A couple of months ago, in response to several readers queries, I started a series of posts on book publishing. However, because I was still relatively early in the book publishing process myself (rewriting my book manuscript, post-contract), I let the series languish. Now that I'm almost all the way through the process, I'd like to restart the series, focusing not so much on giving advice (though I might give a bit), but rather on simply summarizing the entire process from start to finish, drawing attention to its "ins and outs" (i.e. what to expect, what sorts of things might be worth thinking about at various stages, etc.). For the book publishing process is surprisingly complex, and very different in many ways than publishing an article. I personally had little advance idea of what it involves before I went through the process, and it has been a real eye-opening experience. I hope readers find the series helpful!
Here is a brief outline of the book publishing process, and a tentative plan for my series of posts on the topic:
- Step 1-Soliciting publisher interest: As I explained here, unlike with journal articles, provided you inform them, it is the norm to approach multiple publishers with queries and/or book proposals simultaneously. Importantly, although some publishers may seriously consider proposals if you only have a few chapters finished, in my experience unless you are a well-established author, a significant number of publishers will only seriously consider a project if you have an entire book manuscript ready to be reviewed. This means, unfortunately, that generally speaking, if you are an "early career" author, you basically have to write a book before approaching presses.
- Step 2-Review of the manuscript: The second stage in the process occurs if/when a publisher extends an offer to send some, or all, of the book out to reviewers for review. As there are some unexpected complexities here (concerning how many publishers may review your book simultaneously, a "right of first refusal" agreement, etc.), this will be the subject of my next post!
- Step 2.5 (if necessary)-Responding to reviewer comments: Depending on the nature of reviewer comments, the acquisitions editor may invite you to respond to the comments. This will be the subject of my third post.
- Step 3-The contract: Here too there are many complexities. First, you may receive multiple contract offers, in which case you need to decide on which press to go with. Second, the contracts themselves are complex, imposing constraints on revisions and your rights to publish work related to the manuscript. Third, there may be parts of the contract you want (or even need) to negotiate. This will be the subject of my fourth post.
- Step 4-Between contract and final manuscript: Typically (though not always), you will have a significant amount of time to revise your manuscript post-contract (in response to reviewer feedback). During this time, however, there are other things you need to do: select (or contract out) a cover image, keep in contact with your editorial contact, etc. This will be the subject of my fifth post.
- Step 5-Putting together the manuscript: This was the most surprising--and onerous--part of the process for me. First, many publishers have "house styles" which may require you to format the book in ways completely foreign to you. Second, when you submit the final manuscript, there is a lot you need to submit (not just the manuscript itself, but abstracts for each chapter, two blurbs [a very short summary as well as one for the back of the book], a detailed marketing form, etc.). This will be the subject of my sixth post.
- Step 6-Final "clearance" review: Some (all?) publishers send out your final manuscript to one or more reviewers for a final "okay." At this point, depending on the review, the publisher can either accept the book, request revisions, or terminate your contract. I will discuss it in my seventh post.
- Step 7-Proofs and indexing: Although I'm not through this part of the process yet, I've drafted part of my index (yes, it's typically your job as author to put together your book's index), and it is not easy!
- Steps 8-n: I'll let you know when I find out! :)
How many sales is considered typical and how many would constitute a notable success?
Posted by: El Gordo | 09/04/2015 at 04:46 AM