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TRUTH. This post is amazing - it runs the gamut of the author experience so honestly. It's such a funny world, where expectations and perceptions on every book are hard to make sense of. I just wanna say, hey writer people - u wrote a book? You're awesome. šŸ„°

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Yes, EVERY author experience is different! And every book release is different! I've released well over a dozen books by now, and none of those experiences have been the same.

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Such an important post! Thank you for sharing all this, Jodi.

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And thank YOU for giving it an advance read and encouraging me to share it, even though I was nervous about it.

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Yup. Even when TLM *was* sitting on the list I didnā€™t see any of this. First class airfare? 5 star hotels? Nope. I was so freaking excited to go ANYWHERE. It was my 4th book, and before thenā€¦absolutely nada. But I started at a very small press. So that crash of expectations came very very quickly and helped me have a better sense of what I might expect and what I shouldnā€™t. Thanks so much for sharing this!!

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Yep! I only realized sometimes authors get first-class tickets when I saw a big author talk about it once. I was floored! But good for them, man. Good for them.

I didn't know about a lot of these things until I'd been around a while, honestly! But social media has changed so much since I was a debut.

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Jan 25, 2023Liked by Jodi Meadows

Thank you SO MUCH for sharing this! This business can be so rough at times, and knowing you're not alone is like . . . well, it's like rainbow puddles to a thirsty unicorn!

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I get it! It's hard to feel like you're the only one having such a weird, strangely anticlimactic experience. But you're really not!

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Jan 25, 2023Liked by Jodi Meadows

Thanks for sharing this! And it's also not fair that we work in an industry where returns count against US and not the publisher. Imagine my shock to find out my royalties were zero on a book that was doing very well!

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Oh returns!! I know. I knowwww.

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Thank you for this transparency, Jodi. As a writer about to enter the query trenches after a decade of writing, Iā€™m so nervous. Is this topic of publisher priority something you would discuss with your agent or have some indication based on advance, knowing youā€™re a lead title or if ā€œYouā€™re on your own, kidā€?

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It's absolutely something to discuss with your agent. You want them to be clear with you about where they think you stand, what you can expect from the publisher. (The publisher is mostly going to tell you how much they love your book, which is lovely, but it won't be much of an indication of the support you'll get. You might be able to figure out some of that from advance size, but I've seen that NOT be a good indicator for authors before, too. And if things aren't in writing in the offer memo or contract, don't count on them happening.)

Your best bet is to have an agent who can help you figure out what to expect. And friends/colleagues who've been around to help you make sense of things.

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This is refreshing read and good information for someone like me who is new to writing because I'm chasing my dream. Thanks for sharing!

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So many authors are disappointed because they're not getting the things that [insert big author in their genre here] gets. And that's totally fair -- because they assumed that was normal. :(

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Excellent post. Thank you for sharing.

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Great post, Jodi! I thought I was in bizarre-o-land when my 1st book with a publisher came out and I attempted to have what I thought was a normal business conversation with a promotion person.

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