How long does it take to get a book published?

Newsletter #1

I’ve been working on a pitch for a new book with a friend who has never written a book before, but is a nice chap and has an intriguing idea which he’d like to see in print. Although he’s an expert in his area, he has no experience of book publishing so it was interesting to see his reaction when I told him the likely timescale involved.

So I thought I’d walk you through the timeline of my two latest books to give some idea of how speedily a book comes together, or at least how these have come together for me.

First of all, Art Day By Day: 366 Brushes With History which was published by Thames & Hudson. In terms of the initial idea, I’ve been toying with various almanac-ish kind of ideas for years, but first pitched the idea to T&H at the start of February 2019. At a March acquisitions meeting, there was enough interest in the idea that they asked for some sample entries. I sent these in later that month and then at the end of April they said they like these but asked to see some more, in a slightly different format.

I sent these to them in the middle of May and at a publications meeting in June it again  received a favourable reception. But it wasn’t formally approved until the middle of October and the actual offer in terms of advance, royalties, size, price, etc, wasn’t made until the middle of November. We agreed that I would deliver the first draft by the end of June 2020 for an autumn 2021 publication date. And at this point I settled down to actually writing the book.

Then of course came the covids...

I was slightly late delivering the book, getting it to them in July rather than June. From September, I began reworking/adding various sections following feedback from T&H and worked with a copy editor finalising/checking/improving everything. This took until the middle of February 2021 and then a designer spent the next month making it all look nice and coming up with an excellent cover. It was published in early September 2021, two and a half years after I’d first run the idea past them. In my experience of writing a dozen books, this was pretty typical.

My next book, out officially on April 16, is Rooms of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write, published by Frances Lincoln, part of the Quarto group. It had a longer gestation period. Much longer. Strap in…

I first pitched the idea to a publisher in May 2015 (so seven years ago…). They said no. I tried the second at the end of January 2016 They weren’t at all keen. The third publisher was much nicer, though they also said no (in early June). I tried the fourth in late June (ditto) and the fifth in September and they said no – quite curtly – in December. The sixth made promising noises in January 2017, then said no, but happily did commission me for something else entirely different. 

At this point, optimistic though I am, I felt it was time to put the idea to one side because sometimes even a good concept comes at the wrong time for a variety of reasons.

Two years passed. I published other books, but still felt there was mileage in a book about famous writers’ rooms.

In October 2019, I approached Frances Lincoln/Quarto (I snuck it into a query about the forthcoming Korean edition of my Book Towns book, first published in 2018) – I had planned to ask them right from the start but for various, and quite good reasons, decided not to try. Maybe I should have been bolder because they liked the idea immediately, it got the thumbs up from the acquisitions meeting in November, and was formally accepted in December – text to be delivered in May 2020, for publication in April 2021. I started work on it, had a very productive meeting at their offices…

Then of course came the covids.

Where Art Day By Day was largely unaffected by all the effects of lockdown, the publication date of Rooms of Their Own had to be pushed, at one point until October 2022, but then brought back to April 2022. So it is out next month, just sneaking in under the seven year chequered flag.

I should add that I had brought out books with both publishers happily (and successfully!) before so that probably speeded up some elements of the process. And despite the constraints of covid, they were positively flexible and it was a pleasure to work with them again.

When I told my friend these two stories, he was amazed that the process was not much faster, but unless you’re writing about something happening right now that needs to be rushed out to maximise sales, I suspect these timings are fairly typical.

What I read last week: The fifth and final volume in The Cazelet Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard (thumbs up to the series, thumbs horizontal for this final part)

What I’m reading this week: The Fortnight in September by RC Sheriff (thumbs up so far…)

What I’m planning to read next week: The Sea Raiders by HG Wells (short, short stories)