What’s involved in the process?
Ever since Blue Tide Rising came out, people have asked ‘When’s the next one coming out?’
Pleased to report, I now have a date!! September 2023.
Another question I get asked is: ‘why has it taken so long?’
The reasons are complex:
- It took me a long time to write. I work better with deadlines and when eventually my publisher, Inspired Quill, gave me a deadline of New Year’s Eve, 2021, I met it.
- My publisher is a tiny micro-press. Many indie publishers folded over the last two years, but IQ kept going throughout the pandemic, when events were cancelled and bookshops shut. They even stuck to their publishing schedule while stranded for three months in a tiny Madrid apartment during the strict Spanish lockdown.
- This year, however, due to unforeseen circumstances beyond their control, they’ve had to slow right down. They’ve published just one book in 2022.
The great news is that they’re now back on track. I’ve signed my book contract and I have a publishing schedule.
Which leads me to the next frequently asked question:
What happens in the interim?
You’ve signed your publishing contract and got a date for publication, but what happens in those intervening months?
I speak from my own experience of how the process works with a small indie-press. IQ are a traditional publisher, albeit small. They operate along the same lines as the bigger publishers, with similar editing processes.
Here’s an outline of the main stages:
First edit: structure
This is where the editor flags parts of the novel that don’t quite work.
A character might do or say something out of character. A plot development may seem rushed. There could be inconsistencies in speech patterns, or continuity errors. A plot hole might emerge.
Some parts of the novel may need to be cut down, others expanded.
This stage gives the author an opportunity to go through the manuscript, fix those issues and address anything else that occurs.
Two way process
With IQ, this is very much a collaborative process. I get to argue the point if don’t agree, but in the event, when Blue Tide Rising was at this stage I did agree with almost everything that my editor flagged.
Some of the points she raised, I already sensed weren’t quite right, but wasn’t sure how to fix them. Others took me by surprise.
One thing she spotted was that my main character’s speech changed mid-way through the novel and the character started to sound older. This wasn’t something I was conscious of. I amended the narrative so the speech patterns were consistent.
Line by line edits
This stage – that happens twice – is a meticulous, line by line review of the manuscript, suggesting tweaks to tighten up the writing.
This might include rephrasing or cutting words out. Again, I had a say over whether or not I agreed.
It’s also a chance for the editor to flag any errors or typos.
Proofreading
Finally comes the proofreading stage. This is carried out by a different member of the team – someone with an eye for detail who is looking at the manuscript for the first time.
In my day job I’m responsible for writing web copy and producing publications, and I know that no matter how many times I’ve read a piece of prose, there are bound to be errors. It needs a fresh pair of eyes to spot those pesky typos.
It strikes me how often I come across errors even in books published by big publishers with armies of proofreaders. I’m prepared to bet that every single published book contains at least one typo.
Printed proof copy
Despite all these stages, once you get a printed copy in your hands there will still be errors that slip through. I always spot things better in a printed copy than online. Hence the importance of the proof copy.
The beauty of print on demand is that even if your initial launch copies contain typos that have slipped in, as early readers spot them, you can rectify before the next print run.
Cover design
Parallel to the editing process, there are discussions around cover design.
IQ gives authors a say in what the cover looks like. I get to put forward my ideas, flag covers I like, and comment on draft designs before we decide between us which one to go for.
When Blue Tide Rising was published I had a clear idea of what I wanted the cover to look like. The finished product exceeded my expectations. The striking design by Valeria Aguilera is definitely a selling point.
Title
Most books start off with a working title and end up with something quite different. With IQ, deciding on the title is also a two-way process. With bigger publishers, I’m told, often the author has no say in title or cover design.
We didn’t arrive at Blue Tide Rising until quite late in the day. I came up with a list of suggestions and polled friends and fellow authors for their views, narrowing it down to three. Of those, there was a clear favourite. When you hit on the right title, you know.
My next novel has a working title – Strawberry Girl – but that will change.
Blurb
The blurb on the back of the book is crucial as it needs to hook readers in. Blurbs are notoriously difficult to write and hard to get right. The process for agreeing the blurb is similar to the other edits. I produce a draft which gets tweaked until we arrive at something we both agree on.
Marketing
Small presses like IQ have limited marketing resources. So it’s up to the author to do a fair bit of the promotion, although IQ provides materials and promotes the book where they can.
Even publishers with huge marketing budgets expect authors to take on a lot of the responsibility for marketing themselves and their books.
Marketing the novel probably deserves a blog of its own. And I’m no expert. There is lots of useful information out there.
What I would say is, start early, plan, and seek advice!
Review copies
Early in the process, it’s a good idea to sound out people to review the novel ahead of publication. These might be book bloggers, other authors, or media reviewers.
Think of people whose work you admire and who you’d love to endorse your book, and approach them early. This is something the publisher will do, but there’s no harm in you approaching reviewers through your own channels, too.
Publishers usually supply a number of review copies, but if your reviewers are happy with an electronic copy, that’s easier.
Launch
Think about what sort of launch event you want, whether physical or online (or both!), and what format you’d prefer.
Now we’re in a post-Covid world, face-to-face events are back, but you need to book your venue early.
Lockdown saw a burgeoning of online launches, which have advantages in that they’re cheaper to run, and people all over the world can attend.
I personally love a real life book launch, but I’d consider having an online version too for my next novel.
I did a detailed blog on how to plan a launch event which you can read here.
Behind the scenes
This is by no means an exhaustive list. There’s a lot the publisher does behind the scenes to format and prepare the manuscript, upload to various platforms and bring the book to publication. But hopefully this post gives a flavour of what’s involved, and why getting it right takes time.
