A case study of the publishing equivalent of The Amazing RaceMy editorial firm helps people write their books, and the level of help we give ranges from book coaching and strategy to editing and/or writing full manuscripts. Writing a book is a very lengthy creative process, so projects tend to take anywhere from a few months to a few years, depending on what an author needs. We were recently faced with a challenge, though; one of our more prominent authors wanted us to help him write his soon-to-be self-published book, start to finish, in four months, with the final version ready for publication.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, we said yes to what would turn out to be a true test of everything we had built over the course of our business (and during what ended up being a global pandemic to boot). I gathered some of my best team members and, in what felt like the publishing version of The Amazing Race, we got to work condensing all of our editorial expertise and processes into an unheard of 124 days. What follows is how we managed to finish the manuscript to the highest publishing standards on this accelerated timeline, all with the help of the ideas and stories from the author, professional editorial expertise from myself as executive editor, extraordinary writing skills from a devoted writing professional, laser-focused organizational skills from our editorial assistant, and detailed line edits from our professional line editor. While I don’t necessarily suggest writing a book from idea to final draft in four months (the stress!), it’s still a useful example of how it can be done efficiently. So, if you’re curious about how we managed to write a book in four months, here’s how it’s done. Phase 1: Creative ConceptingIt all began with figuring out two very important things: what the book is, and who it’s for. This process is what we call Creative Concepting, and the end goal for this phase is a clearer picture of the book’s identity and audience. In most cases the author will have prior material to bring to the table — blogs, articles, a social media presence — that we can use to guide the strategy, and then we’ll do a lot of brainstorming and research to define the market and figure out how this book will work in dialogue with it. In this case, I met one-on-one with the author and reviewed a lot of his material, from articles and notes to a previous draft of the book. Since the previous draft was about fifteen years old and didn’t quite match the author’s voice, we used it as a jumping off point so that we could figure out what the rest of the book should include. (This also happened to be when I came up with the book’s title…it’s amazing what happens when you’re in hour three of deep brainstorming with an author!) It made a huge difference that the author already had a lot of material to work with, as it helped speed up the process a lot. Usually I’ll have one long meeting each week for four weeks with an author before we get to a point where we know exactly what the book is and who it’s for, but because he had already developed a lot of his ideas beforehand, we were able to figure out the main themes of the book within one extended meeting. It’s also worth mentioning that I’m able to do this level of strategy fairly quickly because I’ve been working with books for years; to do this process on your own can be tricky at best, and may take a lot more time, research, and soul searching to get to the same place. Normal timeline: 28 days Accelerated timeline: 1 day Phase 2: Researching and OutliningWith a strong sense of what the book was under our belt, we started to develop an outline to give the project a structure and trajectory. The author in this case was not a writer, so he wisely opted to bring in one of our writers to translate his ideas to the page. I met with the writer and gave them all of the material I had collected in the Creative Concepting phase, along with my notes on market, audience, and the book’s themes and overall trajectory. They then handed off half the materials to our editorial assistant to review, and they both spent the next week reading everything and taking copious notes. After reading mountains of material, the writer and our editorial assistant divided up the material into what would be relevant for the manuscript (i.e. could go into the manuscript with minimal reworking), what would be relevant for the outline (i.e. referential material that would need to be expanded on with interviews and research), and what would be relevant for the visual concept (i.e. material that might turn into a list, a chart, or any other kind of visual aid in the future manuscript). From there, the writer created a big, beautiful outline that encompassed everything and more, organized by lessons or themes and including a short paragraph about what they envisioned for each section and chapter. Then the outline went off to the author for approval. Naturally, the outline we developed at that point wasn’t necessarily going to be what we ended with; it would evolve as time went on and we started writing, but the main purpose was achieved. We laid the groundwork for the integrity of the project moving forward. With a strong sense of what the book was under our belt, we started to develop an outline to give the project a structure and trajectory. The author in this case was not a writer, so he wisely opted to bring in one of our writers to translate his ideas to the page. I met with the writer and gave them all of the material I had collected in the Creative Concepting phase, along with my notes on market, audience, and the book’s themes and overall trajectory. They then handed off half the materials to our editorial assistant to review, and they both spent the next week reading everything and taking copious notes. After reading mountains of material, the writer and our editorial assistant divided up the material into what would be relevant for the manuscript (i.e. could go into the manuscript with minimal reworking), what would be relevant for the outline (i.e. referential material that would need to be expanded on with interviews and research), and what would be relevant for the visual concept (i.e. material that might turn into a list, a chart, or any other kind of visual aid in the future manuscript). From there, the writer created a big, beautiful outline that encompassed everything and more, organized by lessons or themes and including a short paragraph about what they envisioned for each section and chapter. Then the outline went off to the author for approval. Naturally, the outline we developed at that point wasn’t necessarily going to be what we ended with; it would evolve as time went on and we started writing, but the main purpose was achieved. We laid the groundwork for the integrity of the project moving forward. Normal timeline: Up to 28 days, depending on the amount of material given Accelerated timeline: 8 days Phase 3: Interviewing and Reworking Previous ContentThe most important