The process of publishing a first novel -- at warp speed

The long, slow journey of publishing my novel “The Way Life Should Be” went into warp speed when I learned I’d won the First Chapters contest on May 25. I spoke to so many people that day I couldn’t keep them straight, though one conversation did stick. When a woman named Sulay Hernandez asked how my morning was going. I told her it had been pretty good so far. She laughed, then said she was my editor and asked if I had any questions.

I had plenty.

Would the book be hard cover or soft cover? Would Simon & Schuster get behind it with a decent marketing effort? Would there be a tour? What would the press run be?

Nothing had been decided, except the September 18 release.

That was less than four months away.

“Is that typical?”

“No, but it’s not unheard of,” she said, adding that it was called “crashing” a book. The idea was to take advantage of publicity the contest generated.

She stressed that we had a lot to do in a short time, since it normally takes more than a year from a book’s acquisition until publication.

Now I see why.

Looking back, the whole process is a blur. That’s not because I drank a lot. In fact, I’ve only had four beers since June (not that I’m counting).

I do remember spending the first three weeks, when I wasn’t at my job, emailing Sulay, talking to her on the phone and making additions and tweaking sections before our first deadline. And when I was at my job? Um, don’t tell my boss, but I was thinking of those things.

But the first time it really felt like I was about to publish a book came when I saw Mary Austin Speaker’s cover design on June 12. I just loved the fog-shrouded scene in an abandoned park, which captured the novel’s prologue perfectly.

Then came rapid-fire deadlines for the copy for Simon & Schuster’s fall catalogue and the back cover copy, not to mention various press releases, author bios and a detailed questionnaire meant to help the sales team pitch the book to retailers.

“Remember to stop and breath now and then,” Sulay would remind me, since I was also doing occasional interviews and contacting everyone I’d ever known in the newspaper industry, hoping for even more.

By the time I did catch my breath, on June 23, I received the copyedited manuscript and had four days to approve every change.

A week later, Sulay sent the final version of the book’s cover and I loved the bolder-colored typeface even more than the original. So just imagine how much I loved the final, final version that eventually arrived with the oversize, mottled type that gave it more of a suspense feel.

On July 23 – less than two months into the process -- I received the first pass pages, which were basically photocopies of the typeset book. They were due back in four days.

Did I mention that I was also regularly discussing promotion efforts with Simon & Schuster and Team Gather during this time?

That's because the presses were about to roll on August 22, with what was initially supposed to be 15,000 copies in a paperback trade edition, but was bumped to 18,000. I received a box of books August 27. Review copies went out about the same time, and Amazon.com has already been shipping copies to customers who pre-ordered.

On Tuesday, the book will be officially released and I’m going to do 15 readings and signings in a two-week period. I’m excited, but also a little nervous.

Sure, my mother always liked the book. So did my niece. And after a few drafts, even my wife came around. Still, that’s not the same as having someone you’ve never met read your entire book in its published form, and tell you they just couldn’t put it down.

Guess what?

That’s already happened.

For a writer, things don’t get any better.