Remember When The Latest Release Was Written

The publishing timeline is a bit wonky/ Too often, I believe authors, miss this mark. 

When you are looking at submitting projects to editors and agents, one of the first things you do is look at what is currently out there so you can demonstrate (and rightfully so) how your story matches up with the current competition. You want to make sure your stories are in line with the current trends. 

And this is good.

However, this is where that wonky timeline comes into play. What authors fail to remember is that the book that just came out, has been in the pipeline for some time. Let's back track this a bit with a made up example.

If the author is already under contract, this author has already discussed the idea with the editor when the contract was signed. They are already thinking way in advance of a potential series and what they are thinking will do well. During this time, that book is already placed in a slot for a publication date. That date may be at least a year out.

Now the author starts writing. Depending on the author's speed in writing, this may be anywhere between 3-6 months. Those bigger "best sellers" may be a year in the works, but please note, I am talking about those BIG NAME AUTHORS!!!!!

That book will then go through edits. This means the manuscript gets to an editor, a week or two later, the manuscript goes back to the author and is revised - add another 2+ weeks. If all goes well, the book can move on, but if the editor reads the revised manuscript (1-2 more weeks), and finds things that need to get changed, the book goes back to the author for another round. 

Note that this book will be in months before the release date. Along the way, this book is in the middle of cover production and early marketing on platforms such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

The book will be printed and ready to go, easily a month before the release date. Why? It has to get to the distributers. Your favorite book, that you plan to get in February is sitting in a warehouse and ready to go by potentially December.

Remember all of those ARC's. Authors are getting copies of their books months before you see it on the shelf. Come on, you had to have figured this part out. How did they get reviews for that book before the release date? 

So, what does this mean? Those rejection letters that you get that say something such as "Your writing is fantastic but the historical romance market is totally full now and we can't sell..." should start to make sense. Yes, the shelves may be packed. Yes, those books may be selling, but it the books in the pipeline that have bogged down works. 

Hope that helps!