I appear to have interest from an actual (gulp) publisher. They've had the first three chapters for a few months now, and have just emailed to say they "would be interested in publishing the full manuscript", and here's a copy of their publishing agreement to "consider" (it was just the text as part of the email, not a proper document or anything).

So. Am delighted, surprised, freaked out, cautious, unprepared, woefully ignorant and suspicious. The "suspicious" is because it feels like its all been a bit too easy: I feel like I did the cyber equivalent of sticking a pin randomly in a list of publishers and I come up with a bite. In reality, of course, it was a bit more honed aproach than that - I looked online for suitable publishers and sent queries off to a few, and this one (to my surprise becuase I thought it was the least good fit) expressed interest.

How does one go about checking a publisher is "kosher"? They have a web page, there's someone on facebook who is published by them, and at least one of their publications is available on Amazon. Can I reasonably assume this is genuine do you think?

They're clearly a small press (they sell on line and at conferences), so I'm not going to attempt to drive a hard bargain with them (delighted to have got this far, frankly), but should I be looking out for anything in particular in the publishing agreement? I'm putting the text of it after the cut, if anyone wouldn't mind taking a look for me (it's not long).

Does anyone know what standard procedure is: do I send them the rest of the MS first and then they send me a publishing agreement to sign (assuming they like the rest!), or do I expect to sign a publishing agreement first?

Any other thoughts or advice?

thank you!

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Ok, so the book starts with a guy in a kitchen, looking at an advert for these giant frozen pizzas - 20" or something. The advert stresses not only how good value these things are, but also how many portions of veg there are per pizza. In the end the guy goes to the fridge and gets out veggies and chops them up and portions them out and figures out how many portions of veggies there are in a single child-sized slice of this pizza, and it's actually pathetically small. So he sits and looks at the pile of veggies for a while, like he's making up his mind to something, and then eventually he shrugs and goes out and buys some anyway. Loads of them. A freezer full.

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Is the phrase "I don't give a monkey's" British English, American English, or both? If British English, what would be an AmE equivalent?

Also, what does one call that fiberglass insulation stuff you put in the roof, on this side of the Atlantic?

What do you call those stand-alone back yard shade canopies? Gazebo? Canopy? E-Z UP tent?

In other news, I seem to have got over the writer's block that I've had for the last few weeks (I was unable to get past a certain stage in the plot, and it was exacerbated by lack of free time due to mum's visit, spending one of my free mornings in urgent care, helping at Cosima's school etc) but thanks to drcosmos doing the school run this morning I was able to get in a straight four hours, and I think I've nailed it. Hoorah!

It appears I have already written 11k of shock. Goodness.

Is the expression "to do one's nut" (she saw that the child had flushed her watch down the toilet, and did her nut") specific to UK English? If so, what would be a good US equivalent?

Ok, in American English, in reference to flimsy garments that one might (according to gender and or preference) wear on one's legs, does one say "hose" or "pantyhose" or "tights"?

And: can I use the word "trebuchet" as a verb?

I am stuck on a plot point in the latest project (not the David story, I've given up with that for the time being). The story centres around a relationship in which the wife commits adultery in a one night stand. It's going to be pretty sleazy, and not something she'd intended to happen, so it's not like she would have invited him to her place or anything. The way the plot is starting to pan out, I want the husband to find out about it later the same evening, but don't want him to walk in on them or anything like that. So: how does he find out about it? I can't come up with a scenario I'm happy with. I don't want the lover turning up again later or anything - the novel explores the relationship between husband and wife, so the lover is a very peripheral character, I want him in and out of the story as quickly as possible (much like his sexual technique, actually).

Sorry, that's a bit stream-of-consciousness...

"How to Charm a Wart" is an idiosyncratic history of Cornwall, seamlessly woven from a blend of historical fact, anecdote and myth. A focus on a single family lends structure and intimacy to the story: the Angoves have shared Cornwall's fortunes through the centuries and were witnesses to the major events of Cornish history, going right back to the days of the famous Michael Joseph an Gof - possibly himself an ancestor of the same family.

Events such as the Cornish uprisings between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries and the hardships of the tin miners during the economic upheavals of the nineteenth century are given freshness and immediacy by being told with excerpts in narrative form. Cornwall's legends and folklore are similarly treated, with re-tellings of myths in the style of a traditional Cornish droll-teller, and instruction on the subjects of dowsing, the curing of ringworm and - of course - how to charm a wart.


Does it work?

Well, following help from pphinfinitarian and hatmandu, another TWO edits, and then some very positive reviews from the psychocommagrlz, it feels like "How to Charm a Wart" might actually be worth doing something with. It's certainly tighter, more coherent, and flows better than it did a few months ago.

I've started researching suitable publishers. I was quite surprised: a quick google has turned up no less than four suitable publishers (publishers who specialise in books about Cornwall, and who have similar kinds of things on their publications lists) on the first two pages. I guess an informal email approach might be the way to start, what do you think?

Now to try and think up a two sentence description of Wart that might perusade a potential publisher not to press the delete button straight away.