Breaking Down the Book Publishing Process | Why Does it Take SO LONG to Publish a Book?
Why does it take SO LONG for a book to come out?
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(*disclaimer: every author's journey to publication is different, so I'm just sharing mine) ~ It's felt like the longest gestation period 🤰carrying this book baby for (over) 5 years, but with my book's birthday scheduled on the calendar, I can finally see the light at the end of this long tunnel.
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I was naïve to the book publishing biz when I first started. I assumed it was straightforward: you write the book, you send it to publishers, and boom💥it's in bookstores.
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I will attempt to break down the steps in a couple posts (because there's a lot to say lol) and why it has taken YEARS for this book to work its way through (an archaic) system, and why there isn't always an easy answer to the question "when does your book come out?"
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1a. IDEATION/BRAINSTORM: the idea for the book didn't come to me in a clean, fully-formed narrative arc, it came in pieces: small scenes, lines of dialogue, settings etc. that I scribbled in random notebooks & typed in word docs at work (and emailed to myself) while I was supposed to be doing something else. (*1b in the comments below)
1b. RESEARCH: my book is nonfiction so this step took over a year to scour library archives, old newspaper clippings, audio recordings etc. not just about Elizabeth Arden, but also about the time period(s) in the book 1900-1960s to create a complete picture of life at that time
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2. OUTLINING/ORGANIZING: even if you're not a writer who loves outlines, having a roadmap, a general direction of where the book and its characters are going is important, otherwise so-called "writer's block" is a more common occurrence ~ in this phase, organizing all of the miscellaneous pieces to create a complete narrative STRUCTURE that builds tension, introduces scenes/settings/characters without "info dumping" and having it all tie back to a universal thesis/theme that's bigger than the surface level story was challenging. I knew I wanted to tell the story of Elizabeth Arden, but how to do it in a unique, compelling way? What point of view? Tense? How many chapters? What scenes are important to include and exclude?
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3. WRITING THE 1st DRAFT: butt in chair & write (only way) ✍🏻
4. BETA READERS/CRITIQUE PARTNERS: tearfully part with your (usually not-so-great 1st draft) and allow beta readers to give you feedback on what's working and what's not (pay attn to the feedback patterns, it's usually spot-on)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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5. RE-WRITE MANUSCRIPT (incorporating feedback from outside opinions/fresh eyes AND doing your own developmental edits + line edits) ~ this stage often involves multiple drafts -- book should feel publish-ready before you query⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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6. WRITE A BOOK PROPOSAL: nonfiction book proposals are pretty intense (often 30-50 pages), includes synopsis, chapter-by-chapter outline, marketing plan, author platform, bio/experience, competitive title overview, chapter samples etc. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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7. RESEARCH LITERARY AGENTS: gather names, emails, and manuscript wish lists from agents that represent the genre you've written (*you MUST HAVE a literary agent if you wish to be traditionally published ~ publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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8. THE QUERY TRENCHES: the query process is where you send off your book proposal and a cover letter into the cosmic void to literary agents...and you hope to receive a request for your *full manuscript* (this can take weeks or months to receive a response, often none at all)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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9. R&R's (REVISE & RE-SUBMITS): if you're lucky enough after MONTHS of waiting to hear back from literary agents (keep in mind, they have mountains of manuscripts from eager writers to read-through, so after they request your full ms it can take months to hear back again) -- but an R&R means they liked it, but want to see changes before they sign you...so back to the writing/editing stress it is!⠀⠀⠀
10. SIGN WITH A LITERARY AGENT: hooray! an agent (or multiple agents) want to sign you and it begins with "THE CALL" where they essentially try to sell themselves to YOU (you have 'a product' they want to represent and think they can sell) ~ this is a huge milestone, but also requires a lot of due diligence as you are about to enter into a MARRIAGE with this person (It felt like I was "dating" multiple ppl on those calls trying to figure out who was the best fit for me) ~ if you can, get a lawyer (or another author) to review your CONTRACT before you sign (this is v important)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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11. ANOTHER MANUSCRIPT RE-WRITE: once you've signed, before your agent sends your book out on submission, 99% of the time they will require you to do another round of edits/re-writing to whip it into the best shape possible ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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12. ON SUBMISSION: This is a daunting phase where your agent sends your manuscript in small batches to editors at publishing houses ~ this process took several months for me (for other authors it can be quicker, all depends!)
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13. ACQUISITIONS: an editor at a publisher likes your manuscript, but first needs to bring your book to an acquisition meeting where the sales/marketing/editorial teams etc. dissect and discuss the 'saleability' of your book and you as an author (many great books don't make it through acquisitions based purely on timing, they already have a similar book etc.)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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14. THE BOOK DEAL: another big milestone! you've made it through so many gatekeepers thus far! BUT, surprising to most people, even after you sign (which can take a couple months of back-and-forth negotiations), your book won't be on shelf for another 1-2 YEARS⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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15. MORE EDITING: your editor will read the manuscript again, suggest revisions, and another round of re-writes/re-reading/more edits (tedious but necessary)
16. COPY EDITOR: after you and your editor have gone back-and-forth for a few rounds, a copy editor will read the manuscript one. word. at. a. time. looking for grammar & punctuation errors ~ then the book comes back to the author to agree with their changes...and then back, yes again, to your editor who does another read-through⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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17. TYPESETTING/INTERIOR DESIGN: typesetter/book designer lays out the manuscript formatting & they decide on the font/design for: chapter headers, table of contents, section breaks, front matter, margins, headers, footers, where page #s go etc. (*my book also has custom maps/photos so outside designers can be hired for custom artwork and getting the copyright to use certain imagery)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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18. COVER ART: cover designer creates options for the paperback & hardcover (dust jacket with front/back flaps include your author photo/bio and synopsis of the book) ~ *note: this usually is happening simultaneously while working with your editor ~ and then it all goes to the printer along with the interior files for sample proofs⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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19. MARKETING/PR: after the sample proofs are approved and you're awaiting "galleys" or "ARCs" = Advanced Reader Copies (where there's another stage of proof-reading...eBook files are done somewhere in here, too) ~ these get sent to press with the hopes of getting early reviews ~ the marketing/pr teams are finalizing the strategy for an effective media plan (mix of print newspapers/magazines, TV, podcasts, radio, social media etc.) *note: you only get one launch week, and then it's onto the next author in the queue, so it's really on the writer to be their own champion & cheerleader (headshots, book trailer, and press kit are all happening in this stage)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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20. DISTRIBUTION: the book is distributed to booksellers (i.e. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Indigo, Indie Bookshops) until it reaches...⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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21. YOU, THE READER 📖⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