The Big Bad Book Blog

For many aspiring writers, the process from finished manuscript to printed book is mired in mystery and misunderstanding. What, exactly, is the publisher doing from the point it receives your book until the point where eager readers can pick it up in a bookstore? Is it really all that complicated? Do I even need a publisher? These are all valid questions—no writer should get involved in the publishing industry without learning what the industry is. And there are few better guides through the process than an author who has lived through it . . . multiple times.

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.

Not a week goes by when we are not asked why we don’t ship our books via media mail rather than using UPS or Fed Ex ground service.  In an economy like this, we should all be looking for ways to reduce the costs of doing business, and the US postal service is so much less expensive than those carriers.  But is it really?

In the last week alone, we’ve experienced a few shining examples that show why using a reliable, traceable, faster ground carrier is definitely the right way to ship valuable or important cargo.

We routinely send book samples and sales materials to our team of field reps, including catalogs.  Our catalogs are not some low-cost, newsprint numbers either. They are highly designed, four-color beauts printed on high quality glossy paper.  They mirror the level of quality of the books that they contain.  They’re nice (and expensive) sales materials.

In the spirit of minimizing expenses, we decided to give the USPS a shot by sending out our catalogs through their priority mail service.  Big mistake.

So far, we’ve had not one, but two reps report to us that they did indeed receive the box we sent to them.  Trouble is, they only received the box itself and it was a rumpled, mangled mess at that.   In both cases, not so much as a single spread from the catalog was delivered.

All told, those two shipments alone cost us one hundred thirty catalogs!  One hundred thirty shiny, brand new, never before opened catalogs.  We won’t offset the cost of those pieces of collateral in sales dollars.

So shipping packages might be risky with the USPS, but what about your standard fare letter? The USPS has that down pat, right?

Our business requires that we deal a fair amount with agreements and amendments and paperwork of all kinds.  We receive these documents through various means, but most of the time our clients simply fold the agreement into a standard envelope and mail it the good old-fashioned way.  And that’s normally totally fine . . . until it’s not.

We received the piece of mail pictured below inside a second, bigger, official USPS envelope with their apologies for the damage and assurances that they expedited what was left of the document to us as quickly as possible.  Gee, thanks.   This two-thirds of a signed agreement doesn’t really do us any good, but we’re glad it got here quickly.

Bottom line, if it matters and it needs to get there quickly and safely, spend a little more on the front end with a ground carrier to ensure that it does.  Besides the time and money it will save you in the long run, your piece of mind is priceless.

The beginning of the year is an exciting time for everyone—including authors. Along with your other resolutions, it’s important to remember that a new year represents a fabulous opportunity to establish, enhance, or even reinvent your author image. Marketing yourself is huge part of making any writer’s book a success. The Internet—and social media, more specifically—has increasingly become the most important aspect of a publicity campaign. If you have not already ventured onto online reading communities and other sites that can help authors spread their work, there is no better time than now! Here are a few to get you started:

• Red Room: A site dedicated to connecting authors and readers. As a Red Room author, you can create a very professional customized page that allows you to upload published works, reviews, interview transcripts, videos, podcasts, as well as blog entries.
• Goodreads: A book-sharing and reviewing site that allows you to sign up as a published author and get your own page, which will include a short biography and background information, separate pages for your books, a place to add links to reviews and interviews, friends and followers, a comments space, and other common features of a social networking site.
• Shelfari: An interactive bookshelf and community for readers, Shelfari allows to create your own profile with a list of favorite books, which you can then review, rate, and tag. A page is created for each author and book, which can be edited by you (or the public at large).
• Scribd: A document-sharing site—it’s been called the “YouTube for documents”—where authors can create their own pages and profiles, and easily share a variety of documents—including book excerpts, reviews, interviews, or other book-related paraphernalia for people to view.

Last month, Fast Company did a great story on bookstore co-op deals, in which publishers pay booksellers for inclusion on front tables, end caps, face-out placements, etc. So, yes, those books out front at Barnes & Noble are there because someone paid for them to be there, not necessarily because they’re the best or most important—although, of course, bookstore buyers only allow placement for books they believe will move. (Also, the two indie booksellers we’ve asked, BookPeople and Vroman’s, say that featured “employee picks,” an upaid form of co-op, are completely at the employee and bookseller’s discretion.)

It’s an interesting negotiation, and as bookstore space shrinks and brick-and-mortar book shoppers dwindle, co-op placement for books becomes increasingly important. Adam L. Penenberg, author of Viral Loop, gives an good overview. Read it here, and have a Happy New Year!

We often hear from authors who would like to add video—book trailers, interviews, etc.—to their Amazon product pages. While Amazon currently does not allow most publishers to add video content to product pages, they announced last week that authors may now upload video directly to their Amazon Author Page.

If you don’t have an Author Page already, now is a great time to get one by signing up at Author Central. Author Pages gives customers a summary of you and your work, and the new video content makes the pages an even richer way to make yourself visible to readers. If you already have an Author Page, uploading video is simple—just sign in, click the new “Videos” tab at the top of the screen, and upload the file. Videos must be less than 10 minutes and under 500 MB. See additional video content guidelines here.

Along with video, Amazon announced an updated Events section, which you can use to post upcoming signings and other appearances (like this author); they also announced more links to Author Pages, which will now be linked in search results. Read more about what you can do with Author Central here.