Dare to Be Stupid

phyales and the_chavi have both asked about the publishing process. Since it's something plenty of people want to know about, I thought I'd start a separate post for the question. Here's what phyales asked (I'm switching the order of the questions):

What was your first step?
How long did it take?

My first step was to finish a book I thought was publishable, which meant writing and rewriting the manuscript. Then, using THE WRITERS MARKET 1978 for fiction markets (yes, it was that long ago), I looked up the names and addresses of publishers who were looking for fantasy novels. I sent the manuscript to four, all of which turned me down. I don't even remember two: Avon Publishers and Del Rey Books are the two I remember. While I waited to hear from publishers I worked at my jobs (tax clerk for a while, then housemother in a group home, where I told the story to my girls), wrote and submitted short stories (no sales), and tried to get another book going. I moved from Kingston, NY, to Buhl, ID, then to New York City. I got work as a temp secretary in publishing, to see what it was like, then a job as an office assistant at a literary agency. During all that, each time the book returned to me, I gave myself a week to be depressed, and then I sent it out again. (Short stories and articles got a day.) When my friend Craig, who trained me at the literary agency, found out I was sending a novel around, he told one of the women in accounting about it, and she told me to show it to one of the agents. That agent read half of the manuscript, and told me to rewrite it as four books for teenagers. Once I realized she was serious, I did the first book. She sent it to three publishers, the third of which took it after yet another rewrite. So it took from November, 1976, when I began the book I called THE SONG OF THE LIONESS, until March, 1982, I think it was, for me to sell my first novel, the one that would become ALANNA: THE FIRST ADVENTURE, published in September, 1983.

what was the process of first getting published like?

It involved two more rewrites, by typewriter, which meant a lot of cutting and pasting and retyping. ::rolled eyes:: My editor, Jean Karl, returned the manuscript to me with her notes on a multi-page letter and on the manuscript, and I tried to work out what she meant for each rewrite. I used to get really cranky about the changes she wanted, because I thought, "My Words Are Sacred. My Vision Is Sacred!" (Then, when I looked at the finished book, I realized that not only did I not remember what changes she had requested, but that the book was better because of her suggestions. That taught me a lot about what an editor does for her authors!)

I went to computer for IN THE HAND OF THE GODDESS, and it changed my attitude about rewrites completely. It wasn't hard labor anymore. The book became an organic green ribbon that I could move things on easily. I got a lot more comfortable with rewrites after that. I also reached the point where I only needed to rewrite twice for the first book in a series. Usually I only need to rewrite once for the others.

When I asked if I could suggest the cover design, Jean kindly told me that it was in good hands, and sent me jacket blanks of other covers the artist had done (some guy nobody ever hears of anymore named David Wiesner--he wins these things called the Caldecott Medal). I was much relieved, because I could see he would do a good job on my books.

While my rewriting and looking at covers went on, the art department had met to choose David and to come up with an overall jacket design, as well as a design for the interior of the book, including the stamp on the hard cover and the little doodads to mark the breaks between scenes. These days I see rough sketches of the cover and make comments on it. Once or twice I've been so vehement they change things, but that's very rare.

Next I get the copyedited manuscript. This is one the copyeditor reviews, making sure all the names are spelled the same way, all the dates match, that no one's hair changes color in the middle of the book, that they don't end up on the other side of the world on page 80 when they haven't traveled since page 30. They also check your grammar and spelling. This is a battlefield for me, because they're always correcting my dialog. I have to warn my editors in advance to tell my copyeditor to touch my dialog only if it is genuinely unclear. After 8 years in radio in the 1980s and 6 years with Full Cast Audio, I know how to write dialog. It is not grammatical, it has a lot of slang and dropped letters, and it is loaded with stammers and incomplete sentences. And if I my editor forgets to remind the copyeditor, somebody is going to get a shrieking phone call from me. It's the only temperamental thing I do, and my editors just laugh and apologize, so everybody understands. I also make changes on this manuscript, and my editors make changes and ask their last round of questions.

Maybe I'll do a separate post on working with editors. Yeah.

Marketing and sales work out their strategies (if they had any--I was pretty minor then). Nowadays it's different--they decide if they're going to do giveaways, book marks, posters, send me on tour, if they're going to do cardboard displays in the stores. They decide how many ARCS (advanced reader's copies) they'll do for the big book shows like BEA (Book Expo America), IRA (International Reading Associates), and (ALA) (American Library Association). There are more, but those are the big ones. Scholastic also has the Book Clubs to consider--who will get the book (depending on what age it's aimed at). Marketing and Sales also decide, with your editor's help, how many copies to print. If you're new and there isn't a reason for them to think there will be a large beginning demand, they do a small run, about 2500 copies. If they sell that out, they can print more. The bigger you are, the bigger the print run. That's kind of a guessing game. No one wants to run out of books in the first week of sales, when people really want it, but no one wants to be caught with 5000 books that they can't give away, either. Their accountant bosses get mad at them for that.

In the meantime I'm handing in the map and going over the typeset galley pages, making my last changes and catching any typos the printsetters made. Sometimes they ask me if there are any book reviewers or book stores who I think should get copies of the ARC. I get copies now of the jacket to show around.

About a month before the book is scheduled for release, I get my first author copy. When I got my first book, I couldn't even believe it was actually mind. I couldn't get used to seeing it in that for

Any advice for someone trying to do the same?

Here's where my hands are getting kinda tired, because I've been trying to catch up a lot on LJ today, so I'm going to point you to my webpage. I put everything I know about this in my FAQ on getting published. It's got the information for adult publishing, so just scroll past the stuff for younger writers. And what I have there is good. People do get published using THE WRITERS MARKET, just as I did. They also get agents and sell poetry, because I have friends who did.

Good luck to all of you writers. Remember, the key to all of this is sheer persistence. Look to the title of this LJ! There were plenty of people who were all too happy to tell me I didn't stand a chance of getting published (and the first person to say it was my mother). You don't know if you don't try--and try--and try--and try--oh, yeah. And keep writing while you try!