it’s connected to another book I have that’s coming out the next month, which is also paired with two other authors. My books being late (they won’t be!) would upset the careers of four other people.

Writing in the traditional publishing world means commitment. The publisher has invested money in you and you have to keep up your end of the bargain. However, every writer can control how often they have books out. You might not make a living having only one book out a year, but everyone has different goals. I know a VERY popular writer who has a full time career that she loves and the writing is on the side. She puts out a book a year, readers love her and she’s very happy. I, on the other hand, am trying to build a career writing full time, so three books a year is my goal.

Hope that helps.

My first two books are self-published, but with the series I’m creating, I want to try the traditional route. Next year, I’m going to start the query process. I had wanted to try NaNo just to see if I could keep to a regular writing schedule…and to see how I did with deadlines. My thoughts were “Well, most likely they’ll want to see a book every year, especially in a series. So if I can crank one out in a month, I’ll have a few months to flesh it out, edit, blah, blah, blah.”

14.5 pages a day? The most I was doing was 2.5–and that’s because I have a day job and had an hr for lunch. You’re like the 3rd or 4th author I’ve read that’s talked about deadlines. Are these imposed by you, the editor, the publisher or all three? If you could email me and explain the process, I’d greatly appreciate it. I’d like to know what I’m getting into, cuz I’m not a fast writer.

Sorry that you have such deadlines looming, and that they cancelled your series………

Stay safe and stay warm! And happy writing!