Well, as I never heard from Baen since mid-Nov, and I know a few folks got contracts with them almost a month ago, I went with option two, and I’ve just signed a contract with Untreed Reads for ->TWO<- books. This will see 11,000 Years back in print*, and after that, they’ll be publishing the next novel in my universe, Becoming Terran**.
* After a copy edit, etc, and that’s a good thing, as a few typos slipped in the original printing, and I’ve just been made aware of a few misspellings recently by a reader enjoying it. <brag> She was in the last third of the book, and it had become hard to put down, she said.
** Becoming Terran, as opposed to, say, American, or Chinese, or French…. It takes place decades before 11,000 Years begins, and covers the creation of the Terran Confederation. And the early years of the mesh. And…..