Award-winning author Jay Lake, whose books include Green, Mainspring, Madness of a Flower, Death of a Starship and others, including multiple short stories and other projects, wrote a blog post entitled “What my publisher does for me, and why I won’t just quit” to give fellow authors and aspiring authors a firsthand glimpse of the traditional publishing process through a timeline that spans over 32 months. (That’s right, over the course of nearly three years.) While his post is partially a response to the difficulties between Macmillan and Amazon on ebook pricing (read more about that conflict at Wired.com) and the changing model of publishing in general, it is also an eye-opening explanation of the collaborative process that takes place within publishing companies to produce books in any format. And while the face of publishing (and its internal clockwork) is changing at an increasingly rapid pace, the work that goes into producing a book has stayed very much the same for large publishers.

An excerpt from his post below:

Month 16 — Editorial assistant sends hardback page proofs to author.

Month 16 — Editorial assistant receives hardback page proofs from author.

Month 17 — Typesetter makes proof changes.

Month 18 — Proofing editor reviews changes.

Month 18 — Hardback printing goes to press.

Month 19 — Hardback printing goes to warehouse.

Month 21 — Hardback printing released to distribution

Month 22 — Hardback printing goes on sale.

Month 22 — Finance issues publication check to author via agent. (Payment 3 of 3 in typical contracts today.)

Month 24 — Production editor confirms press time slot for book.

Month 24 — Production editor turns manuscript over to book designer.

Month 24 — Book designer sends mass market paperback book to typesetter.

Month 25 — Typesetter does initial layout for mass market paperback release.

Month 26 — Editorial assistant sends mass market paperback page proofs to author.

Read the full article here.

To see book covers come under fire is a truly fascinating look into what we have come to expect from a cover. Last summer, Justine Larbalestier’s YA novel Liar was originally featured a young white girl with long, straight hair, while the protagonist is clearly described as a black girl with short, textured hair. Jaclyn Dolamore’s Magic Under Glass has just been released with a cover featuring a young white woman, whereas the protagonist has dark skin and ‘exotic’ features. As Mitali Perkins described it in “Straight Talk on Race,” publishers want the cover “to sell more books, [so] the main character may be portrayed on the cover as less foreign or ‘other’ than he or she is in the actual story.”

Teen book reviewer Ari pleaded with publishers to consider the audience they alienate: “Do you know how much that hurts? Are we so worthless that the few books that do feature people of color don’t have covers with people of color?” Bloomsbury changed Liar’s cover prior to its official release and is re-issuing Magic Under Glass with a new jacket design. Their original response to the controversy mentioned that the covers were “intended to symbolically reflect the narrator’s complex psychological makeup.”

Book buyer Catherine Linka of Flintridge Bookstore reveals the intrinsic difficulty of chalking this up to discrimination or carelessness: “The cover works symbolically… [but readers want a cover to give] an honest representation of the experience that they will have with [a book].” And therein lies the rub: what was in dispute was not the stylistic choice, but rather the audience’s expectation that the cover should more literally match the inside the story.

Different designers approach the process in different ways, but generally they read the book or have a detailed synopsis. They aren’t designing blindly. Choices are being made all the time between what is obvious and what is complex. There is a certain level of independence, but the designer will still ultimately be answering to the publisher.

What may come as the bigger surprise is that the author rarely has any say in the book cover design. Traditionally, design lies solely in the hands of the design team, perhaps with some input on behalf of the editorial or marketing department. But the author does not factor in, as is obvious from Larbalestier’s response to her book’s cover design.

There are some smaller and independent publishers who offer a more collaborative design process, with designers and writers working together toward a final cover design. Open communication between the two can prevent many of these issues by allowing each to explain their process to the other. But even this presents its problems—an author may have his or her own artistic vision and not always understand what types of covers sell, which is the ultimate job of the designer: to make a cover sell. That is not a particularly romantic view, but it is a realistic one. Still it is important to remember that the design is still art. It’s merely art meant to encourage a purchase. And as an author, you must be prepared to deal with the ramifications of having other people interpret your work.

If you do find yourself in a more collaborative environment with a designer or team, remember that their experience in the field may give them a different vision than your own, and it is important to respect some of their more unconventional suggestions or design ideas. It’s all a part of the process.

A selection of fantastic book cover design blogs:

• faceout Books
• the book cover archive
• Book By Its Cover
• Judge a Book By Its Cover
• The Book Cover Archive
• Color + Design Blog’s article on Best Book Cover Palettes of 2009
• The Book Design Review (indefinite hiatus, but a wonderful archive)

On a different note, the same blog calls that twee Amazon Kindle commercial a “beautiful ad in almost every possible way.” What do you think of it? Does it effectively tell viewers what a Kindle is? Is it cute n’ cuddly enough?

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There are those—typographers—who have made this their goal: to create just the right font for any situation. It is a true art. The intricacy of font work lends itself to a great deal of vision, patience, and mayhap a bit of oddity. (Check out “Being a Typographer” at CreativePro.com).

