A lot of people email me or post messages about book release dates and I thought I should explain just how lengthy a process it is to go from submitting the proposal to actually seeing it on the shelves. Case in point is DESPERATE HOODWIVES. Adrianne and I sold that book back in May of 2006 (I think) and as you all can tell it did not get released until January 2008. Almost two years later!! LOL. A less drastic example is Make You Mine. It was due to my editor in July or August and its release date is May 2009–almost 10 months later.
There are so many steps in getting a book published-outline, synopsis, proposal, negotiations, contract signing, payment of advances, due date of book, acceptance of manuscript by editor, edits/revisions, copy edits, page proofs, etc., etc.
All of this and much more goes into getting a book published. There are so many hands and eyes that see and touch a book. Sometimes you wonder if 9 months production time is enough–and production starts after you turn the book in.
I guess I want people to understand that the long layover in between books is so out of my–or any other non self-pubbed writer’s–control. Trust me, I appreciate the love and support readers have for my books. I really do. I wish I could get them released sooner. Hell, sometimes its so long in between turning the book in and its delivery to the stores, that I have to remind myself about things in the book. Which is why I love hearing from the readers because your enthusiasm about a books makes it new and fresh for me all over again.
On a side note: One reader asked if it was all of my books, genres, pseudonyms, etc that holds up other book releases. LOL. Because I’m with different publishers the hustle of it all falls on me. One publisher doesn’t know my agreement on book due dates with another. They might move a publication or pub date from one month to another to ensure I don’t have two books dropping the same month but due dates are generally set by them and if I sign the contracts agreeing to a romance due in June and a mainstream due in July–it’s my problem, not theirs! LOL. Case in point: I will not get a vacation from writing until April 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if I didn’t have the YAs coming or the urban fiction or the mainstream, the release dates for my romance would not change at all.
Hope this post helps people understand a little about the behind the scenes production of books. Trust me there’s a lot going down before it reaches your hands.
Best 2 U All,
N.
Official Niobia Bryant Website