Blogger: Mary Keeley
Count yourself blessed if you have an editorial deadline looming. It means you have a new book contract. Your agent should have negotiated a realistic manuscript due date during the contract negotiation, based on your other writing deadlines or personal matters. This is only the first of a variety of deadlines throughout the book production process. A peek at the schedule inside the publishing house through the lens of missed deadlines shows why it’s important to approach them as if they’re set in stone.
Your book’s release date could be as much as eighteen months away, meaning your manuscript isn’t due for many months. It’s tempting to think Ah, I have plenty of time and then turn your attention to other things you want to get out of the way first before you get down to business of finishing your book. The problem with putting your writing off is that the unexpected arises in any number of forms.
Publication Process: an Intertwined Set of Steps
In-house approval of your manuscript triggers the creation of your book’s production schedule. First, your editor disseminates your approved manuscript to your in-house team: the designer, typesetter, PR and marketing team, print buyer, and project manager. The project manager is charged with the responsibility of creating your book’s production schedule. He or she then manages its progression throughout the production process to final proofs from the printer.
Ripple Effect of Missed Deadlines
Say, for example, something happens that takes you away from your writing and then you have to spend all-nighters the last weeks to finish the book. But you still can’t turn your manuscript in on time. Because you rushed to finish, your work isn’t your best and your editor wants revisions before it can be approved. These delays cause a ripple effect on the rest of the production process.
The delay disrupts your designer’s schedule. When this happens, the typesetter is delayed because he or she can’t begin to lay out the print pages in galleys without the designer’s directions for the interior design. This causes a further delay in editorial review of galleys and also sending them to you for review.
The missed deadline also means the designer gets a late start working on your book’s cover. The sales department is waiting for the final cover to insert in the publisher’s seasonal catalog that the sales reps take to their accounts. When this happens, they often use a preliminary cover proof. Later on when the accounts place their orders, they may not recognize your book by the final cover.
Costly Adjustments
The project manager had to adjust–compress–the production schedule when your manuscript missed the deadline to the designer. As a result you might have only a week or ten days to review the galleys word-for-word, enter corrections and requests, and return them to your editor. Imagine the multiplied ripple effect of another missed deadline at this point.
In the meantime the typesetter’s production of final page proofs from the revised galleys is delayed. In turn, the print buyer, who has been waiting for the final page count from the page proofs, has missed a good price on paper. The effect is a higher cost of goods to print the books and a lower profit margin for the publisher. The publisher and your team are not happy to be working with you.
Your Best Practice: A Writing Schedule Set in Stone
Here is a simple remedy to prevent a nightmarish scenario from happening:
- Determine how many days between contract signing and the manuscript due date specified in your contract. Subtract a month’s time for unexpected circumstances, family events, or weekends when you plan not to write, and a week to edit your finished manuscript.
- Divide your target word count by the remaining number of writing days to get your word count per each day of writing. This is the best way to stay on course to make your deadlines. If you don’t make a daily goal, you know right away how much you have to make up on the next day. Don’t let it go more than a day.
What did you learn that you didn’t already know about the book production process? About the involved production schedule? Do you see why you must view your deadlines as set in stone?
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How Much Should Agents Edit?
Great post, Mary.
* Agreeing to a deadline is my word, my word is my honour, and my honour defines my character. More blood than stone, yeah?
* Prayers requested. Not doing well.
Lord, watch over our friend Andrew. Grant him the grace of some much-needed rest and the mercy of a break from the pain. May the words that dance through his head comfort and encourage him and remind him how much he is loved. Amen.
Shirlee, thank you so much. The night was an ordeal, and the day ahead leaves me very frightened, but the prayers of friends and the Grace of God will carry me through to rise again tomorrow, or to walk with Jesus in the Elysian Fields.
Praying for you, friend.
Jeanne, thank you. The prayers are appreciated and very much needed. Things are going downhill. Need a miracle.
Asking God’s perfect love to cast out any fear, and for Him to work that miracle.
Andrew, we continue to pray and wait to hear how you are doing. You are important to all of us in this blog community.
Praying for God’s grace and mercy to be multiplied to you today.
Absolutely Andrew. Let your yes be yes, your no be no, and your deadline be your deadline.
