Hurry Up and Wait
One of the things I wasn't expecting when I started the publishing process was how much dependence I would have on other people doing their part. I spent unmeasurable amounts of time writing, editing, proofing, editing, rereading, rewriting, and editing my book. By the time I felt ready to send it on to the publishing process, I was already pretty amped up to just see it done and ready to go. Guess what? That's not how this works. That's not how any of this works.
I leapfrogged over the phase where I grovel to agents and publishing houses to "Please, please, pretty please represent and publish my book!" I went the self-publishing route with Createspace on Amazon because I had the means and opportunity to do so. I'm a hands-on kind of guy so I liked the idea of being a major part in my production process. I'm also a bit of a control freak, so I was never entirely cozy with the notion of having a publishing house come at me with, "We like your book overall, but we need you to get rid of *such and such* part." The upfront cost hit me in the face like a 2x4, I won't lie, but I still get to be the captain of this ship. Overall, this scenario sits well with me.
What I wasn't counting on was how much time I would spend waiting to hear back from the professionals working on various aspects of my book. Apparently there isn't some publication genie that snaps his fingers and suddenly "BAM!", finished book, proceed to go and collect $200. (Dang it!)
Each part of the book publishing phase takes time. Designing the cover, reviewing the cover, approving the cover. Reviewing the marketing questionnaire, writing up the marketing material, reviewing the marketing material, approving the marketing material. Submitting the manuscript for line editing, actually editing the manuscript, reviewing and working up the suggested changes, resubmitting the manuscript for copy editing. And so on. Each phase is handled by a different team. Each team has however many hundreds of projects running at any given time. So while I'm sitting here cranking away on all the unexpected behind the scenes projects, they're doing their thing on my book and any number of other books. Every now and then I'll get the ball tossed back to me, I do my part as quickly and efficiently as I can, and pass it back to them. Publishing a book is a mind-blowingly huge team effort, which wasn't something I was thinking about when I started this process.
I submitted my book for publication in January. If all goes well, and I stay on top of my end of things, I should be going to print in late April. At times it's frustrating because I just want to see my book out there making its mark. The reality is I'm glad it's taking its time to get there because I want my book to make the best first impression it possibly can. I can be patient if it means my book comes across professionally produced and ready. Even if it is a great story, having it slopped together just so it can hit the market at top speed isn't going to fulfill the goals of having a successful book series.
The great part of all of this is that I'm learning. Moving forward I'll have a better idea of what to expect and what time frames to anticipate. So while I "hurry up and wait" for my copy edit to return for my part of the revision process, I'm working on book 2, preparing for marketing and promotions, and taking care of the usual life details. As it turns out, this is all part of being an author whether it was expected or not.
In the mean time we continue ever forward! - C. Robert Jones
