I’m excited to announce that I have signed with literary agent Rachel Ekstrom from the Irene Goodman Literary Agency in New York. Rachel will represent my books and we will be pursuing a traditional book deal, initially focusing on the ARKANE thrillers.
I wanted to thank you for your support of my books so far. Sales of over 40,000 ebooks in the last year definitely played a part in things moving so swiftly.
What does this mean for my current books?
Right now, there’s no change.
Pentecost and Prophecy will stay on sale at the various ebook platforms up until the point of sale to a publishing house, if and when that occurs. We won’t be pitching until after Labor Day anyway so there’s a few months before any potential changes.
I also specifically chose the Irene Goodman Agency because they understand the hybrid model that many authors are choosing now. Some of their authors currently have books with traditional publishing and also self-publish. It’s important to me to keep my options open so this seemed like a way to keep moving in the direction of author-entrepreneur but also to see what might happen with traditional publishing in terms of my commercial fiction.
I also specifically chose a New York agent because the market in the US is so much bigger and most of my book sales so far have been in the US. Also, books that sell to US publishers tend to get better foreign rights deals, so that will definitely be part of the equation.
Editing the first draft of Exodus, ARKANE #3
I am currently editing the third in the ARKANE series, Exodus, and the publishing timetable on that will be dependent on what happens in the next few months. I will also be working on a new book, ‘Hunterian’, before I start ARKANE #4. So definitely expect more new book in the ‘ancient mystery, modern thrill’ vein!
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a possible new phase of my writing career. If you’d like to join me on the ride, please do sign up for my newsletter here so you can stay in touch with developments.
If you’d like to know some of the reasons why I have chosen this path, check out my article on The Creative Penn, my writing blog. As ever, I love to hear from you so please leave comments below.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Congratulations! Is this a result of visiting Thrillerfest? Or was this in the works before that?
It was Thrillerfest that nailed it
I’m writing on the other blog about the process!
Massive Congratulations Jo! What an amazing results. Just goes to show what persistance, talent and putting yourself in the right place will do for you. Well done – you deserve it.
Awesome! I can’t wait to hear the story.
Congrats again. I’m very happy for you because I know how much you really wanted this. Just keep writing with your amazing talent and I’m sure you’ll be a catch to any publishing house.
Congrats Joanna, I’m proud to see how far you have come since I started following your journey.
I’ve also just got around to reading Pentecost, great book so far. As a tech junkie I’m loving Martin’s computer software
Congratulations! That’s such exciting news. I look forward to reading about how you found an agent. I have had little luck so far… although I am releasing a book in October with Crimson Romance, an imprint of F+W Media, I still can’t meet up with an agent-fairy-God-mother-type person to help me on my publishing adventure.
Way to go, Jo! Fantastic news.
Congratulations, Joanna! That’s so exciting! You’ve worked so hard. I posted a comment @ google+ obviously before reading this post. You answered part of my question, but I’d love to hear more about the differences b/w trad & indie publishing from your perspective, and the advantages & disadvantages you see of both. Again, congrats!
Hi Monica, I will be blogging about the reasons why on The Creative Penn shortly – and of course, I will share any updates over time
Hi Monica, here’s the post about why I signed with an agent
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/07/30/literary-agent/
Congratulations, Joanna!
Hard work + excellent writing = Being successful at getting an agent!
You have ‘The Top’ written all over you Joanna. I shall track your inevitable success with admiring fascination.
There’s an awful lot of nonsense being spouted by the likes of Joe Konrath about the demise of agents and publishers. By signing with NY, you are taking EXACTLY the right path. Since our ‘coffee break’, I’ve formed a much clearer view of where its all going. Publishers, agents and authors are in for a very good time. Clue: ‘No Man Is An Island.’
Jonathan
Thanks Jonathan. I agree. I think there is definitely a place for forward-thinking agents who embrace the changing models, as well as authors who can span both worlds. Since an author’s promotional efforts will cause all their books to rise, then the hybrid model makes sense and agents can definitely help with that. I look forward to sharing the journey
Congratulations! That is an awesome accomplishment! I will have to check out some of your ebooks, thanks for mentioning some of the titles in your post.
Congratulations on racking up such wonderful e-sales and with your new venture into trad publishing. You deserve all your hard-earned success!
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