Friday, September 12, 2008

Two Books Sold to Bantam Dell



You have no idea how hard it's been to keep this quiet until the contracts were finalized, but now they are. And now I can share!

From Publisher's Marketplace, August 20th:

Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Kelly Meding's THREE DAYS TO DEAD, about a supernatural bounty hunter who wakes up in a morgue in someone else's body, with only three days to stop an impending war between humans and paranormals before she dies again, to Anne Groell at Bantam Dell, at auction, in a two-book deal, by Jonathan Lyons at Lyons Literary (World English).


I'm not being fake-modest when I say I probably couldn't have gotten here without AW. I discovered the world of Query Hell, innumerable agent and author blogs, and threads on writing and editing and editing some more. I've had several terrific folks here beta for me, on this project and others, and I owe them so much.

TDTD is my seventh finished novel. After three years of querying three projects, dozens of rejections, dozens more no-responses, twenty-or-so partials, and a dozen fulls, the right manuscript landed with the right agent, who read it over Memorial Weekend and offered representation that Tuesday. After a month of revisions, we pitched to six editors the second week in July. By August 15, we had three rejections, two offers, and one more pending, so we went to auction.

On August 20th, the results were in, and we accepted an offer. In the middle of an excitement fraught call to my dad, the Call Waiting beeped in. The ID said "Random House." Not something I ever thought I'd see on my telephone. I spoke briefly with Anne Groell, who wanted to welcome me to RH and complimented my book.

Did I mention I probably babbled a little?

With contracts ready, all that's left is to tackle this Editorial Letter.

*dances around the room*

12 comments:

C A said...

I said it on AW, but I'll say it here as well: Congrats! :)

Stephen Duncan said...

Congrats, Kelly! That is fantastic news. Geez, and fast!

I just got repped by Kirby Kim at Endeavor. Doing last revisions now. Looking to submit in a couple of weeks. Here's to hoping your success is contagious!

Best of luck, and I'll look for TDTD (sounds very interesting, by the way).

Janet said...

I toddled over from AW to congratulate you here too. Dance and squee and babble all you want.

JKB said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

That is so great.

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

Thanks for all the congrats, guys!

CWC--best of luck with your subs. It's a crazy place to be, and I hope I'm contagious. :)

Anonymous said...

Congrats!!! So happy for you!

Unknown said...

Congratulations. And thank you for sharing your process with us. It gives me hope. 8-)

Robin Lemke said...

Congratulations!! That's a great story!!

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

storm grant - Every time I read about another unknown, unconnected writer getting a book deal, it gave me hope. I'm so glad to be able to return the favor. :)

Thanks, all!

*waves to Jeaniene*

Anonymous said...

Another one from AW here, the best thing after, well, it comes first.

Raphee on AW congratulates Keely. This is awesome.

Bill Barnett said...

Congratulations, Kelly! It’s always wonderful to hear of an author getting a deal. It’s terribly encouraging.

My wife and I are both huge paranormal fiction fans, and we’re looking forward to buying Three Days To Dead when it’s out!

- Bill B.

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

Thanks usman, and Bill!