Last week, I posted announcements on social media about my new book deal with Fernwood Press to publish Tree Fall with Birdsong in May of 2025. Today, I wanted to revisit that process, especially in light of my post from several years ago, “Why I Bailed on a Book Deal.” That was four and a half years ago, and though a lot has changed including the title, the order, and a whole new section of poems, this is essentially the same manuscript. So you might ask, whether I am glad that I waited.
Naturally, I had hoped to find a publisher sooner than I did, and I had several near misses: publishers who wrote encouraging rejections but whose lists were too backed up to take on another project or who felt my manuscript wasn’t quite the right fit for them. I understood that, and especially after COVID, I knew there was a significant backlog in publishing. So I wasn’t surprised that it was taking awhile to find a home for the manuscript, and I am very pleased with the home that it did find. More on that in a moment, but first, let me recap why I didn’t take that initial offer.
It all had to do with what I learned about the contract that publisher was willing to give. Their policies on royalties seemed off to me, and they required a high number of pre-sales before they would go to press, which was a concern. I also had trouble finding their books at stores other than Amazon or their own website, and it seemed like they relied on the author to do most of the selling without giving the author a commensurate proportion of the revenue. There were enough questions and issues that I decided to say no, feeling I could do better somewhere else, and I am glad I did.
Fernwood is very clear that they offer a traditional book contract, they do not require presales (which is not to say that I won’t try to get as many as I can; I just don’t want publication to be delayed until I reach a certain threshold), and they pay royalties based on the retail price of the book. I don’t expect my royalty income to be huge, but I do like an arrangement where the publisher is making an investment in the author and in book sales.
More than any of that, though, I had a good feeling about Fernwood from the beginning. We had good initial email correspondence, then when their self-imposed deadline for responding had passed, they responded to my query by setting up an appointment to discuss the book. I did have to wait a couple of months for that appointment to arrive — I don’t know why, and I didn’t ask — as I told them at the time, the timing worked out well for me, too.
When we talked, I got the sense that they understood my collection and respected what I’m trying to do in it. We had a fairly wide-ranging discussion and got into some of the practical realities of publishing it. Then they sent a contract, which they were willing to negotiate. I had done some research at the Authors Guild and had a few suggestions about language to include, including some language about AI use for subsidiary rights and a clause about what would happen if the company went bankrupt. They didn’t accept all of my suggestions, but they did answer my questions, and we arrived at a contract that meets my needs. They even said that they may use it as a model for new contracts going forward.
My takeaways from this experience are that it is worth it to wait. Finding a publisher you will be happy working with, one that is receptive to your work and willing to work with you, is much more important than publishing sooner. You never know, things might have turned out okay if I had taken that first contract, but I also might have been disappointed. Now I feel confident that I am working with a press who will get behind me, and that makes all the difference.
Kendall Dunkelberg 