Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Books & Such Midwest Office, IL
Today we’ll visit two of the rooms down the hallway at Your Publishing House, Inc.: the editorial and design departments.
The editor and acquisitions team are meeting with the designer to give him a vision for your book and direction for the cover design. The designer will translate this vision into several initial cover proofs to present at the next meeting with acquisitions. He’ll also prepare sample interior designs. Often authors will be able to give input on their cover design. The acquisitions editor will surely listen to your thoughts about your book’s cover early on and send you a copy of the final approved cover as a courtesy.
If you have serious objections to it, this is a perfect example of when to bring your agent into the conversation. The goal: come up with the closest-to-perfect cover that will convince thousands of customers to choose your book over all those others on the shelf or in the catalog.
The editorial process goes something like this: The editor and copy editor have skillfully prepared your manuscript and will insert certain design codes in the appropriate spots as soon as the interior design is complete and approved by acquisitions and editorial. From here your edited manuscript will move to typesetting. Typesetting is part of the production department; we’ll go there on Friday. It’s sufficient now to know that typesetting has a deadline to produce two sets of first page proofs, called galleys. One set will be sent to you for review and to mark corrections or changes you want to request. Take time now rather than later to be thorough in giving your thoughtfully considered change requests. The editor will route the other set to the acquisitions editor to review when he is finished looking it over.
When you return your set of galleys to editorial, the editor and copy editor will review your requests and possibly consult with you before incorporating your changes with theirs and the acquisitions editor’s on the editor’s set. It is now ready to go back to typesetting for first pages. Hopefully, there won’t be a need to repeat this process beyond second pages. Remember, every step has a deadline.
You will work directly with the editor and acquisitions editor throughout this process. But again, if you aren’t feeling heard when you’ve tried talking to them about a serious concern, bring in your agent. You need to maintain a good working relationship with these people.
Meanwhile, the designer is working hard to make the deadline for producing your book’s killer cover. Marketing is waiting to insert it in the sales catalog and promotional pieces. I’ll take you there tomorrow.
What functions within these departments were you already familiar with, and what was new information? Has there been an Aha moment on our tour down the hallway thus far?
It is such a relief to know that when I get to that point (Note the hint of determination) that I will have some say in the design process. I always wondered how much the author was able to be involved. Given the fact the author has a visual of the story in their head I would find it disheartening if they weren’t able to see it all the way through.
My situation was a bit different because I was published with a small press, but I had a very nervous moment soon into this process. The publisher had suggested an illustrator for my first picture book, but his sample illustration of the main character wasn’t anything like I had imagined. I was looking for a more realistically drawn character and his was more cartoonish.
I didn’t quite know what to do. This was my first book, should I say anything to the publisher or just hope it all worked out in the end? I prayed on it and I knew in my gut that I was so uncertain about working with this person on the project that I had to express my concerns and hope it didn’t impact the publisher’s opinion of me.
She understood, and I was matched with an illustrator whose style I knew well, and who I felt would bring my story to life in the way I had imagined. I’ve also seen more work by the original illustrator who was slated to work on my book, and I hope to contract with him in the future for a project I have in mind.
Thanks for this great series of articles this week. I’m so glad someone directed me to this blog.
Cheryl
It may vary from one publisher to another, but my experience has been that the house doesn’t really want (or need) a whole lot of input from the author when it comes to the outside of the book, and I’ve grown to accept that. My job is on the inside of the book, making sure that someone who plunks down money for the experience isn’t disappointed. That’s about craft, the art of writing. But the outside of the book (yes, even including the title) is about marketing, about attracting customers’ eyes in a sea of book covers. It’s about curb appeal. That too is art, but it requires a whole different set of tools, of thought processes, and it sometimes takes a bit of maturing on the writer’s part, learning to let the marketing and design people do what they do best. I say trust them, and don’t demand or expect a lot of input on the outside of the book. You probably won’t get it anyway, at least until you’re selling so many books they HAVE to listen to you.
Mary, your excellent series this week about the process fleshes out the bits of knowledge I’ve picked up along the way. Thanks, too, for answering my earlier question.
Dale, you explained it very well! Sorry that I gave the wrong impression, Salena. I should have worded that sentence better. The acquisition editor may ask for your input early on, but you might not know what your cover will look like until you receive a print copy. Your cover is all about marketing is part of the publisher’s responsibility.
This answers my question from Monday. Thanks so much for another informative post!
I knew there were several steps within editorial and publication, but it’s really helpful to see each step clearly stated as you have done. Thank you!
I would like to know more about galleys – what’s included, what the author should particular be looking for, etc. It sounds like that might be more in another post.
I appreciate, again, the emphasis you’re placing on cooperative, trusting relationships. Reminders like these are always useful! Thank you!
I’m a day late to this discussion (we were very busy watching the snow fall yesterday). It seems to me that launching a book is a lot like sending a child off to college: you have to give up control, trust others and have faith! My boys spoke up when they thought I was hovering. The image of my manuscript talking back tickles my fancy; hopefully I’ll respond to a polite “it’s time to let go,” and not wait till it bellows “back off, woman!”
Thanks, Mary, for the insight.
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