I wrote the other day about sending my new book, The Intuitive, off to my publisher for edits, but unless you are a writer, you might not understand how big a milestone that is and how it makes an author feel.
I thought I’d devote a post to explaining, from my personal perspective, what all the milestones are in getting a book from a glimmer of an idea to something that comes in multiple copies to your door. Some happen on a specific date and others are vaguer, but equally real.
Pre-Milestone 1: I spend months, sometimes years, thinking about dozens of women worth having their stories told
Milestone 1: I have done enough preliminary reach to know I’m onto a great story, and have decided to write a book
Milestone 2: I’ve gotten far enough into a first draft to know it’s worth sticking with, and I’m feeling committed for the duration
Milestone 3: I complete a full -length “discovery draft,” whose main purpose is to get to know my characters, and to assure myself the book will be about the right length (roughly 100,000 words).
Milestone 4: Revisions. This could really be Milestone 4-10, since I revise so many times
Milestone 5: The draft is good enough to show my first readers
Milestone 6: Incorporating their feedback
Milestone 7: Deciding it’s done enough to send to my agent, or now, directly to my publisher.
Milestone 8: Discovering it’s not really done after all, because she has so many suggestions
Milestone 9: One more draft, incorporating those comments
Milestone 10: In the past, this was getting a sale by my agent, but I skip that step with Sibylline, my publisher now
Milestone 11: Also no longer a step, getting the book back with acquiring editor’s comments and edits.
Milestone 12: Making those final edits
Milestone 13: Getting layout pages for one last edit, only for typos and small errors.
Milestone 14: Seeing the front and back covers
Milestone 15: Getting advance copies in a box on my doorstep.
Milestone 16: Pub date! Party time.
Every milestone is a chance for a huge exhalation of breath, and the strange experience of returning to the world from the place the book takes me. They all come with certain emotions, ranging from anxiety, to beleaguerment, to dread, to elation.
I just finished Milestone 12 for The Intuitive. What this means is that the writing is completely done. Even if I get a great idea, it’s too late. The book I sent to the editor is the book you will see, except hopefully we catch all the typos first!
It’s a weird feeling to know there is nothing more for me to do except wait for that last pass at Milestone 13. The good part is that everything else that happens doesn’t require work on my part. It’s all reward from here on out, after a process that has taken from start to finish a minimum of two years, and usually much more.
Except for marketing and publicity. Oh, yeah, for a moment I forgot that. It really does seem sometimes that the work of a book never ends, but for now I’ll just remember the celebratory moments I’ve already had, and pop the champagne on this one.
