The Publication Process
The publication process is not the same for every author. The steps can vary depending upon which publishing route you choose. There’s no right or wrong way to go. What’s best for one may not be what’s best for another. The options are traditional publishing, self-publishing, or hybrid publishing.
Traditional publishing typically involves getting a literary agent and requires submitting your manuscript to a publisher. Once the manuscript is accepted, the publisher handles editing, cover design, marketing, and everything in between. The downside, however, is that this route can take longer (you may get a lot of noes before getting a yes), the author has less control, and you earn fewer royalties from your book.
Self-publishing allows the author to maintain full rights and control over their work. Some self-publishing authors do editing, cover design, etc. themselves, while others hire someone to do those things for them. The downside to self-publishing is that it can be more costly upfront and marketing falls solely on the author, which can make it harder to get your book recognized and out into the world.
While still a form of self-publishing, hybrid publishing combines elements of traditional and self-publishing. With this option, the author submits their manuscript to a hybrid publisher and then pays that publisher for their resources (e.g., editing, formatting, cover design) while still maintaining control of their work. In the post “Hybrid Publishing: Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know” on janefriedman.com, Barbara Linn Probst puts it this way: “It’s like hiring a contractor. You pay the contractor to oversee the design, construction, plumbing, electricity, and so on, because he has the contacts and expertise that you lack or don’t have the bandwidth to acquire. When it’s done, you own the house; the contractor produced it (for a fee), but he doesn’t own it.”
The rest of this post will be about my own personal experience. I chose to publish through a hybrid publishing company (also known as a self-publishing company) called Christian Faith Publishing. I made this decision when I received a card from them in the mail before I had even decided to publish. I took that card as a sign, so they were my first pick of the options. I don’t like the idea of relinquishing control of my work to someone else, and I don’t know all the ins and outs of fully self-publishing on my own. I like that Christian Faith provides an all-in-one service rather than having to find one person for editing, another for formatting, and so on, so it’s been a good fit for me.
Shortly after submitting my manuscript, I received a phone call saying that it had been accepted. We then discussed the different publishing packages, and all of my questions were answered. Once I decided which package I wanted, I was sent a contract to review and sign. I was then assigned a publication specialist, who has walked me through the rest of the process.
The first thing the publisher does is edit your manuscript. They then send an updated version to the author along with any notes they may have for you. I will say, I expected more from the editing team. They did correct spelling/grammar/punctuation errors, and I learned a lot about the Chicago Manuel of Style, but they also missed some errors that I later pointed out, and they didn’t catch things like overused words or paragraphs that were too wordy or make any suggestions about details to add or anything like that. If you work with them, you need to be prepared to read your manuscript over and over and put in the work of editing yourself. For me, I wouldn’t have changed this because it helped me to become a better writer.
After reviewing what they sent me, I made notes of more changes to be made, including questions about things I was uncertain of, such as comma usage. I didn’t trust them to just catch everything that needed to be corrected; if I had any doubt, I asked. Sometimes changes were made because of my questions, and other times they explained why it was correct as is. In both cases, I got the opportunity to learn. The first three rounds of editing are included in your contract. Any rounds after that can be done for an additional fee. I did five rounds in total. I’m a huge perfectionist though and obsess over every little word. (Should it read “is not” or “isn’t”? Would “smile” or “grin” sound better here?)
Once I finally quit making changes (that my husband and mom insisted made no difference, but they’re wrong), I moved forward to page design. This is where you get to see your work begin to take the shape of an actual book. It won’t be in physical form just yet, but you get to see the title page, copyright page, and contents page with page numbers next to the chapter headings. The design team also formats it so that you see two pages side by side, just like an open book.
My expectation for this stage was that I would be sent different font options, especially for the title, and graphic ideas for the chapter headings. This, however, was not the case. They just picked something and sent it for me to review. I then went through every single font option on Word and Adobe, deciding what I like best, and then asked them to change the fonts. For the graphics, I gave them an idea of what I had in mind, expecting that after that, they would send me options, but again, they did not do that. So for the next round, I drew something myself and requested they use it. That personal touch makes me love it even more though. It turns out, edits can still be made through this stage (just without the editing team to ask questions of), so I may or may not have made a few more of those.
The page design stage also includes three complimentary rounds. After the third round, I decided to re-format it to a different size, so I paid for an additional round. And that’s where I’m currently at right now, waiting to receive the updated format for my review. I expect to have it next week. Hopefully, everything I requested will have been implemented correctly and I will give it one final read-through without coming up with any more changes to make. If so, then I’ll approve it. The next stage after that will be cover design, which I already have some ideas and a graphic drawn for. Following that will be e-book conversion, and later on, audiobook recording.
Though the hybrid publishing route has not been exactly what I expected, I still believe it was the right choice for me. And as previously stated, the challenges it’s presented have actually led to my book (and me) being even better. I think the biggest challenge of all for my introverted self will be marketing.