place to begin was to make sure that the writer accurately captured the author’s voice and flow. This step is crucial for obvious reasons — finding the book’s voice now would allow the writer to write with ease later — so the writer began reworking some of the previous content to fit in the context of the book. This, in a way, is a version of getting your sea legs; it’s a way to get used to the new writing style without the additional burden of having to research new content as well. While the writer was busy reworking previous content, I started interviewing the author over recorded Zoom calls so that we could build our library of new content. The questions were based on the outline we’d already created, and the fact that the author’s answers were recorded. meant that the writer could get the author’s voice a lot easier this time around. By the end of this phase, the author had a partial draft of 65 pages, which we called Draft 1, to review. We asked him questions about the writing style to make sure he was happy with the voice on the page, and then encouraged him to add additional details to help color in some of the stories or lessons. Once we got his feedback back, we were in the clear to move on to more challenging material. Normal timeline: 28 days, depending on the length of the sample material Accelerated timeline: 18 days Phase 4: Writing and Visual Concepting This was, by far, the longest phase, as it constituted writing the manuscript in full. This was where the writer took new material from the interview and wrote it for the book, using the pre-approved writing style, and sent a chapter to the author for approval on that new material. This was also where we updated the outline constantly based on new additions, and then wrote that new material with guidance from the author. The back-and-forth between the author and our team was all done to narrow the gap between what the author envisioned and what the writer had written, and to thoroughly flesh out the story. While the writer turned out page after page, they also identified potential visual aids such as lists, pull quotes, and photos, that we might include in the book. They created what we call a Visual Concept — a document detailing those elements in one place, which would be incredibly useful when it came to actually laying out the interior of the book and seeking permissions. This is usually something that a publishing house will create, but since this book was to be self published, it made sense to do it alongside the writing process. While the writer wrote and revised, I worked with the author to decide what, if any, new material was needed, as well as to discuss things like who should write the foreword, other opportunities for visuals, and to answer the myriad questions that came up in the process. While we had a few team meetings here and there, most of the author’s communication was through me alone, which was incredibly helpful so that the writer could concentrate on writing without being inundated with information. In a sense I acted as a shield for the writer, and I don’t think they could have written with the same quality and speed otherwise. We saw three drafts within this phase: Draft 2 as the first original chapter for the author’s review, Draft 3 as a full manuscript minus the intro and conclusion, and Draft 4 as the complete manuscript at 68,000 words. Normal timeline: 8 to 12 months for a standard author/writer; 4 months for an experienced writer writing on behalf of an author Accelerated timeline: 2 months Phase 5: Reviewing and EditingNow that the manuscript had been completely written, reviewed by the author four times, and had all of the feedback incorporated, it was time to bring in a line editor to go over the book with a fine-toothed comb. The line editor worked sentence-by-sentence, editing to make sure that each page had the best level of clarity, flow, and comprehension for future readers. Normally, the editing process would be a lot more extensive; a manuscript usually goes through a developmental edit first, to ensure that the overall structure, concepts, and themes are sound, but we were able to skip that step because our expert writer was able to complete their own developmental edit during the writing process (a rarity indeed). Normal timeline: 56 days Accelerated timeline: 24 days Phase 6: FinalizingAfter the line edit was complete, the writer did the heavy lifting by completing the edits so that the author only had to weigh in on the tricky changes to the manuscript. Then it was sent to the author for their approval and any final changes. This final phase was all about locking in the manuscript in its final form, as well as all book-adjacent material like the Visual Concept document and permissions for the photos. We also prepared documents for the designers of the book for both the interior and the future cover. Every book’s final phase looks a bit different depending on where it’s headed, but essentially, we got everything ready for the next leg of the journey toward publication. Normal timeline: At least 14 days to complete the edits, more to create other final materials Accelerated timeline: 15 days Total: Normal timeline: 469 days (about 15 months) Accelerated timeline: 124 days (4 months) Needless to say, we had ourselves a great Zoom toast when we had that final manuscript.
Not every author is looking for a full ghostwriting package for their project. Authors who have lots of time but not a lot of writing expertise might seek out a book doctor — an editorial professional who will work with the author to elevate their already-existing manuscript in a hands-on way. And there are those folks out there who have the time and expertise (and desire) to wear both hats — author and writer — who would just need an editor. The fact is, every author could use some editorial assistance to bring their book to life in the most fulfilling way possible. The role the team plays will vary depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript, but I promise there’s a professional out there for just about any editorial or publishing need your book may have. And whether it’s a sensitivity read, platform prep, or professional feedback on your writing, make sure you do your research on and thoroughly vet the people you choose to bring on board for your project. Writing a book in four months wasn’t easy — in fact, it was incredibly challenging — but it was immensely rewarding for everyone involved. I chalk our success up to what leads to the success of every writing process no matter the magnitude: dedication, consistency, and a clear understanding of the project’s direction. We were able to accomplish so much in such a short timespan thanks to the author’s and the editorial team’s willingness to commit, focus, and apply their creative and professional abilities efficiently. Above all else, the successful on-time completion of this project goes to show that, with the right support, any book is possible. Comments are closed.
|
Categories |