An overview of what happens inside a publishing company as they acquire and publish a book.

“Why does it take so long for my publisher to get my book in print after I’ve delivered my manuscript?” is a common question from writers eager to become published authors.

To answer this question, we must look at the book publishing industry and discuss what legitimate publishing companies do.

Company Mission

Each book publishing company must decide what kind of books they will publish.  Once this is clear, it drives virtually everything that happens within the publishing house.

Acquisitions

Editors select and acquire titles that fit in with their publishing program as mandated by the house’s over-arching theme and direction. Prior to making an offer to an author, meetings are held to determine the book’s viability, to predict the probable sales for each title and to decide how much money to pay the author to publish the book.

Scheduling

A timetable is set up for each title singly and for the publisher’s over-all offerings collectively. Included in the schedule are things like the author’s deadlines, when the text is handed off to others to do their jobs, when the artist must complete the cover designs, when the printer will create the books, and when the catalogue copy must be ready.

Editing

One or more editors work with the author’s manuscript, in terms of content as well as grammar, punctuation and spelling.

NOTE: this step does not excuse the author from delivering a clean, well-written text.

Development

Professionals design the book’s exterior and interior elements, select the type, lay out the pages with the sidebars and illustrations, and choose cover art.

Marketing and sales

Specialists seek book reviews and cover quotes, prepare cover blurbs, promotion materials, news releases and announcements. Sales personnel solicit orders from bookstores and other outlets.

Other details

The publisher registers the copyright, obtains a unique ISBN barcode for each book, decides how many copies to order for the first print run, sets the cover price, gets the printed books shipped to wholesalers and/or distributors, and handles the arrangements for any special orders.

Footing the bill

These are but a few aspects involved in legitimate book publishing. The publisher pays these expenses, not the author. It all adds up to a considerable financial outlay with no guarantees of a profit. The upfront advance payment to the author is non-returnable to the publisher, even if the book does not go on to sell well in stores.

Considering the book publisher’s responsibilities, a more appropriate question might be, “How can they publish a book in such a short time?”

Copyright 2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

Book Publishing Scams and Writer, Beware! warn writers about the perils of fake book publishing companies. Self-publishing can be a viable option if you learn what it is and what it isn’t.

Starting from the writer’s words to the printed book, a publishing professional offers a nonfiction trade book timeline that summarizes book publishing steps for authors.

Writers dream of having their name on a published book. So of course they are eager to know how soon they’ll be able to hold a copy of their book—their book—in their hands.

The short answer is up to 1-2 years.

That’s the time it generally takes to publication with a legitimate trade publisher. And that’s after you’ve delivered the completed manuscript and it has been accepted, not when you sign the publishing contract. (NOTE: There are some publishers who manage to get the book in print in less than 6 months, but it’s not the norm.)

The timeline grows longer if you consider the whole series of steps necessary to get from your great idea to a published book.

It works like this:

* The author develops the idea into a book proposal, taking a few days or weeks. (NOTE: Nonfiction books are sold before they are written.)

* It takes days, weeks, or months to get an agent to onboard to represent your proposal to publishers. (You can skip this step if you already have an agent or you are selling to the smaller presses without an agent.)

* The marketing process can take weeks or months, sometimes even years to completion. (I have sold projects within 24 hours, sometimes even 2 hours after offering them, but this is unusual.)

* The publisher typically needs days or maybe weeks for in-house consideration, which involves many steps before making an offer.

* The offer is negotiated; the publisher draws up the contract; the contracts are issued, sent and signed. It can take days or (rarely) weeks to come to terms, perhaps longer if the publisher has to get their attorney’s approval.

* Now it’s time to write the book, meeting the contracted deadlines for delivery. The writer has weeks or months, or sometimes a year or more to finish the text.

* The publisher edits the text, returns it to the author to review, answer questions, incorporate suggestions, respond to comments, etc—all of this takes a few more weeks or months.

* The publisher has more work to do, such as: laying out the book text, arranging for the indexing, designing the covers, writing jacket blurbs and catalogue copy, scheduling the print run, taking pre-pub book orders, consulting the PR department, shipping the printed books and more, taking additional weeks or months.

* The publisher sends the galleys (page proofs) to the author for final read-through of the text exactly as it will appear in print, usually allowing 7-10 days. Then the publisher tweaks any last-minute typos or other minor corrections and the book goes to press.

As you can see, book publication is a multi-step process involving a myriad of details, each important to the quality of the book.

So, I guess the complete answer to how long it takes to publish a book is: it depends. Plug the above steps into a schedule (which, incidentally, is exactly what a book publisher does) and you’ll have a more precise answer.

The exception: Crash books.

Learn why a book might be published in mere days or weeks in Crash Books: Extreme Publishing.

Copyright 2006 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

We’ve all read so many books, that perhaps we feel we are well-acquainted with the many elements that go inside them. But are we, really? Let’s identify and define the interior parts of a book.

What’s Inside a Published Book?

Not all of these elements are in all published books, nor are they always in the order presented here.

Starting inside the front cover, let’s take a tour. . .

End Papers:

Also called Leaves, these are the blank pages (perhaps with images) you find at the beginning and end of a book. They function to fill out the Signatures.  Some books, particularly paperbacks, may not have End Papers.

An historical photograph illustrating a setting from the novel appears on the End Papers of The Christmas Pearl by Dorothea Benton Frank.

Half Title Page:

Only the book title appears on this page; the rest is blank space.

Other Books by the Author Page:

This optional list might appear on the opposite side of the Half Title page, or on its own page following the Half Title page or elsewhere.

Title Page:

The book title and the names of the author(s) and the publisher are found here. Additional information appears on the back side of this page: the copyright notice, the ISBN (the International Standard Book Number) and printing numbers, the publisher’s address, the year the book was published, and the Library of Congress Catalogue information.

