Gutsy Book Buzz: “How Long Will it Take to get My Book Out?”

Have you thought of indie-publishing your book? Or are you perhaps in the process of publishing your book and need a timeline to guide you?

Let me introduce Amy Collins, book publishing professional from the Cadence Group who is here to help us. (Above photo credit Bethany Brown and Amy Collins from The Cadence Group.)

I met Amy Collins on the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) forum. She was always there to answer my questions, and one day I picked up the phone and called her. After an informative conversation, I asked her if she would be willing to write a post regarding the necessary steps to get an indie-book published. She agreed.

 

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE?

The biggest mistake new publishers make is thinking that they need to get their book “out there” immediately. Publishing a successful book takes time and attention to detail. Rushing through any step of the process will inevitably harm your end result. You simply cannot rush through the book industry’s set deadlines and prerequisites.

Some of these processes are:

•Getting an ISBN (several weeks if not expedited)

•Registering your book with the Library of Congress (several weeks)

•Adding your book to Amazon.com and other industry databases (two to three weeks)

•Getting signed up for a distributor or wholesale fulfillment partner (two to three months)

•Meeting the presentation deadlines at bookstores for new books (five to six months after you are signed up with the distributor or wholesaler)

•Printing and shipping new books (three to four weeks if no issues or “fixes”)

Setting a realistic timeline will be your first big test as a new publisher. Do this properly and everything else will go more smoothly. This step is where we separate the wheat from the chaff, the mice from the … well, you get the idea.

But what about the other elements? How long does it take to design a cover? Edit a manuscript? Proofread a set of pages? While these things vary, there are some guidelines you can use to start. The following are rules of thumb and only to be used to help you start planning. When you assemble your team, you should discuss your time expectations and include them in the agreements.

•Editing and copy editing (one to two months)

•Getting a good cover designed (four to six weeks)

•Work with designer to layout book (three weeks) •Proofreading (two weeks)

With written commitments from your editors, designers, artists, authors, and proofreaders, you should be able to create a well-published book in eight months from finished manuscript. Some people can do it in less, but if you want good reviews, strong sales possibilities, and an ulcer-free stomach, sit down and map out a schedule starting eight months out from your official pub date.

There are a number of “dates” in this process. Let’s go through them so that there is no confusion. A “print date” is the date that the book comes off the printer’s truck. A “ship date” is the date that the publisher ships the books to its customers to fill waiting orders. This is usually two to three weeks after the print date. A “pub date” is the official date a book is available for ordering or purchasing to the general public. It is usually five to eight weeks after the ship date to give retailers time to order, receive, and shelve the books.

It takes time to get a book from the printer to a warehouse, from a warehouse to a distributor, from a distributor to a wholesaler, from a wholesaler’s receiving dock to its shelves, from a wholesaler’s shelves to a bookstore, and from the back room of a bookstore to the floor.

So what does this mean to your publishing program? It means you need to create a realistic pub date for your book and make sure you can meet it. It means that you need to have a large chunk of the book finished and the publicity and marketing plans created at least six months prior to your pub date. It means that you have to set and adhere to a schedule.

BUILDING YOUR SCHEDULE

As you build your schedule for a book, add a great deal of “cushion” into the schedule. There will be miscommunications, vendor problems, production errors, shipping mishaps—all resulting in delaying your book’s debut to the world. If you build in enough time to deal with the inevitable delays, you will always be “on time.” You will have a lot less stress. And it’s definitely worth it.

Let’s walk through a sample schedule. If you announce that you will be publishing I Was a Teenage Latte Addict in early October, your book should leave the printer no later than early August. Plan accordingly and work up the schedule so you don’t get worked up later.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE:

 

Eight months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Editors, pre-production team, and cover designer hired

•Book manuscript is finished and given to the editor

•ISBN is assigned

•Title, subtitle, and tag lines are decided upon

•Decisions on which distributor to use made

•Marketing and sales plan created

•Cover design concept meeting held with designer

 

Seven months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Cover design work continues

•Back cover copy written

•One-page book description written

•Page count decided upon

•Hard/soft cover decided upon

•Price decided upon

•Register book with R.R. Bowker and Library of Congress

 

Six months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Developmental edit finished and given to copy editor

•Front cover design close to finished

 

Five months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Copy edit finished and sample pages

Book specs sent to wholesalers, distributors, and bookstores (including Amazon)

•First pass layout of book done

•Indexing of your final pages done, if necessary

•Proofread PDFs of your book layout

•Proofread PDFs of your book cover

 

Four months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Digitally print fifty copies of Advanced Reader’s Copies (ARCs) of your book for marketing purposes and to give your project a “dry run”

•Send copies of the ARCs to reviewers and websites for endorsements and reviews.

Three months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•“Live with” your ARC for a few weeks

•Do a final proofread and make any final changes and adjustments

•Send final PDFs to the printer

 

Two months before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Books ship from printer to warehouse

•Send copies of finished book to your entire team with thank-you notes

•Send copies of your finished book to the bookstores and retailers whom you wish to consider stocking your book.

•Send copies of your finished book to stores and contact them about doing an event during your pub month or the month after.

One month before publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Books shipped to wholesalers and retailers that have placed orders.

•Start sending out weekly ideas to newspapers and magazines with ideas of articles they could write (or let you write) that ties in with your book.

Month of Publication of I Was a Teenage Latte Addict:

•Approach Amazon Top Reviewers for reviews

•Send copies of your finished book to the bookstores and retailers whom you wish to consider stocking your book.

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Thank you Amy for helping us out with the timeline for publishing.  You can reach Amy Collins and her business partner Bethany Brown at the Cadence Group, or join on Twitter @thecadencegrp. You can also join Gutsy Indie Publishers, a group I started on Facebook where professionals like Amy Collins helps authors with their questions.

Amy is always willing to help authors and she agreed to be on Jason Matthews’ Indie Author panel on Hangout Networks with AC Cruz.

Below is a video on “How to get book Reviews” which Jason Matthews put together and Amy Collins answered our questions.
http://youtu.be/7UtKAuQmh_I

Do you have any specific questions for Amy Collins?

Any tips or comments you’d like to share about your own personal publishing journey?