After the contract ...

After the agent comes back and says --
'They want to buy the manuscript ...'

-- The agent tells you what the publisher wants to pay and what rights are sold and when various stuff must be delivered.

-- You and the agent work out what you can reasonably negotiate

-- The agent goes forth and negotiates and brings you back the contract terms. You agree to them, probably. The contract is now sent niggling its way through the system.
This will take a long time.

-- The editor calls you and you get acquainted. You discuss the story. She says when her line edits will get to you.

-- She sends you line edits. When you need to get these back is probably covered under the contract. You are on the clock.

-- The editorial assistant e-mails you to say 'hello'.
"Hello."
and ask for a digital submission of the manuscript.
When you explain, in the return email, that it has not been line edited, she says they want it anyway.
This electronic form of the ms is for the Managing Editorial people.
Maybe those are the copy editors.
Maybe they are aliens from space.
I do not know.

The editorial assistant, when asked, discovers that the ms should be sent in .doc with the Italics underlined.
OK.

The editorial assistant also asks for
your picture,
a short bio,
a blurb (for what she calls the Title Information Sheet, whatever that might be,) and
information about the characters' appearance which might be useful to the cover people.

She says not to spend a lot of time on the blurb. It will be rewritten by the marketing people anyhow.

And that's as far as we've gotten.

(jo, manically writing a blurb for tomorrow.)