This is the last installment of Path to Publication. I just got the news that my publisher, Exhibit A Books, is shutting down. So my two book deal has just been downgraded to a zero book deal.
Just like that.
This was my debut novel, scheduled to be released a short six months from now. Collecting rejections is one thing—signing your contract and getting this close to the thing you've been working your entire life toward, only to get it snatched away from you, is quite another.
I'm not sure when this will run, but I want to rip the bandage off, get it over with, so I'm writing this two hours after learning the news, and I'm still in a fog. Waiting for the full weight to hit me. It hasn't yet. I expect when it does, it won't be pretty.
And right now, as I'm writing this, it's too early for the bars to be open, which is either a good thing or a bad thing. I can't even tell.
I can say this: Over the past few months there has been a huge outpouring of support and enthusiasm, from people I know and from complete strangers, who were excited to read something that I wrote. That's a feeling I wouldn't give back, and I am so, so thankful for the kind words and the love that this deal produced.
Tapping into that feeling is the only thing keeping me on my feet right now. Truly.
So, thank you, to everyone who reached out, and said something nice, and pre-ordered the book. Right now my agent and I are considering our next steps, and I hope that one day y'all get to read New Yorked.
I plan to put my head down and keep working and right now it's pretty fucking dark, but again, with the love and support I got, I've no doubt I'll be back out in the light soon.
Thank you for reading, and thanks to LitReactor for letting me write this column. And my heart goes out to all the great authors who find themselves in the same boat today because of this.
Slainte.
About the author
Rob Hart is the class director at LitReactor. His latest novel, The Paradox Hotel, will be released on Feb. 22 by Ballantine. He also wrote The Warehouse, which sold in more than 20 languages and was optioned for film by Ron Howard. Other titles include the Ash McKenna crime series, the short story collection Take-Out, and Scott Free with James Patterson. Find more at www.robwhart.com.
