That was educational in a nice, straightforward, easy to understand package! Thank you for sharing - it was a fun read, too. Lots of food for thought for those who are on their own without the support of an established publishing house - still very relevant. Especially if you choose to work with a professional editor yet still self publish.
Truly the best part of it is your ability to boil down a very long and complicated process to a simple outline that will make anyone a more learned individual about publishing and ARCs. I’ve heard that this ability can be a hallmark of a true genius… a concept with which I agree.
I’ve saved this, and will return to it many times in the years to come no doubt. Again, my humblest appreciation! 😊👍
Yes, you got my implication perfectly. Shall we toddle off and join MENSA together now? Giggle. 🤭 I do seriously think it is genius to be able to put something that for new writers is scary and confusing into a nice format -and it removes some of that fear! Keep it up girl, you are simply fantastic.
Thank you for this breakdown of the publishing process. It is really long! But now I understand why. Congratulations on your ARC. 🍾🎉🎊🎈 it's such a beautiful cover! I can't wait to hold the book in my hands!
What a helpful explanation and I love me a sample timeline! Since I mostly work in cookbooks which are full color production ARCs are entirely digital. I learned something today so thank you—I didn’t know that galleys are more expensive to print. Makes sense but I just never thought about it!
Such a beautiful cover! Thank you for such a clear breakdown of a book's journey to publication. So many of us know where we'd like to go, but the way to get there can feel so murky. Love this series!
I love the cover Evelyn. For the first time I read such a detailed rundown of the ARC process. In self-publishing world we don’t have paper copies of ARC and use digital versions to send to beta and ARC readers. Although it saves money, I think print copy achieves better results. More readers who receive physical copies will remember the book more and will care to leave a review.
Oh yeah, haha, maybe I should have put in more dates in there... but it's pretty quiet for the writer at that point. There are 2nd pass pages and later, 3rd pass pages, but often the author doesn't see those. It's a lot of behind-the-scenes production stuff at the publisher, mostly.
Also, publicity, marketing, and sales start working their magic during this time. Since they have an ARC to send out, they begin their monthslong campaigns to get booksellers and librarians and influencers aware of the book.
For writers, this stretch of "downtime" is the perfect time to start working on their next book, before they have to start promotional efforts on the current one.
Thanks, that does help! I've been with indie presses, so this latter part has been fairly condensed for me - first pass to publication was in the 4-6 month range. I'm fascinated to learn about the difference with a bigger publisher!
Congratulations!!! The blissful feeling of holding a real "book-shaped thing" in your hands for the first time never gets old. And thank you for sharing the details on traditional timelines... Wow! It must be amazing to experience the collaboration and support of a team, but also *wow* again. Such a lengthy process! (Haha, actually...I'm adding a note here, because as soon as I commented, I thought about how long it's taken me to publish a few books doing almost everything myself. Food for thought, Jennifer...food for thought.🙃)
aha, I finally get to find out what the "J" initial stands for! Thanks for this comment (and all your others), Jennifer! It's a real pleasure to see your name each time.
And that's so funny about realizing the similarities in long processes when you're in charge of all the publishing moving pieces, too. It's really so much work to make a book reality, isn't it? (But a labor of love.)
Haha, yes... I've published under "J Martain" so my profile names everywhere are a bit mixed. Thank you for all that you share with us and for being such a bright spark! I so enjoy what you share with us! ✨🤗
That was educational in a nice, straightforward, easy to understand package! Thank you for sharing - it was a fun read, too. Lots of food for thought for those who are on their own without the support of an established publishing house - still very relevant. Especially if you choose to work with a professional editor yet still self publish.
Truly the best part of it is your ability to boil down a very long and complicated process to a simple outline that will make anyone a more learned individual about publishing and ARCs. I’ve heard that this ability can be a hallmark of a true genius… a concept with which I agree.
I’ve saved this, and will return to it many times in the years to come no doubt. Again, my humblest appreciation! 😊👍
Oh my goodness, Meg, did you just imply that I'm a genius? I am blushing so hard that you can probably feel it on the other side of *your* screen.
Thank you for your kind compliments, and I am so happy to be able to shed some light on what is often a confusing process!
Yes, you got my implication perfectly. Shall we toddle off and join MENSA together now? Giggle. 🤭 I do seriously think it is genius to be able to put something that for new writers is scary and confusing into a nice format -and it removes some of that fear! Keep it up girl, you are simply fantastic.
Sending you allll the heart emojis (which for some reason are not coming up on my keyboard right now!)
