Throughout the years writers have approached me for publishing advice and how best to find a literary agent and/or traditional publisher. I’ve even taught workshops in elementary and middle schools about the paths to publishing so students know what it takes to publish a book. I’ve been in this business for 18 years now and if there’s one thing I’ve learned it’s that it takes time to publish traditionally. A lot of time.
I thought I’d break down the amount of time it took me to research and write a book, find an agent and a book deal, and the time it took to publish a book once I signed a contract. I really wish there were shortcuts in traditional publishing; I certainly thought I could defy the odds and luck out, always to no avail. So here’s my experience, for what it’s worth!
Writing the book — 5 years (concurrently with looking for an agent; I do not recommend this!)
Finding an agent — 4 years
Time from signing with an agent to signing a book contract — 13 months
Time from book contract to publication date — 16 months
Total time from start to finish — 6 years
Time from agent pitch to book contract — 6 months
Time from signing the contract to acquiring all stories from anthology contributors — 5 months
Time from book contract to publication date — 17 months
Time from start to finish — 22 months
Time from idea to finishing the manuscript — 2.5 years
Time on submission with first agent — 8 months
Time changing agents — 4 hours
Time from signing with new agent to getting a book deal — 3.5 months
Time from book contract to publication date — 15 months
Time from start to finish — 4 years 11 months
Time from idea to finishing book proposal — 2 years
Time pitching university presses on my own to book contract — 3 months
Time to complete manuscript — 10 months
Time from submitting completed manuscript to publication date — 11 months
Time from start to finish — 4 years
Golda’s American Dream
Time from idea to completing book proposal — 2 years
Time from pitching university presses on my own to signing advanced contract — 4 months
Time to complete manuscript — 9.5 months
Time up to now — 3 years and counting…
As you can see, it takes years! Hong Kong Noir took the least amount of time because I had 14 amazing anthology contributors who were only responsible for their own short stories and were wonderful about making the deadline. If I had to write a book that length on my own, the total time would have at least doubled.
I’d love to answer any questions about publishing. With each of my books, there have been many glitches along the way. I’ve changed agents a couple of times and am now un-agented. This is all normal!
The one thing that’s common throughout all of my paths to publication is that I never gave up.
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