Girls Write Out: PUB BOARD

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

There have been two momentous things happen to me this past week. The first thing was Tidewater Inn was wrapped up. That is the final book with the dream team of Erin Healy (left) me and Ami McConnell. Erin is flying high with her own books and my book was her last project. Luckily, she loved it and said it was my best which made me very happy! :)

The next thing is that yesterday I got to go to Pub Board. If you are a writer, you have heard that term. It's steeped in hallowed tones of awe when it's spoken. Pub Board is where a proposal sells or falls flat. Even after all these years in publishing, I'm still in awe of that committee. So when I was invited to come present a new proposal, I jumped at the chance! LOL So I'm going to pull back the curtain a bit and let you catch a glimpse of what took place in that room.

It was an ordinary meeting room just off the cafeteria. There were small tables in it, the narrow kind. They were arranged in a big square. My editor and I were at the head of the room under the screen where she had thrown up a Powerpoint of my Rock Harbor novels. The room was packed with people. There were way more people than I had imagined. My editor had said there would be about 20 but it looked more like more, though I didn't count. I had met maybe half of them so as I presented, it was great to see friendly, familiar faces. There were people from all the different sales channels there to say whether or not it was an idea they could sell into their channel. I think there were accountants there too, though I didn't get introduced to everyone. But there were a LOT of people. I even met the famous Countrymans, both very nice people.

I told the group all about the new proposal, then there was a pause. Someone said, "I like it," and then others chimed in, "I like it too." I breathed a sigh of relief. Then they CLAPPED so I took that as a good sign. LOL I didn't get to stay as they discussed the nitty gritty of everything, but I heard from a friend in the room that they loved it. Shew!

It gave me a new appreciation for my editors. If I were a new author they'd never heard of, I can only imagine how hard it would be to look at that sea of faces and persuade them of your vision. The editor would have to sell the idea even harder than the author. My time there was pretty easy since I've been at Thomas Nelson for 9 years and they all know me.

So how about you? What have you heard about pub board? Or if you're not a writer, do you have another scary meeting you've ever had to attend

Labels: pub board, Tidewater Inn

Colleen Coble
posted at 9:41 AM
Comments (7)

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7 Comments:

At 11:09 AM, Richard Mabry said...: Colleen, thanks for taking us inside the mysterious world of the Pub Board. Glad you made it out unscathed and affirmed.
Appreciate your sharing.
At 11:25 AM, Timothy Fish said...: That sounds exactly like what I imagined. I have sat through many meetings of a similar nature, though of a different purpose.
At 12:31 PM, jel said...: I have heard of Pub houses before,
but my mommy told me never go to one! :)

glad ya made it out ok ! ;)
At 2:05 PM, Jaime Wright said...: That sounds absolutely TERRIFYING!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Glad they liked your proposal, though, 'cause we need more Colleen Coble books in the years to come :) <3
At 4:32 PM, Colleen Coble said...: Timothy, I really thought it would be smaller. Maybe 10 people. :) Now we know what it was like, friends!
At 10:26 AM, Crystal Laine said...: People forget that a book proposal is a "business proposal." Great opportunity, but with your outgoing, vivacious personality, I wouldn't have expected any other outcome! :)

Only the Colleen Cobles of the world would look at facing a Pub board with her proposal as "fun" and "friendly." LOL~!

I loved this. Thanks for sharing your experience and we look forward to this project being published!
At 11:44 PM, Hannah Alexander said...: I would love to attend a meeting like this, especially with the editorial staff I now work with and have worked with for so long. Like Colleen, I love the staff, and I figure if they didn't like the proposal, they would be willing to talk me through the things they do and don't like. But like Colleen, I love edits, so maybe we're just a little strange.

No, wait, we're novelists. Of course we're strange! (Sorry, Colleen)