The other day I received an email from a potential client asking me if I would have an answer for him about representation quickly because he was counting on his book releasing from a traditional publisher this year. He felt that was plenty of time for an agent to shop the project and for it to go through the publishing steps. This kind of request isn’t uncommon, so I would like to take today to give you an idea of the publishing timeline after you find an agent. (And finding an agent can take a lot of time, too!) Remember, these time-frames are all estimates. Every book project is different.
Revamping the proposal with your agent for submission to editors: 1-4 months
Agent pitching and selling the project: 2 months- 2 years (sometimes longer and there’s no guarantee of a sale)
Contract negotiation: 2 weeks-4 months
If the publishing house sends out the contract to the agent right away, the process can move quickly, but contracts departments can experience a pile-up and agents can, too. The contract negotiation can overlap with other steps. You can be working on your final draft during the time the contract is negotiated.
Final book is due: 0 to 18 months after contract
Editorial revision letter back to author: Approximately 2 months after book is turned in.
Revisions done by author and sent back to publishing house: 7-30 days from the time the revision letter is received.
Galleys to author: 4-6 months after revisions
Galley corrections back to publisher: 7-14 days after receipt of galleys.
Book goes to the printer: 1-14 days after galleys are finalized.
Book ships to stores: 1 to 2 months after it is sent to printer.
Book officially releases: 1 to 2 weeks after stores receive the product.
Time that is likely to pass from receiving a publishing contract until your book is published: Between 1 and 2 years. Books can be produced faster than that, but that is considered a rushed project. And I’ve seen contracts for books that won’t be published for more than two years.
The traditional publishing world moves slowly. It’s one of the first lessons I had to learn when I started working at Books & Such as an intern. I was shocked when I learned how long it takes for a book to come out after the contract.
When did you first learn how slowly the publishing world can move?
How has patience paid off for you in your publishing journey?
Finally Finish Your Book: A Practical Plan for Writers
Yeah, it seems to take forever. Although, I found out pretty quickly in my writing journey since I took a great 2-year class right away! I’ve found that Christmas novellas go a bit faster, at least with a small press. It is interesting that now that I’ve switched to doing some self-publishing (for the Phooey Kerflooey books) that it still takes a long time and I still have deadlines. Someone was laughing at me because I was worried about my deadline. “Why would you have a deadline, you’re doing it yourself.” I had to explain that I couldn’t draw the character art myself and I had to schedule ahead for that. I couldn’t do the book design myself and had to schedule ahead for that. And while my critique partners and I could get a whole bunch of great editing done, that took time and had to be finished before my hired editor saw the piece. Then the editor’s work and my edits and the character art all had to be done before the cover designer started since she needs an exact page count to design the spine. Also, everything has to be finished four months before release day if I want to try to get reviews from say, Library Journal. I’m shooting for a release in June as kiddos head into summer and a release in September as kiddos head back to school, so I have this chart that keeps me hopping and making progress. Even as simplified as self-publishing is, I’ve found that doing so with skill and care takes time as well. Not nearly as much! But plenty, ha!