The Evolution of a Book –
Great! You want to write a book. You probably would appreciate some information about all the things that have to happen before a book finds its way into print. You may be surprised to know that it usually takes more than a full year from the time a publisher receives a complete manuscript to the time the book is in print. If the manuscript is in rough form, it may take two years or more.
This document was written at the suggestion of one of our first time authors. It explains the various steps in publishing to other prospective authors.
Please also look at the Author Guidelines and author questionnaire found by clicking on the Manuscript Guidelines link on our website.
Note: The more you have thought about answers to the following questions, and can articulate them, the easier it will be to write, organize, edit, and later market your book. Here are some of the important questions to ask, and keep asking yourself throughout the writing process.
What do you want your book to say? What is its purpose? To teach? Inform? Persuade? Advocate? Lobby? Change public opinion? Be provocative? Entertain?
Who is the book for? Who is your audience? Is it children? Adults? Parents? Teachers? Any special niche within any of the above? All children? Young children? Young gifted children? Children with Learning Disabilities? Gifted teachers? Homeschool parents? You get the idea. The broader the audience, the broader the selling market.
How will you write if you don’t know where to start? Many writers keep a notebook where they jot down ideas. Some of the ideas will be discarded, others kept. Some writers keep several notebooks—one for this project, one for that—one for poetry, one for fiction, one for journaling, one for the book they plan to write some day. Start your book anywhere. You must have something to say or you would not be reading this. If you have writer’s block or you talk better than you write, discuss your ideas for the book with a friend and record them on tape. Later, transcribe, or have someone else transcribe, the tape.
Some authors work from an outline, starting with a list of chapter headings,
and write one chapter at a time. Some authors like to use a mind map or “web” of ideas, and begin writing about one or more of the ideas in their web. The writing process is different for every author. Don’t pressure yourself to write a perfect chapter for the first draft. The important thing at this stage is to get some ideas down on paper. When you have notes for several chapters, you can begin to write.
It’s probably not a good idea to submit your work to a publisher at this stage, even though you may be tempted. Instead, take a good hard look at the first draft and ask yourself the key questions below. Then go back and write some more, and revise. You may be surprised at how much you need to further develop your ideas.
Questions to consider:
Do I have a clear working title that describes what the book is about?
Is there a subtitle that explains the book further? Is this the first title
that came to mind, or is there a better one? Note: This working title can always be changed later.
Have I made the purpose clear? Do I need to work more on that?
Are the chapter headings clear –and do they describe the content?
Would my Table of Contents entice a buyer to look further at the book?
Do the chapters seem to move logically from one to the next?
Are the chapters the right length? None too short, or too long?
Do any of the chapters need to be split into two or combined into one?
Do I need a list of key points at the end of each chapter? Is there something else that would add consistency or clarity?
Note: The above questions all relate to the organization or development of the book. The critical analysis or editing used for this process is called developmental editing. Your publisher can do it, and will expect to do some, but it is a great help to getting your manuscript accepted if you do some of this kind of developmental editing prior to submission.
Generally, it is fine to submit to more than one publisher simultaneously, but look at the types of books for each publisher to make sure that yours fits with their niche. Your manuscript should be mailed to the publisher with a cover letter explaining what the book is about and the estimated length in words or number of chapters. You should include a Table of Contents, a sample chapter, and a chapter outline (a few sentences to describe each chapter).
Your submission allows the publisher to see what you have in mind, and to respond in some way—perhaps by contacting you for more information. If interested, the publisher may want to see the entire manuscript or may want to ask questions before making a decision or offering a contract. The publisher may want to ask whether you would be willing to make certain changes, or to wait six months, because the current publishing schedule is full.
Don’t be surprised if you wait two to three months to hear from a publisher. The publishing company staff is usually busy working on a deadline for another book, and unable to take time right then to read your proposal. If you haven’t heard anything in two months, it’s fine to follow up with an e-mail to inquire. If your manuscript is rejected and no reason is given, it is often because your book does not fit with other books this particular publishing house prints, or that the publishing schedule is simply too full at this particular time. It’s fine to request feedback. Comments from an editor are often very helpful for improving the book for the next submission.
Forget about advances unless you are a famous person or your book is accepted by a large, well-known publisher. Often, advances are tied to your royalties. In other words, you get an advance that covers some of what the publisher expects to earn from the book. As for royalties, don’t expect to get rich with your book unless you write a best seller. John Grisham might earn 20-30% of sales as royalties, but most small publishers offer only about 10% because they have to recoup the costs of printing, which include editing, layout, cover design, and marketing. At 10%, if your book sells 1,000 copies in a year, you might expect to earn between $600 and $1,500 in royalties.
