The Stages of Signing A Book Contract By: Annette O'Hare

This blog post is one I've been waiting to write for a long, long time. I'm proud to announce that my historical romance novel, Northern Light, has been picked up for publication by White Rose Publishing. Below is what I'd like to call, the phases of signing a book contract, by Annette O'Hare.

Stage 1 - The "Bliss" stage. You've received the e-mail informing you that you're novel has been accepted by a honest to goodness publishing company. Hubby takes you to a nice restaurant to celebrate...life is good!

Stage 2 - The "This Is It" stage. You're ready. The contract is spread out in front of you. The pen you hand-picked has been swirled around on scratch paper so many times to make sure it works that it's almost out of ink. This is it...you're ready to sign.

Stage 3 - The "Contemplative/Okay Now I'm Ready" stage. You were ready to sign, but you stop, withdraw your pen from the contract and contemplate for a moment. Wow, a real book contract. God has really poured out His blessings on me. It's finally happening. Okay, now I'm ready!











Stage 4 - The "Wait Just One Minute" stage. Before opening a vein and drawing out fresh blood to ink your name on the page, you stop. Wait just one minute! Am I really going to sign over my baby to people I don't even know? What was I thinking? How do I know they're going to take care of it like I have? Maybe this isn't such a good idea after all!
 

Stage 5 - The "Hurry Up And Sign The Darn Thing Already" stage. This is the final stage because your husband said so! He's tired of taking pictures and he's said more than one time that he's ready to order. The time has come. It's now or never. You put ink to paper and with the stroke of the pen you join countless others who have gone down the path to becoming a published author!