And yes, Lord, lay your healing hand on my brother, Andrew. Strengthen his courage, and ease his frustrations.
The older I get, the more space I like to build between my deadline and the real one. I have learned from life that *&%! happens. And I don’t do all-nighters as well as I used to.
Isn’t that the truth, Shirlee. Your voice of experience speaks to all of us.
Mary, I always like to see logistics mapped out. Your suggestion to plan on a month for dealing with the unexpected, and a week to read through final edits.
*I completely understand the reason deadlines need to be set in stone. In meeting that deadline, we honor the commitments others are making on our behalf.
“In meeting that deadline, we honor the commitments others are making on our behalf.” Well said and easy to remember, Jeanne.
I’ve had four babies.
Each of them arrived too early.
#4 was WAY too early. Hello ox/sat monitors and specialized neonatal care.
Then once the kids were older, then came the mission trips. I learned after the first one to be ready 4 days before hand, and to sleep all I could in those 4 days. Oh, and have everything I needed for 3 days, in my carry-on. Alos? Colour photocopies of my passport stored in each and every piece of my luggage. And to never be separated from that document. That piece of paper is the only thing between me and serious, serious trouble.
I do not like to be caught unprepared. Nor do I like to wing it. I’ve heard enough ‘war stories” from people in the industry to do my utmost to never be that person who shut down a production line.
The saying “there’s no I in team” is fine. But there is a “me”.
Who is responsible for my actions? Me.
So whatever this “me” does, she’d better honour those who carry her work into the world.
Jennifer, you’re a wise student from others’ experiences. “An ounce of prevention . . . ” is the motivation behind creating a firm writing schedule.
Here’s a good example of a writer getting in a bind and having to carry on towards her deadline.
Ann is SUCH a sweet lady.
I give you, Ann Gabhart’s blog post for today: http://www.annhgabhart.com/2017/03/01/typing-with-nine-fingers
Oh that is quite a story… she should incorporate it into her next book!
Some people laugh at me for my tenacity with deadlines. I’ve always been the kind of person that will arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled “arrive by” time. I like to have cushion, and rushing about at the last minute-while it got me through college with all papers written-stresses me out and leads to fuzzy brain syndrome. The same is true for writing deadlines. I preorder to finish before deadline to give time to let it stew and have time for a re-read and final minute changes before turning it in to my editor. I tend to turn my magazine articles in several days to a week before deadline in case I took it in a direction the editor wasn’t looking for, I have time to make changes without stopping up the workflow for everyone else.
Jennifer, I’m sure you are appreciated for your respectful timeliness by all those you work with. Your approach creates increases a great author reputation.
Being ahead of the game keeps me calm. When I had my appendectomy and many complications after, I thanked the Lord that I had all my articles complete … and even though I’d be speaking at a women’s conference only 2-1/2 weeks later, I was relieved that I had my speaking notes in place and all I had to do when my strength returned was to practice. 🙂
“Being ahead of the game keeps me calm.” Oh, so true. I felt my shoulders relax at the mere reading of those words, Shelli. Your advance preparation is impressive.
Being a fairly Type A person, I can’t imagine anything more stressful than missing a deadline. I would do just about anything to avoid that, which is why I hope I would be very careful and wise about accepting a contract/deadline if the opportunity ever came up!
Yes, Katie, authors and their agents need to take a serious look at the publisher’s initial manuscript due date in the contract offer. If it isn’t realistic for the author’s writing commitments and personal schedule, the agent should negotiate an extension right away.
This is a grim scenario! Thank you for letting us know, Mary. This info will certainly keep us on our toes I think.
Kristen, I think it helps writers to understand the book production process and the ripple effect that occurs in-house when an author misses a deadline. Your publishing team will love working with you and you are all in as a team player.
Useful rule of thumb: the last 10% of any task takes 30% of the time.
The larger the job, the earlier I sent my own false deadline to make sure I meet the real one. If something happens to make that impossible, I let people know ASAP. I want everyone, friend or otherwise, to be able to say I always keep my word. It’s a matter of integrity, and my integrity or lack of it reflects on the Lord I serve.
Amen, Carol.
Andrew is having a horrible day. Prayers much appreciated.
Thanks for explaining the publishing process, Mary. It’s good to keep on hand as a reminder.