Thread by @sullivanamy

#PublishingPaidMe Late to the party, but here's the story of my first and only book contract. I still don't quite understand it myself.

I pitched my first magazine story in fall 2002. The piece eventually became a cover for @monthly six months later & launched my career. /1

The piece was on Dems & religion and it blew up. (Back story here: washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/novem…)

Overnight, I started getting more assignments, speaking invites, and hearing from literary agents. I signed with one, worked up a book proposal, and she sent it out. /2

This was late 2005. Half the progressive world was still convinced that Bush won reelection because of "religious voters." My timing was good. I ended up meeting with ten publishers over two days and eventually fielded offers from some 6-7. /3

The numbers blew my mind. I was making $16,000/year at the time. I went deeper into debt every time I bought groceries. When two major publishers bid each other up, I went with the higher offer, paying little attention to whether it was a good fit.

Final contract: $275k. /4

Now. The editor who bought my book retired the next week. I inherited an editor who didn't buy the premise of my book, even after I spent a year reporting it out. She chose not to put out a paperback edition & then tried to rescind the last 1/4 of my payment. /5

The pr plan for my book consisted almost entirely of putting me on Christian talk radio to be screamed at and told I was going to hell in back-to-back-to-back interviews. I hung up on a few hosts. I probably sold negative numbers of books off those appearances. /6

The book was well-reviewed, but came out in Feb 2008 when the Obama-Clinton primary fight was still raging--it promptly sunk like a stone. As did every other book at the time.

Low sales on the 1st book mean I've spent 12 years trying to get a 2nd and may never. /7

No tears over here. That advance changed everything, it allowed us to buy our first house. While I'll be disappointed if I never write another book, that closed door has led me into activism, which is where I belong right now. /8

Knowing what a pittance some of my favorite authors were tossed for their work makes all of this even more absurd. I sincerely hope that some of these major publishers start giving chances to BIPOC writers the way they did to an untested, clueless white girl two decades ago. /xx

Addendum: Here's the final product, THE PARTY FAITHFUL. I literally wrote the book about Democrats and religion. bookshop.org/books/the-part…