Musings on the work that begins AFTER the first readable draft is complete
I recently turned in the first full readable draft of a multi-author manuscript. The team was elated. Each author had already spent months of effort working with me to revise their chapters. I line-edited their draft work, helped craft needed transitions, and ghostwrote passages when needed. It was exciting to see that first full draft head out to a pool of beta readers.
But I braced the team. “Don’t pop the champagne bottle just yet,” I said. “We still have a few more revisions to complete. And then you’ll exchange writing and editing tasks for marketing.”
Let’s unpack that. Book-craft is a multi-stage process, including several crucial steps that are often unfamiliar to new writers. Here’s a highly abbreviated, far-from-comprehensive summary:
Writing
1. Starting out – Idea generation and rough outlining or mind-mapping
2. Interviewing and early draft writing
Revision and Editing
3. Structural refinement – AKA developmental editing and content editing
4. Complete draft compositing and internal line editing
5. Initial beta readers – Readers from your book’s target market who provide initial critique
Feedback and More Editing
6. Revisions in response to beta reader feedback
7. Additional internal line editing and copyediting of newly revised sections and new content
8. Follow-up feedback from beta readers and additional revisions if necessary
9. Final copyedit
Marketing Efforts – Directed at publication
10. Advance copies provided to trusted praise-writers/endorsers
11. Author platform-building efforts – Develop social media following, speaking engagements, guest articles or journal submissions, podcast interviews, blogging/guest blogging, etc.
12. Shop for agent/publisher if not already secured – This often takes 12 to 24 months; expect dozens of rejections
13. Agent/publisher negotiations – Can be months in the making
Marketing Efforts – Directed at sales
14. Continue book-marketing and platform-building efforts while publisher slates the book for publication – Often takes another 12-18 months
15. Additional praise-writers secured by publisher – Advance Review Copies (ARCs) sent to book reviewers and retailers 6 months+ prior to publication
16. Publisher’s final internal editing
17. Author builds anticipation for pre-orders and book release through increased speaking engagements and interviews
Book Release and More Marketing
18. Actual book release and initial signings
19. 1 to 2 years of intensified book-marketing efforts – Book signings, author events, social media promotions, speaking, interviews, webinars
The author team for my current project secured a publisher before the manuscript was complete (an ideal situation for any author). But they still have their work cut out for them right now. We’re barely at mid-point in the above list. We need to complete significant revision work, then another round of internal editing. Once the manuscript heads to the publisher, the authors’ tasks do not end. They simply change.
Marketing efforts amp up. In fact, publishers now expect authors to have much of their “marketing machine” established before they even share a manuscript with an agent or publisher.
Agents and publishers often base their representation decisions on whether an author already has a website, social media following, established speaking career, and short works previously published in magazines or journals.
Today, making a living as a writer is challenging and involves many tasks that have nothing to do with the solitary task of writing. The writer’s life rarely looks like the idyllic archetype of the reclusive writer hiding in a cabin in the woods… churning out reams of perfected prose during months of glorious solitude. (Once in a while, I do just that; but I have to set aside and fight for that time.)
A few years ago, NPR covered an Authors Guild survey that found author incomes had declined by 30 percent from 2009 to 2015, and “more than half of the respondents earned less than $11,670 (the 2014 federal poverty level) from their writing related income.” Shoot. That’s bleak.
But it’s also a sign of the industry-wide shifts and opportunities for authors who are willing to bring their creativity to every aspect of their new “book business.” Now, more than ever, book sales depend on the author’s marketing savvy. Simultaneously, conventional publishers no longer “take care of the marketing”. Successful authors spend the same amount of personal time, resources, and creativity on marketing tasks, whether they self-publish or secure a conventional publisher.
Yes, There’s a Bright Side
An author who has some creative social media skills (or is willing to learn them) will find a new world of tools and methods to grow their readership and book sales. Publishers have become more hands-off regarding the marketing , which means authors have a lot of freedom to invent their own strategies for connecting with their readers.
If you have a book idea in mind and you can’t wait to get it out there in the world, that enthusiasm is beautiful and good. But it must be tempered with a pragmatic understanding and respect for your new dual role going forward. You are now both author and marketer of a product—your book.
Begin learning about that other role before you start writing. This doesn’t have to squelch your creativity. I promise. On the contrary, the most successful writers bring their unique creativity and originality directly into this other task. They learn that marketing, at its most genuine, involves using today’s communication tools to connect with potential readers and build a relationship with them.
Learn a bit about this path before racing forward with your book project. I strongly recommend taking a book-marketing class or two through a reputable organization like The Loft Literary Center or Writer’s Digest online workshops. Book-craft is a years-long journey, and the book is only one aspect of a larger authorial career. Be ready for that slower, long-term journey. Then you’ll be able to set (and celebrate) much healthier goals along the way.
Anika Hanisch is a ghostwriter in the natural health world. She also co-writes, coaches, and edits survivor/thriver memoirs. Take some time to learn more about her genre preferences, then contact her about involvement in your next book!