Alive & Knitting
writing, knitting, and other tangled webs we weave

Aug

18

Serving Two Masters – Part III

Filed Under Publishing

Pro and Con

Here’s the inevitable tallying of the benefits and drawbacks of writing for two houses at the same time. This is pretty subjective and different authors may have different issues, but I’ll take a stab at it anyway.

Pro

• Creative Expression. If you’re like me and you have zillions of ideas, more than you could ever possibly use, and exploring those ideas is exciting to you, you might like writing two different things. I find it invigorating to alternate between settings or lengths or expectations, as that makes me feel “fresh” when I come back to a familiar setting/format again. Other people may feel that they have to relearn everything each time they come back to a series/setting/format. It’s a personal choice.

• Increased Productivity. Again, this is personal, but I get more done when I have more to do. I can only write four books a year if they’re of at least two different kinds. I seem to thrive on the variety and the deadlines. If you are prolific, having two houses also gives you two outlets for what you do write, making it more likely that your work will be published in a timely fashion.

• Illusion/Delusion of Control. You may feel that you’re more in charge of your fate when you have two houses publishing your work. It’s easy to feel powerless in a publishing relationship – the party with the money is always the one calling the shots, in any relationship – and you may feel more confident to have your work spread around. I prefer to not have all my eggs in one proverbial basket – it diversifies income sources, it makes me feel more in control and also, doing two kinds of work provides more of a buffer against market changes.

• More slots and (potentially) more money. Frequent publication is often cited as a way to build an author’s brand and, depending on the level of your house’s enthusiasm for you and your work, having two houses might be the best way to ensure that frequent publication. You will also be probably paid more advances if you have two houses, because you will have more contracts and more slots, and this is generally a good thing too.

• Clear branding. If you do one thing for each house and only one thing, that house will be better able to build a graphical brand for your packages. They will know what to expect from your option clause, and this may make them more comfortable, especially if what you’re selling to them is what they are particularly good at packaging and selling themselves.

• Strategy. If you manage to build two brands to a noteworthy level at two different houses, the integration of both of those brands under one house’s roof can be an expensive proposition for the winning house and one that can ensure that you and your work get a great deal of attention at that house.

Cons

• Juggling. The single biggest drawback to writing for two houses is that you must juggle your own limited resources to keep both parties happy. It’s inevitable that line edits and page proofs will show up on your porch, demanding immediate attention, that publicists will need X Y and Z from you yesterday and that there will be ten zillion real life details to manage. This can be distracting enough from one house and might make you nuts with two houses. It’s not just the time to write that you need to accommodate – it’s all the other stuff that makes it hard to keep all the balls in the air. This is often what makes it impossible for authors to either sustain writing for two houses or to do it in the first place.

• Politics. There are editors and houses who do not like having their authors’ loyalties divided. There are also editors and houses who don’t much care. You aren’t going to know until you’re in and committed. This can be very stressful and adds another dimension to your juggling act. I believe this is because having two houses is constant evidence that the author could go elsewhere – that’s true of all authors, but sometimes an author with a second house is perceived as already having her bags packed.

• Lost enthusiasm. If one of your houses doesn’t like you having a second house, that first house could lose enthusiasm for you and your work. You could be passed over for promotional opportunities or your achievements could be unappreciated, because of the house’s perspective. This ultimately proves that the house isn’t a good fit for you, but again, it can add to your stress level and diminish your productivity quite effectively. It can also mean that it takes longer to establish one of your brands in the marketplace, because of the house’s limited enthusiasm.

So, is it worth it? Each author has to decide for herself — and really, I suspect that most don’t consider all of these combinations and permutations before leaping in. Most authors who write for two houses do it because they’re prolific and that’s the only way they see to getting all of their work published. You do have to be careful about working hard instead of working smart, but each author has to choose that balance for himself or herself.

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