after the book deal
Hi friends—
Spring is finally here! I celebrated by running the Paris Marathon on Sunday and then... immediately getting a cold. Womp. I've had colds at least once a month since September. My immune system is basically non-existent, but I hope all of you at least are having a healthy, happy April!
Last month I shared my exciting book deal news (still pinching myself). This month I thought we'd talk about what comes next: edits!
From the outset, my US and UK editors, Amanda and Max, warned that this month would be grueling. Even though the book doesn't come out until March 2020, for the publishing industry that's considered a tight timeline—particularly in the larger US market, where they need a long lead time to get independent booksellers and the media excited. What that means is the publishers need as close to a final draft of the book as possible by May 10.
Three weeks ago, Amanda and Max each gave me a set of big-picture notes, plus smaller line edits. I was thrilled after reading through the notes a couple times; their ideas improved the story at both a practical level (fixing plot or timeline holes, adjusting timing of reveals), as well as artistic ones (punching up themes, fine tuning character voice). Honestly, I still can't believe I get to work with such brilliant people. When I went through the submission process, I didn't get to spend a ton of time talking one-on-one with editors, getting into the nitty-gritty of their vision for the book. You spend more time talking to the publishing team as a whole—sales, marketing, publicity, plus editorial—so there's a small leap of faith involved, hoping you chose the right people for you and your work. After the past three weeks, I can say with confidence that my book and I are in wonderful hands on both sides of the ocean.
I'm getting off track. So I have these two Word docs with 418 track changes between the two editors. Some are bigger; others are as small as adjusting or deleting a sentence. Not going to lie—this was overwhelming at first! I began tackling these 418 items the same way I approach everything in life: a spreadsheet. I catalogued each and every item, and then I got to work. For 12 days straight, from the time I woke up until the time I went to sleep, I worked on these edits, only taking breaks to eat and let my dog Moose outside.
Spreadsheet + manuscript + writing partner
Along the way, I compiled a list of questions for Amanda and Max. They helped me brainstorm solutions to problems I couldn't crack myself, but left me to my own devices other than that. Last Friday I sent them Round 1 edits. They received slightly different versions; a UK audience wouldn't know some of my American cultural references, so I had to adjust—for example: Mr. Rogers, Bill Nye, Mike Ditka, the Kool-Aid man, what a GED is, PediaSure, Lunchables, etc.
This week, Amanda and Max are both reading over my revisions and making more notes. In the next day or two, they'll send me a second round of edits, and then we go through the process again (although, unless I royally screwed up, there shouldn't be nearly as much to modify!). From there, we might do some final back and forth, with the goal of being finished by May 10.
That version of the novel will then go on to copyeditors. Copyeditors look over grammar, spelling, and punctuation, but also fact check, make sure timelines are correct, look at potential legal issues, and ensure continuity all around. (Example: Before my agent Maddy took my novel on submission, she had a freelance editor look over it, and the editor pointed out that in Chapter 6, my main character said she didn't like broccoli, but then in Chapter 12, she's eating beef-and-broccoli takeout. This level of attention to detail is magical to me.)
After copyediting is finished, the manuscript goes on to the proofreader, who makes sure there are no errors whatsoever. The copyediting and proofreading processes usually take another 6-8 weeks, and I have to read through and sign off on all these edits along the way.
But let's go back to that uncopyedited “final” draft that needs to be done by May 10. My editors will first share that draft with their internal sales teams, and then for initial outreach to booksellers, authors they're trying to get blurbs from, etc. (Blurbs are the glowing quotes you read from popular authors on book covers.) The publishers then use those early blurbs to go on the Galleys or ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies), which are made out of the first pass pages.
There you have it! If you've ever wondered why it takes so long for a book to hit the shelves, I hope this has uncovered some of the steps behind the process.
In other book news, the last month has brought a handful of foreign rights deals. To date: Italy, Germany, France, Brazil, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Hungary, Serbia, Czech Republic, and Korea! Next week I'll meet the entire UK publishing team at their London office, next month I'll meet the entire US publishing team at their NYC office, and I'll also spend a couple days in Maine doing research for Book 2! Lots of exciting stuff coming up, and I promise to keep you posted along the way.
Thanks for reading!
Stephanie