Publishing is strange

[desayunoencama]

I have just had perhaps the weirdest publishing encounter of my life. I recently had a short story accepted for an anthology, at a publishing house where I have actually published more than one book. They need the contract back next week, but only sent the acceptance on Thursday; they emailed a pdf of the contract, saying to print it and fax it back to them.

I do not have a printer or fax here, but I am staying half a block from their offices, where I have been many times, but the person who was handling all this made me meet with him downstairs on the street, where I signed the contract, and handed it back to him, like some illicit transaction.

All completely bizarre, but whatever.

It left, alas, a very sour taste in my mouth, though, which only serves to make me less interested in working with them in future. It should not be this difficult to do a simple business transaction (with a company I have worked with many time sin the past, although admittedly, the editors I worked with are no longer there and the company has recently been bought... but still).

Comments

[n8an.livejournal.com]

They should be grateful to have you, guy.

[storm-grant.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it was a misguided attempt to convenience you. In my day job, I'm assistant to a big corp exec and sometimes I offer to meet people outside so they don't have to come up, sign in, etc. I've met someone at the subway turnstile so they wouldn't have to pay another ticket.

Of course maybe they're just weird.

[herself_nyc]

Maybe they office was a MESS.