Now begins a six-month (give or take) process of back and forth editing and “fine-tuning” your book. The editor may give you a list of changes or suggestions and may ask you to make those changes by a certain date. If the timeline is not workable for you, say so.
You will be communicating, usually by e-mail, with the editor, so it is important to say what kind of time you can or cannot devote to the book as it goes through the editing process. Be honest, if time is a problem, say so; then the publisher can put your book on a delayed schedule. Nothing is worse than a situation where two books are in progress at the publishing company and one book is delayed because the author of the book ahead of it cannot get writing or editing done according to deadlines. Delays that hold up other books can be very costly for the publisher.
A publisher usually budgets a certain amount of time and money for editing. Editors can charge $35 to $50 an hour. In cases where the author cannot do the changes suggested by the editor, where an outside editor or ghost writer is needed, the extra costs for paying an editor to do more-than-usual developmental or line editing are passed on to the author and are subtracted from author royalties. It is fine to ask your publisher how much he or she plans to budget for editing, and how much editing he or she anticipates your book will need. A normal range for the cost of editing a book is from $2,500 to $5,000. Publishing companies often absorb this cost, but costs that go beyond are passed on to the author or subtracted from future royalties. If the editor has to actually write parts of the book and/or do research to add material or to check facts, the costs can obviously go up.
There are several kinds of editing. Usually a book will need all of them. If work still needs to be done on the organization or developmental aspects of the book, the beginning stage of the editing process is the best time for this to occur. Developmental editing refers to elements such as organization, scope, content, degree of thoroughness, amount of detail, clear purpose, and how well the book is directed to its audience. It is by far the most complex kind of editing because it must consider answers to all the hard questions listed earlier as the author (or editor) works through the first few drafts. A developmental editor must be able to think “What does this book need to make it better?” He or she must think in broad terms and think critically about the book, considering all possible audiences, and must also be a good creative problem solver and come up with ways to “repair” any weaknesses in the book. He or she might suggest a change in organization such as moving chapters or ideas from one place to another or moving paragraphs within a chapter. She might suggest adding material, or taking material out.
In another kind of editing—line editing—the editor considers each sentence and the logical flow from one sentence to another. She checks for clarity, takes out unnecessary words, sometimes joins sentences, or changes a word here or there. This is also a time consuming kind of editing, but results in a smoother, easier to read text. Most books go through varying degrees of developmental and line editing. Depending on the length of your book and the publisher’s workload, you should count on about four to six months for editing. The editor will probably use a tracking system and send suggested changes in red for you to then accept or reject. Chapters or sections will be sent back and forth by e-mail.
Wow! What else has to happen before the book is in
print?
A lot of things still have to happen before the book is ready to go to print. Your publisher is as eager to get the book out as you are, since no one earns money until the book is out. It is to his benefit to get your book ready to sell as soon as possible, but without compromising quality.
Toward the end of the editing process, the title and front and back cover design work are chosen. The publisher works with a graphic arts company or an artist/illustrator for this, and they usually need a month or two. They may charge by the hour or by the project. They will usually submit two or three concepts for the cover, from which the publisher will choose. A cover design can cost anywhere from $1400 to $2400. Meanwhile the edited manuscript, sometimes called the galley, is sent to the Library of Congress for cataloging. An ISBN number is assigned. A versa page is written for the inside cover. Text for the front and back cover is approved and blurbs are sought from people who might endorse the book on the back cover.
At this same time, a copy of the edited manuscript is sent to a copyeditor who checks for grammar and punctuation. From copyediting the book goes to a layout editor, who will often need another two to three weeks for that process. The layout editor puts the book in a PDF or other electronic file for the printer, with consistent fonts, tables, illustrations, indexes or appendices. Layout is another step for which the publisher contracts for outside services, usually from $1,000 - $3,000. Once layout is done, the book comes back to the publisher for a final check. If there is time, it is sent to the author for a final check, then back to layout for any small changes to be made.
Four to six months in advance of the official publication date, a pre-publication manuscript or advance print galley is sent to about 150 possible reviewers. The list of reviewers consists of newspaper and magazine book reviewers, as well as Midwest Book Review, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Kirkus Review, and others that require advance copies. The publisher has a list of reviewers who will only review the book if they receive pre-publication galleys. Other reviewers want the bound book, but want it two to six months ahead of the official publication date. Your publisher often does a “short run” printing just to accommodate the demands of the reviewers. Reviews are important because they help to sell your book. Out of 100 copies sent out for review, a book might get only two reviews. Yet every review helps to market the book.
While the pre-publication galleys are going to possible reviewers, the manuscript gets a final check before being sent to the printer. The publisher gets bids from several printers to get the best prices. Once books are printed, they can stay in a warehouse until the official date of publication.
Finally, the publication date arrives. Your book is in print. You can now celebrate and get ready to help market your book!