Thank you for this breakdown of the publishing process. It is really long! But now I understand why. Congratulations on your ARC. 🍾🎉🎊🎈 it's such a beautiful cover! I can't wait to hold the book in my hands!
thank you, E!!
Informative- thanks
A pipe dream for me, but congrats on this being your 10th!
Thank you, Posy! And all big dreams start out feeling like pipe dreams... I'm cheering you on!
What a helpful explanation and I love me a sample timeline! Since I mostly work in cookbooks which are full color production ARCs are entirely digital. I learned something today so thank you—I didn’t know that galleys are more expensive to print. Makes sense but I just never thought about it!
Oh my goodness, I can only imagine that cookbook ARCs would have to be digital, especially with the number of photographs these days.
I'm tickled that you learned something today, Sally. I just assume that as an agent, you know it all already! 😉
Ong def not! I love learning. Especially from you!
Thanks, Evelyn, this is so helpful. Looking forward to the marketing diary entry.
Such a beautiful cover! Thank you for such a clear breakdown of a book's journey to publication. So many of us know where we'd like to go, but the way to get there can feel so murky. Love this series!
What a true way of describing the journey, Maria. You really have a way with words!
I am very happy to be able to help provide some clarity. :)
What a lovely thing to say! Can I like this more than once?❤️❤️❤️Now, if I can find my way with the 108k words of the first draft I just finished…😳😂
WOW that's a lot of words! Sending you the best revision vibes!
I love the cover Evelyn. For the first time I read such a detailed rundown of the ARC process. In self-publishing world we don’t have paper copies of ARC and use digital versions to send to beta and ARC readers. Although it saves money, I think print copy achieves better results. More readers who receive physical copies will remember the book more and will care to leave a review.
Thank you, Neera. I fell in love with the cover design as soon as I saw it, too. The designer did such an amazing job!
Fantastic rundown of the process, Evelyn! Yay for your ARC!
Does it more or less match up with your experience, Vanessa?
The ARC timeline for my first print deal was sped up a tad for various reasons, the pandemic being one of them. 😬
Thanks, Evelyn, for sharing this process with us. I can’t wait to read the new book!
Thank you, Barb! Happy weekend to you!
So exciting! The ARC looks great! Thanks for sharing so many behind-the-scene details. 😊
thank you so much, Steph! It's such a joy to share this whole journey with you!
Congratulations! And thanks for the breakdown!
I'm curious, what's happening between October 14th and April 28th on your timeline? Half a year seems a long time for stuff to get sent to a printer!
Oh yeah, haha, maybe I should have put in more dates in there... but it's pretty quiet for the writer at that point. There are 2nd pass pages and later, 3rd pass pages, but often the author doesn't see those. It's a lot of behind-the-scenes production stuff at the publisher, mostly.
Also, publicity, marketing, and sales start working their magic during this time. Since they have an ARC to send out, they begin their monthslong campaigns to get booksellers and librarians and influencers aware of the book.
For writers, this stretch of "downtime" is the perfect time to start working on their next book, before they have to start promotional efforts on the current one.
Hope that helps, Irvin!
Thanks, that does help! I've been with indie presses, so this latter part has been fairly condensed for me - first pass to publication was in the 4-6 month range. I'm fascinated to learn about the difference with a bigger publisher!
It's always really interesting for me to learn about the differences between trad and indie presses, too!
I love this one! 🌸
thank you, Jane!
Congratulations!! And I love that cover.
aww thank you, Diana!
Congratulations!!! The blissful feeling of holding a real "book-shaped thing" in your hands for the first time never gets old. And thank you for sharing the details on traditional timelines... Wow! It must be amazing to experience the collaboration and support of a team, but also *wow* again. Such a lengthy process! (Haha, actually...I'm adding a note here, because as soon as I commented, I thought about how long it's taken me to publish a few books doing almost everything myself. Food for thought, Jennifer...food for thought.🙃)
aha, I finally get to find out what the "J" initial stands for! Thanks for this comment (and all your others), Jennifer! It's a real pleasure to see your name each time.
And that's so funny about realizing the similarities in long processes when you're in charge of all the publishing moving pieces, too. It's really so much work to make a book reality, isn't it? (But a labor of love.)
Haha, yes... I've published under "J Martain" so my profile names everywhere are a bit mixed. Thank you for all that you share with us and for being such a bright spark! I so enjoy what you share with us! ✨🤗
Love this rundown of the publishing process! Also the ARC looks good, can't wait to read the book!
thank you so much, Ingrid! I'm glad this was illuminating for you. :)
And I'm so excited for you to read the book, too!
Love seeing your ARC in your hands and I cannot wait to read this book!!
thank you as always for your enthusiasm, Tanmeet!