What happens between writing and publishing?
So much! Here's how it's going. Plus, join me for a Creative Hour on Sunday.
Last night I saw a friend who is working on her first book proposal, and had questions for me about what actually happens from pitch to publication. She kept apologising for that, which was unnecessary because I’m obsessed with the process and love nothing more than to chat about it. I feel like I’m on a magical tour of publishing, with every week bringing new unexpected tasks and developments (I’m sure my publisher would object that they did actually tell me at the beginning what to expect; I think writing the book felt so enormous that I couldn’t take much else in until it was done). I’m sure if I write more books, this novelty will wear off, but the first time you go through it, it’s very exciting.
I thought I might be twiddling my thumbs at this point, having delivered the manuscript at the end of 2023. In reality, I almost continuously have book stuff to do. First my editor Laura read it, and came back with notes and suggestions. That was brilliant, because I hadn’t shown her anything since the proposal (almost a year earlier), so she had the distance from it to see all kinds of issues that I couldn’t. Within a month or so, we had significantly improved the book, which feels great.
Then it went to the copy-editor, whose job it is to look out for spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, inconsistencies of style and so on. I used to do similar work as a sub-editor on magazines, so I love discussing all of these things, though I don’t do it at parties. What I’ve realised, thanks to my very good copy-editor, is that I have a taste for commas and I sprinkle them liberally over my writing, like over-salting a stew. Again, the book is improving because of Jack’s eagle eye.
While all this is going on, because In Writing draws heavily on interviews with writers, I’ve been contacting them all individually to check they’re happy with what I’m using. In some cases they’ve also asked for edits. Shortly the book will go to the typesetter, who will lay it out on the page, and then we’ll proofread it – so the editing won’t really end until May (the book comes out in November).
Meanwhile other exciting parts of the publication process are revving up. We have a cover design for the book now – I can’t wait to show it to you, which I should be allowed to do later this month. My editor and I are making lists and plans, and I have a meeting next week with the publicist who will look after my book, who is speaking to festival producers. I am loving it all.
I’m obviously no expert, but if you’re at the beginning of this process or hoping to publish a book in the future, and you have any questions, do ask me and I’ll try to help. If you’re a published author, as I know many of you are: what surprised you the most, the first time you went through it?
This Sunday 17 March, 5pm UK time, I’m hosting an In Writing Creative Hour on Google Meet. Here’s a timezone converter in case you’d like to attend from outside the UK – just put your location in the second set of boxes. (It’s worth checking, because some time differences are skewed at the moment due to clocks going forward.) If you’re a paying subscriber, you’ll get the link in your inbox several hours beforehand.
The following two Creative Hours will be on Sunday 24 March and Sunday 14 April. I’m sorry they’re not always evenly spaced out – I try to do them alternate Sundays, but sometimes Mother’s Day/Easter/life gets in the way.
I genuinely look forward to seeing everyone who takes part. It’s become such a feel-good part of my weekend, and it’s also the most effective tactic I’ve found in forcing myself to address a tricky bit of writing. If you’re a regular, thank you, and if you feel like giving it a try for the first time, here’s a discount that you can use until Monday.
That brings a subscription down to £48 a year or £4.80 a month. Think of all the productivity! It’s a steal.
See you Sunday I hope, and good luck with your writing this week!
I was reminded tonight the importance of just showing up/bum in seat for the writing process. Came to my first Sunday Creative Hour and was a bit frustrated by how little I got down on paper. I was struggling with structuring an ‘arc’ for a new writing project. Got up from desk, had a glass of water and took a shower where the arc landed instantly ☺️ Sometimes what looks like stuck is just limbering up? 💃🏻
Hurray for your exciting process and hurray for Sunday. I’ve been trying to find time to sit down and put down and flesh out a couple of ideas that have been rolling around my head the last few weeks but just haven’t had the life space to do it. This is just the appointment I need. I copy-edited (with absolutely no valid qualifications to do so) my husband’s masters dissertation and discovered he quite liked a semicolon. I very much suspect that like you, I lean more towards the humble comma. Maybe one day I’ll write something that actually needs to be copy-edited and we’ll find out! 😂. See you Sunday hopefully!