Dedication Page:

This optional element allows the author to dedicate the book to someone or something.

Meg Schneider and I chose to dedicate The Everything Guide to Writing a Book Proposal: Insider Advice on how to Get Your Work Published to our readers: “For authors everywhere, we offer these tools to help you in your pursuit of publication. May success attend your quest!”

Acknowledgements:

Here the author thanks people helpful in some way relative to the book: perhaps a writing instructor, the editor at the publishing house, the author’s agent, a supportive spouse, etc.  The Acknowledgements might follow the Dedication, the Table of Contents or even appear in the Back Matter, depending on the publisher’s preference.

Sometimes the author says thanks by cleverly using the book’s theme or images.  For instance, in The New Year’s Quilt, author Jennifer Chiaverini offers symbolic bottles of champagne to publishing professionals, party hats and noisemakers to her nanny, a chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” to family and friends, and a “sky full of fireworks for my husband, Marty, and my sons, Nicholas and Michael, for making every New Year the happiest yet.”

Table of Contents:

Also known in the publishing industry as the TOC, the Table of Contents lists the individual chapters and the other elements found in the book plus the page where each begins. It’s more typically found in nonfiction books than in novels.

List of Charts, Diagrams, Photos or Illustrations:

If included, this might follow the TOC to further detail the book’s contents.

Foreword:

A special kind of introduction that offers supportive information relevant to the book, the Foreword is written by someone other than the book’s author.

Preface:

Written by the book’s author, the Preface contains important information relating to the book topic, but outside of the book’s contents.

For example, in The Gift, the Preface (here called the Author’s Note) is where Richard Paul Evans reveals that he has Tourette’s syndrome.

Front Matter:

All the pages up to this point are called the Front Matter. The page numbering is done in Roman numerals or some other system that differs from the Body pagination.

Introduction:

The author gives the reader more details about the book in this optional section. In trade nonfiction books, the Introduction may be an informal “Dear Reader” letter getting the reader excited about the information presented, inviting the reader inside the book and giving an overview of the book’s contents. The pagination starts here.

Body or Chapters:

This refers to the text of the book, which is usually broken down into chronologically numbered and named elements called Chapters.

In nonfiction books each chapter may be divided into sub-titled segments which may be included in the TOC.

In fiction, the chapters might contain segments called Scenes; these are separated by blank space within the text. They are usually not referenced in the TOC.

In both fiction and nonfiction, chapters might be grouped together and labeled as Part 1, Part 2, etc.

Back Matter:

All the pages appearing after the body of the book are called the Back Matter; they are usually included in the pagination of the Book Body.

Afterword:

Any additional information for the reader to know after having read the book goes here.

For example, a nonfiction crime book might include an update about how the victims are doing or the result of an appeal.

Appendices:

Nonfiction books may have one or more Appendix listing recommended books, websites, organizations, or other resources relating to the book topic.

Fiction only occasionally has an Appendix. For example, The Christmas Pearl includes recipes for the food mentioned throughout the novel.

Glossary:

Usually found in nonfiction books, this section lists vocabulary words and their definitions as they relate to the book’s subject matter.

Bibliography:

Lists the references used in writing the book.

Index:

Usually in nonfiction books, the Index is an alphabetical list of significant terms found in the text and the pages they appear on, helpful to someone seeking specific information in the book.

Author Bio or Biography:

A sentence, paragraph or even a page about the author.

End Papers or Leaves: (see above.)

Now that you know about the interior parts of a published book, you may be interested in reading Physical Anatomy of a Book, which describes and defines the physical elements of a published book.

Copyright 2006-2007 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

We all are aware that a book is a collection of printed pages bound together and surrounded by a cover. But there is more to a book than that. Let’s take a closer look at the elements that go into making a published book.

Starting from the outside

Dust Jacket:

This is a paper that wraps around the cover of a hardback book, with ends folded inside the book itself. The original idea was to protect the cover, which might have been made of fine leather and linen cloth, from dust and scratches. Now the jacket might be more important than the cover, as it is designed by an artist to be eye-catching and to project a conscious and subconscious message about the contents.

Front cover:

On a hardback book, the actual cover sans dust jacket might be rather plain. It is likely made of paper-covered cardboard rather than leather and linen.  On a paperback, the front cover takes the place of the dust jacket as a sales piece to communicate information about the book. As such, it is designed by an artist and usually printed in full color.

Spine:

This is the left side of the book (in the West) where the pages are bound. It is often the only part of the book that is visible in the bookstore where most books are shelved, rather than displayed face out. The spine usually contains the book’s title (but maybe not the subtitle), at least the last name of the author, and the publisher’s identity, usually by including their logo because there is not enough room for their company name or imprint.

Back cover:

Further sales information about the book is found on the flip side of the book, on either the dust jacket or the back paperback cover. Included here might be the author bio and photo, further sales info about the contents of the book, advance critical acclaim for the book or endorsements of the book or the author.

Signatures:

Quality hardback books are made up of several signatures that are sewn together to create the whole book. You can see these if you examine the page edges at the top or bottom of the book spine.  A signature is a portion of the book with the number of pages being a multiple of 16. Each signature is bound individually, and then all are bound together collectively. If the text of the book does not run into an even multiple of 16 pages, the publisher might add blank pages at the front and back of the book to fill out the signatures for printing purposes.

Fancy End Paper:

On a quality hard cover book, the paper glued inside the front cover and back cover might be a heavier weight and either printed with a design or perhaps dipped into oil paint floated on water and then stirred to make a swirled design.

Copyright 2006-7 by Barbara Doyen. All rights reserved.

Also read:

Anatomy of a Book: The Contents