I don’t blog as much as I used to, mostly because there isn’t enough time in the day to do everything I want to be doing. But that’s what I want to talk about: Time. Specifically, how it affects traditionally published books (and authors).
As I’m writing this, it’s spring of 2023. I have several books out or coming out soon, all in different phases of development and publication:
- KILLER CONTENT – published February 2021
- NO MEMES OF ESCAPE – published October 2021
- VINYL RESTING PLACE (Record Shop Volume 1) – published December 2022
- A FATAL GROOVE (Record Shop Volume 2) – publishing July 2023
- RHYTHM AND CLUES (Record Shop Volume 3) – publishing May 2024
- TBD / GHOST MYSTERY #1 – publishing Fall 2024
- TBD / GHOST MYSTERY#2 – publishing Fall 2025
- TBD / GHOST MYSTERY#3 – publishing Fall 2026
Right now, this week, I’m doing podcasts and book clubs to promote VINYL RESTING PLACE, which came out last year. I just turned in Copy Edits for A FATAL GROOVE, which comes out in 3 1/2 months. I’ve finished and am polishing the manuscript for RHYTHM AND CLUES, which comes out a little less than a year from now. And I’m about 1/2 through the first draft of AFTERLIFE.
In other words, I’m actively promoting a book I finished writing 14 months ago, and am editing and about to start promoting a book that comes out in 3 months, all while writing a book that will be in bookstores in 18 months. By the time GHOST MYSTERY#1 is on bookshelves and in the hands of readers, I’ll be doing promotion for GHOST MYSTERY#1, edits for GHOST MYSTERY#2, and writing GHOST MYSTERY#3. Confusing? Tell me about it.
For the record, I don’t represent the entire writing community. I write in the mystery genre, which tends to put new books in a series out every 6 months to a year. But that is by no means a hard and fast rule. I have a friend who’s releasing 6 traditional books this year across multiple genres. I have other friends that release one book a decade. And don’t even get me started about Indie authors, some that seem to put out a new fantastic book every two months. In any event, my experience is my own. I don’t claim that it is typical for my genre or my publisher, much less publishing in general. But here is a sneak peak behind an example schedule of what it takes to publish a book series with ~8 months between publication dates:
- May 2021 – Book goes out “on sub,” i.e. a literary agent submits sample material out to one or more editors at a publishing imprint
- July 2021 – Offers are received and chosen. By the way, two months (in my experience) is a VERY SHORT time to be out on sub. Usually it’s months and months and months. Many books die on sub.
- October 2021 – A contract is signed. For the past three months (or however long it takes to legally seal the deal, the author has been sitting on this Great News and can’t talk about it. Often, the official announcement comes out before the contract is signed but until then, mum’s the word.)
- October 2021 – Book #1 manuscript is delivered. The due date is set in the contract, but the author has input on when they can promise the first manuscript.
- February 2022 – Round one of edits (Development edits) on Book #1
- March 2022 – Round two of edits (Copy edits) on Book #1
- July 2022 – Round three of edits (Pass pages/Proofreading) on Book #1
- October 2022 – Book #2 manuscript is delivered
- December 2022 – Book #1 is in bookstores
- February 2023 – Round one of edits (Development edits) on Book #2
- March 2023 – Round two of edits (Copy edits) on Book #2
- May 2023 – – Round three of edits (Pass pages/Proofreading) on Book #2
- June 2023 – Book #3 manuscript is delivered
- July 2023 – Book #2 is in bookstores
- November 2023 – Round one of edits (Development edits) on Book #3
- December 2023 – Round two of edits (Copy edits) on Book #3
- February 2024 – Round three of edits (Pass pages/Proofreading) on Book #3
- May 2024 – Book #3 is in bookstores
In this particular example, it took 3 years from when the book went out on sub until the third book in the series is on shelves. That is relatively QUICK for a traditional publishing scenario, and SLOW for an indie publishing author. The key takeaway here is that as soon as the manuscript for Book #1 is delivered, the author starts writing Book #2. Rounds of edits are happening with Book #1 while the author is writing Book #2. When Book #1 comes out, the author is promoting Book #1, editing Book #2, and writing Book #3.
