My publishing process: From idea to finished book

It takes me a while to ‘get a book out’ and I thought outlining my process might help explain why:-)

From idea to the final draft of the manuscript

  1. Initial research
  2. Rough outline
  3. Additional research (and interviewing ‘experts’)
  4. Completed first draft
  5. Alpha readers (my special team of ninja readers who I can trust to give me feedback)
  6. Apply alpha reader changes.
  7. Alpha readers pass 2. Send back to the same alpha readers, or different ones from my pack to check changes and for a read through.
  8. Apply any changes from the alpha reader comments.
  9. Manuscript assessment with my editor Lara Colrain
  10. Apply the changes noted in the manuscript assessment  (this can take a bit of time)
  11. Developmental edit with either Lara Colrain or Angela Stevens
  12. Apply developmental edits (this can take ages too!!!)
  13. Copy edit
  14. Apply copy edit changes (this doesn’t usually take too long)
  15. Beta readers and experts (beta readers are the other special readers who haven’t seen the book yet. And the experts are usually people I interviewed in the beginning, or one of their contacts so I have more than one set of eyes on it to check plausibility and facts one final time).
  16. Apply any last fact checking changes.
  17. Proof read

Once I’ve gone through this process, then I begin preparing the book for publication.

From manuscript to published book

Once I have the final draft, the publishing process begins, this is a rough outline of the steps involved with actually publishing the book.

  1. Cover design
  2. Formatting (for ebook and print)
  3. Identifying keywords (required so the book can be found on the digital publishing websites).
  4. Writing the blurb.
  5. Upload the book and organise the proof print copy (this can take a couple of weeks depending on where the book is printed and how long it takes to get to Australia).
  6. Check the formatting on the digital editions of the book (and links if any are included).
  7. Publish.