A word limit was part of my contract to write Microstock Money Shots. I somehow failed to remember that clause during the months it took to write the book. Finally I had reread, rewritten and reviewed the text and photos until l was dreaming in microstock shots. I met the deadline and sent the thing off with my good wishes for success.
A few days later I had an email from my editor in New York. The words, ‘We can’t publish this manuscript” jumped out from my screen. I yowled and ran into my partner’s office,
“They aren’t going to publish the damn thing!”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know”
“What does the email say exactly?”
I read the email more carefully. The manuscript was longer than the contract specified. Book budgets are based on printing a certain number of pages and silly me thought you wrote a book until you were finished.
I had to trim quite a bit but in the end, the book was better for it. And the experience taught me to ask myself when is a book…or a blog…finished? Sometimes it’s when the contract says it’s done and other times it is when you are finished saying what you have to say.
This blog is done. Almost anything anyone would want to know about taking and selling stock photos from my knowledge base has been covered and more. Now that the photos have all disappeared due to an undiscovered mystery of WordPress or the Internet in general…it does seem time to top it off.
I’m writing another book…but not about photography. Maybe my readers here will like it anyway. I’ll certainly post about it once it’s done…although without a deadline……..well, you freelancers know what that means.
So long,
Ellen