It is the same as any other unique image—and has just as much of a claim over copyright. But that fact is something we occasionally forget. ‘We’ being anyone from a personal user creating a poster for a band to a business creating a website for their product to, say, a very large company using the fonts for their ads.

Such was the case with NBC, which is currently facing a lawsuit from typographic firm The Font Bureau over a mishandling of font licensing. The Font Bureau, which is a big shot in the typographic world (having designed over 1,500 fonts for over 300 companies, according to their website), claims that NBC did not secure the rights to use a handful of fonts that appeared in their fall marketing campaign. A big mistake, as without proper licensing, all of that advertising can be pulled and would need to be redone. And that is an extremely expensive process.

Even large companies running intricate and expensive advertising campaigns make mistakes. But the fact of the matter is that, whether this or other incidents were purposeful or honest mistakes, people occasionally see a font as something they have an automatic right to—because it’s there, and it’s only text, and hey, who cares anyway?

A lot of people care. Fonts aren’t just text, they aren’t just how you read something. They can determine your perspective, your emotions, your thoughts. They are about appeal, about cleverness, about intrigue. It’s certainly apparent in the publishing industry. Typography is essential to both cover and interior design, and determines if a reader will even pick up your book. Not to mention the delicate balance between creating a good design and creating a design that smacks of the amateur or unprofessional je ne sais quoi, usually in ways more subtle (even subliminal) than we can imagine.

Diatribe aside, take some time to consider typography if you haven’t already. You’ll find that you have tastes and preferences, fonts that you love and fonts that you detest (and fonts that you just find lame). You’ll start to notice common fonts and design nuances, the way a sign over a shop or a billboard along the street or a book in your bookstore can grab your attention just by using the text in the right way. And remember that when you are creating your own design, that those typographers have worked to give you a near-infinite selection of font designs to enhance your work. And whether the fonts are purchased or free—show them the love they deserve.

Interested in fonts? Here are a few blogs dedicated to fonts and typography:

-        i love typography

-        the font feed

-        AisleOne

-        The Ministry of Type

-        Type Directors Club

-        TypeOff

-        Typographer.org

Looking for fonts to use on your own projects? Free or Creative Commons-licensed fonts:

-        dafont.com

-        urbanfonts

-        Font Freak

IKEA has responded that it believes the backlash comes mainly from typography experts, and that the general public doesn’t really notice this type of thing. But that discounts how widespread the displeasure about the Verdana switch is, and the subconscious effect that design details can have even on typography illiterates. We’ve mentioned that this type of thing is important before. Here’s a great case in point. Your book may never achieve the distribution levels of the IKEA catalog (it is often advertised as the most widely printed book in the world), but do pay attention to font—and never, ever, ever use Papyrus.

For those of you who don’t enjoy hours of web research on a topic that is less than stimulating, here’s a quick breakdown of the basic steps you’ll need to take. (Keep in mind that doing things in this order is important.)

Pre-production:

1. Get an ISBN.   International Standard Book Numbers are required for every book that is going to be sold in the book trade.  These can be obtained through Bowker, also known as Books in Print.
2. Register your book with Books in Print.  Once you receive the ISBN you’ll need to make sure that your title data is registered in their system.  This is important because a lot of sources (Amazon, Ingram, etc.) receive data feeds from this system—not to mention the fact that this is a resource for bookstores, libraries, and publishers around the world.
3. Create a barcode with the ISBN and price embedded.  Most trade stores require this to be on the back of your book before they will place an order.
4. Obtain a LCCN (also know as a PCN).  The Library of Congress Control Number (or Pre-Assigned Control Number) is a unique number that differentiates your book in the Library of Congress database.  Librarians use this number to access the associated bibliographic record for a given title.
5. Obtain CIP data.  Cataloging in Publication data creates a bibliographic record for forthcoming books that are likely to be acquired by librarians (and hopefully, librarians will want your book!).  This is to be printed on the copyright page, and this data is only available for works that are not yet published.

Post-production

1. Send one final copy to the Cataloging in Publication Division of the Library of Congress.
2. Send two final copies to the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress along with Form CO and the registration fee.  Alternatively, you are now able to fill out this form and submit payment online with eCO (electronic Copyright Office).
3. Wait to receive your Copyright Confirmation (current wait time is 12–16 months).

While this outline may not seem too arduous, there are many potential roadblocks in this process—so brace yourself, hope for the best, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

If you’re in the central Texas area, we’d love to have you join us on the first four Sundays in August at BookPeople (603 N. Lamar, Austin, Texas). Sessions cost $15 each or $45 for all four. Attendance is limited to 60 people per session. To reserve a seat call (512) 472-5050 or visit BookPeople.

It’s going to be a fun, educational event—one we hope will untangle some of the complexities of getting a book produced, distributed, and marketed, as well as answer any questions on the publishing industry attendees have, whether basic or advanced. Be sure to visit our Facebook page, and if you’re the Twittering type, you can tweet about Austin Publishing University with the hashtag #apu09.

Descriptions of the four sessions of APU after the jump.

