Stars align for writer
Lauren Sieben - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: Metro
Sarah Prineas was ecstatic when publisher HarperCollins picked up her children's fantasy trilogy, but even more excited when the publisher made The Magic Thief one of its lead titles, pushing its release date up an entire year.
Prineas, the UI Honors Program scholarship coordinator, spoke in a presentation about book publishing Wednesday as a part of the Honors Arts Program. Her book The Magic Thief will be in stores June 3.
HarperCollins decided to move the release date from June 2009 to 2008 in light of international attention. The book started to turn heads across the world in 2007.
"A publisher in Italy made a pre-emptive offer on the book, and it was bigger than [HarperCollins] expected, so Harper sort of perked up its ears a little bit," Prineas said.
The publishing magnate continued to sell publishing rights to international publishers in the spring of 2007; numerous publishers in Germany and France bid for rights. In all, 11 international publishers have bought publishing rights from HarperCollins for the book.
Prineas has also written a novel and short stories for adults, but she said she has found her niche in children's writing.
"I think I found my register, the voice that really works, and that's as a children's writer," she said. "I'll probably continue writing for children now. It pays a lot better, too - I don't really have a reason to write for adults."
She discussed the content of her book and went through a publishing timeline starting in 2005, when she wrote the first book in the trilogy.
"The publishing process is really arcane. It's a lot more complicated than you might expect to go from a stack of manuscripts to a finished book," she said.
Prineas signed a three-book contract with HarperCollins. The second book in the trilogy is set to be released in June 2009 and the third in June 2010. HarperCollins offered the three-book deal after reading the first book and proposals for the following two, she said.
HarperCollins also included an "option" in Prineas' contract for the fourth and fifth books of the series. After the release of the third book, she will know whether they decide to pick up books four and five.
Prineas said that in general, success in the publishing industry has less to do with connections and more with timing and chance.
"You can write a brilliant book, but if no one's reading books like that, no editor is going to buy it," Prineas said. "There's just sort of an alignment of the stars that has to happen. There's a lot of serendipity in getting a book published, no question about that."
E-mail DI reporter Lauren Sieben at:
lauren-sieben@uiowa.edu
Prineas, the UI Honors Program scholarship coordinator, spoke in a presentation about book publishing Wednesday as a part of the Honors Arts Program. Her book The Magic Thief will be in stores June 3.
HarperCollins decided to move the release date from June 2009 to 2008 in light of international attention. The book started to turn heads across the world in 2007.
"A publisher in Italy made a pre-emptive offer on the book, and it was bigger than [HarperCollins] expected, so Harper sort of perked up its ears a little bit," Prineas said.
The publishing magnate continued to sell publishing rights to international publishers in the spring of 2007; numerous publishers in Germany and France bid for rights. In all, 11 international publishers have bought publishing rights from HarperCollins for the book.
Prineas has also written a novel and short stories for adults, but she said she has found her niche in children's writing.
"I think I found my register, the voice that really works, and that's as a children's writer," she said. "I'll probably continue writing for children now. It pays a lot better, too - I don't really have a reason to write for adults."
She discussed the content of her book and went through a publishing timeline starting in 2005, when she wrote the first book in the trilogy.
"The publishing process is really arcane. It's a lot more complicated than you might expect to go from a stack of manuscripts to a finished book," she said.
Prineas signed a three-book contract with HarperCollins. The second book in the trilogy is set to be released in June 2009 and the third in June 2010. HarperCollins offered the three-book deal after reading the first book and proposals for the following two, she said.
HarperCollins also included an "option" in Prineas' contract for the fourth and fifth books of the series. After the release of the third book, she will know whether they decide to pick up books four and five.
Prineas said that in general, success in the publishing industry has less to do with connections and more with timing and chance.
"You can write a brilliant book, but if no one's reading books like that, no editor is going to buy it," Prineas said. "There's just sort of an alignment of the stars that has to happen. There's a lot of serendipity in getting a book published, no question about that."
E-mail DI reporter Lauren Sieben at:
lauren-sieben@uiowa.edu
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