Despite a few delays...

[Mad Swede]

...the proof reading is done and the galleys are set. The fourth novel is good to go. I'll admit to some nerves, especially now that I know the size of the first print run: 7500 copies. My publishers are expecting to do a second print run, possibly even before Christmas. The first print run would have been larger but for the fact that there are several other books due out in the early autumn and there isn't space in the central warehouse to hold the stocks before all the books start to go out to the shops.

So why the nerves, given my previous sales? Well... I won't know what the critics think until sometime in September, and I won't know what my readers and the wider public think until the sales figures start to come in. There's this feeling of uncertainty, the knowledge that now it's all out of my control. All I can do is hope that what I've written is as good as it could be, that readers tastes haven't changed and that people still want to read my books.

So what to do? Write the next novel...

 

[ThinkerX]

Well, at least you seem to miss out on most or all of the marketing stuff...

 

[Mad Swede]

Well, at least you seem to miss out on most or all of the marketing stuff...

No, that starts in September. That's when the first interviews start, and the first book signings will be in October, with more in November. The interviews are booked, and most are with regional or local newspapers (who also put these out on their web pages) as these seem to have a better strike than the national papers rate according to the publicist. I also already have a fairly good idea of where the first signings will be, and they'll be done in close conjunction to the interviews. And by then the e-mails from readers will be building up.

 

[TheCrystallineEntity]

Congratulations!

 

[skip.knox]

Congratulations on getting to the point of print. The nerves? Totally natural as I'm sure you know full well. There's no arguing with them. We just let 'em yammer until eventually they slink away.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

GZ For getting the book published or at least finished?

I'd be interested in being walked through the process of getting a book out to print at some point. (I'm not convinced youtube videos on the subject are deep enough research )

But A: I need to finish a dang rough draft already and B: I think my first book is going on Kindle.

If I get that far (putting the thing out there for sale) I'll officially consider myself a 'proper' writer even if my book doesn't make me tons of money.

 

[pmmg]

Congratz on book 4 out the door.

 

[Mad Swede]

Congratz on book 4 out the door.

Well, it's the fourth novel but the fifth book given that I also have a collection of short stories out there. There's another collection of short stories planned as well, but I don't have quite enough short stories complete for us to go with that yet.

 

[Prince of Spires]

Congrats on getting it written and published!

I'm not sure the nerves ever fully go away. In the end, you're always putting a part of yourself out there for other people to judge. That remains scary somehow.

 

[Gurkhal]

Good work!

 

[Mad Swede]

GZ For getting the book published or at least finished?

I'd be interested in being walked through the process of getting a book out to print at some point. (I'm not convinced youtube videos on the subject are deep enough research )

But A: I need to finish a dang rough draft already and B: I think my first book is going on Kindle.

If I get that far (putting the thing out there for sale) I'll officially consider myself a 'proper' writer even if my book doesn't make me tons of money.

Well, pmmg started the following thread on what to do when your book is finished:

Book Finished, what now?

 

[pmmg]

I could walk you through it, its not really that hard in the end. Just money and time.


Get it edited
Get a cover
Get an ISBN
Copyright (optional)
LCCN (optional)

Figure out the front and back matter (title page, about the author...)
Format it and post to amazon (or wherever).

Sit back and listen to the crickets

Just going through all this again with my book 2. Goes live on Aug 1st.

 

[The Dark One]

Well done MS. It's always exciting having a new book on the shelves and that's a very decent print run.

My biggest was 5k (and there was no second run). Grrrr....

 

[Mad Swede]

Well done MS. It's always exciting having a new book on the shelves and that's a very decent print run.

My biggest was 5k (and there was no second run). Grrrr....

Thank you.

What has come as news to me is how much internal coordination my publisher does when planning print runs for their various authors. It wasn't something I saw very much of in the early days, because back then the print runs for my books weren't very large. But now that we're talking a first print run like that for the period leading up to Christmas I'm beginning to see how my publisher balances printing demands between different popular authors. Several of us have new books due out and my publisher doesn't want to disappoint the readers by not having books available for Christmas, so the various first print runs become a compromise between likely demand, warehouse capacity and lead times for second print runs.

My publisher's MD admits that he'd rather have a larger single print run for each book because this costs less than two smaller print runs, but that would then mean having to spend more on warehousing (which won't always be used to capacity) and that would exceed the savings in print costs. He doesn't mind the problem, it's a sign that they're offering books the readers like, but it leaves him and his staff with the tricky but pleasant decision about when to order second print runs.

 

[ThinkerX]

Must be a small warehouse, as a very rough calculation puts your print run on the order of 3-4 pallets.