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SESSION 1 – Ins & Outs: The Industry Overview
Sunday, August 2, 2009 1:00 – 2:30 pm
The publishing industry presents many business models for authors, each with its own set of pros and cons. This class will walk you through the industry and give you the tools you need to choose the best path for your project. Plus, you will gain a basic understanding of what it takes to successfully create and market content in the retail marketplace. Learn the ins and outs of traditional publishing, self-publishing, print-on-demand publishing, and hybrid models—and how to avoid publishing pitfalls along the way.

SESSION 2 – Hot Topic: Content is King
Sunday, August 9, 2009 1:00 – 2:30 pm

So you know you want to write a book, but the blank page is glaring at you and you just don’t know how to begin. Come learn some useful techniques for structuring the writing process, getting past the terrifying first blank page, and presenting your ideas in a compelling and engaging manner.

SESSION 3 – Killer Covers: Boosting Sales by Design
Sunday, August 16, 2009 1:00 – 2:30 pm

Book jackets serve a number of purposes that are essential to the success of your book. This class will teach you how to make informed decisions about your covers by examining a variety of topics including genre appropriateness, the role of research, concept and tone, using photography and/or illustration, branding a series, endorsements, author photos, printing technology, retail durability, Amazon thumbnails, and design trends. We will closely analyze examples of various cover designs including award winning work.

SESSION 4 – Storming the Market: Online, On the Air, and On the Shelves
Sunday, August 23, 2009 1:00 – 2:30 pm

As the old saying goes, it’s easy to write a book: Selling it is hard. This class will discuss how effective marketing strategies, combined with traditional publicity and new media, come together to create a successful book launch. We will review the basic timeline that you should follow, describing what to do before, during, and after your publishing date. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to get the perspective of veteran publishers and retailers from both us at Greenleaf Book Group and BookPeople.

For more information about BookPeople, visit their site, or check out the fantastic interview they gave us a few months ago.

However, Comic Sans is merely the most visible in a huge group of stale typefaces. Papyrus is a personal pet peeve and also has its own mockery cult. For an interesting debate on Comic Sans, other lame fonts (Souvenir is a “crime against humanity”), and whether anyone even cares about fonts, be sure to read some of the WSJ article’s comments.

As one who has worked in book publishing for twenty years and has been involved in arranging thousands of interviews for authors, I can say that most authors—even seminar speakers, motivational trainers, and life coaches—often don’t fully exploit their knowledge, ability, or passion.  Rather than turning their radio or television interview into a memorable, experience, they simply treat it as a defensive situation with a standard approach of “I just don’t want to be embarrassed.”

Here are nine ways to be proactive and steal the show.

1. Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good line. Instead of merely making a statement, say something with some colorful language. One could say,  “To lose weight, drink eight to ten glasses of water a day,”or you could show some personality: “If you wanna drop those ten unwanted pounds, then drop down ten glasses of water every day. Drink up or fatten up. It’s your choice.” See the difference?

2. Give an action step, not an advertisement. Never say, “You can buy my book at www.whatever.com.” Instead, say the name of your book in a smooth sentence: “How to Lose Weight on Your Lunch Break is like having a therapist in your bed. You can access twenty-five free tips at www.whatever.com.” Now you’ve provided value and stated a specific offer.

3. Make a point and provide an example. People remember a story or something they can specifically identify with rather than an abstract statement.

4. Make it relevant when possible. Tie your message into the news or to what’s on people’s minds at a given moment in time.

5. Confess or admit to something. Don’t tell us you cheated on your spouse when you’re hawking a cookbook, but do tell us how your six-year-old kid thought your cake tasted like crap. Self-deprecating humor is good. Or tell us how you made a dish twenty times until you found the missing ingredient.

6. Create an enemy. Put every conversation in the context of good versus evil, new versus old, us versus them, etc. Enemies are everywhere. If you’re talking about personal finance, vilify government bailout and corporate greed; if you discuss a disease, you want to eradicate it; if you want to help parents be better at raising kids your enemy can be a situation (kids whining while you’re driving). There’s no end to finding a villain—it can be a person, group, ideology, circumstance, fate—whatever.

7. Express emotions and play to people’s fears, desires, needs, and weaknesses. Make assumptions about the people who will buy your book and identify their concerns. Your interviews should answer these concerns. If you wrote a book on dating and you know the fear of never getting married is in the back of your potential readers’ minds, address the issue and do so in a way that it gives a positive, proactive feeling. This will naturally lead them to visit your site.

8. Ask the talk show host or his or her audience for help. Tell them you’re trying to do something (i.e., get people to stop smoking if your book is about addiction).  Suggest people email you their ideas on how to eradicate the problem.  Not only does it unite people, it gives you a whole bunch of email contacts to follow up with.

9. Be colorful, not boring. Think of a waitress who can simply bring you a plate of food or one who can do a little dance before serving you.  Who will you remember? Don’t just drone on with useful info or ideas—deliver it with style.
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Brian Feinblum is the Chief Marketing Officer of Planned Television Arts, a book publicity company and leader in the media placement field since 1962. If you want to know more on how to promote your book during a media interview, please send your queries to Brian at feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com or call him at 212-583-2718.