A Quick Look at the Publishing Process…

I’ve been so busy finishing book 5 and promoting Hunted that I’ve ignored my blog a little bit.  I apologize and will try to do better.  There will be some character interviews coming up that I think might be fun.  Lately I’ve had a few readers write to ask about the writing process, so I thought I’d give a quick lowdown to people who are just starting to write, or who are curious of one process.  (Keep in mind that everyone is different).  So for me, it goes like this:

1)  I sit down and have a fun idea for a scene to write.  It’s usually the first scene of the book, of how a hero and heroine meet, so I just write it.  Yes, I have about 10 first scenes written right now that I’d love to turn into full length books at some point.

2)  Then…I have to figure out who the heck these people are, what they want, and what’s going to stop them from getting what they want.

3)  I write the book.  Beginning to end.  The first 25,000 words, I love the book.  The second 25,000 words, I hate the book.  The remaining 40,000 words, I just want to get the book finished.  🙂

4)  After that first draft, I go back and add anything I’ve missed.  Then I go through and clean up/edit the book.  Then I print it out and do a hard copy edit–then go make those changes.

5)  The book is mailed in hard copy to my amazing agent.  She writes all over it (sometimes phone numbers or grocery lists) – once in a while there’s crayon or sports stickers from her kids.  (I love those).  She also sends editorial notes…like, expand this idea, or bring this out more…stuff like that.

6)  I make those changes and email the manuscript to my wonderful Editor.  She reads it, accepts it, and then emails some editorial suggestions, which I make.  Then if we don’t have a title chosen, we choose one.

7)  Months later, copy edits arrive.  Copy edits are commas, punctuation, misused words…(did you know that pistoning is not a verb?  Yeah?  Well, I didn’t.  Now I do.)  Copy editors are amazing and catch stuff most of use would never catch.  I love copy edits.  So, I go through and either agree or disagree…and then those go back usually within 7-10 days.

8)  Then, usually, we have a cover.  YAY!  This is always fun.  Then coverflats arrive!  Months later, usually ARCs arrive.  (Advanced Reader Copies).  These are the book without corrections and are sent to reviewers and used in contests.

9)  A few weeks after that, page proofs arrive.  Page proofs are a stack of papers that show what the book will actually look like on the page.  These have been typeset in, so there are some mistakes.  I go through it, and about 4 other people at the publisher go through it to catch any mistakes.  These are due back within 7-10 days.

10)  Finally,  my awesome editor sends me early promo copies of the actual book–usually around 6 weeks before release day.  (I also get author copies according to contract, but those come closer to release day).  Then…RELEASE DAY.

So, that’s a snippet of the publishing process.  At least, it’s a snippet of the process so far for me.  I hope that clears up the questions anybody sent.  Have a great weekend!  And remember, HUNTED releases NEXT TUESDAY!  🙂