MY ROAD TO PUBLICATION
In honor of my new blog layout, I thought I'd do a timeline of the order that my dream finally came true...because seriously, that's what this past year has been like. A dream!
Mid-May - Finished THE BODY FINDER. There is much celebration in the Derting household!
5/28/08 - Went to the BEA in Los Angeles where I pitched to seven agents and editors (including my first-choice agent, Laura Rennert) in their three-minute Pitch Slam sessions. Got the go-ahead from six of them to send sample chapters. Yee-freakin’-Haw!!!
6/2/08 (8:00PM) - Submitted sample chapters to Laura Rennert via email. (Psst, she’s the only agent I submitted to…I gave her kind of a head-start.)
6/2/08 (later that night) - Got an email back from Laura requesting the complete manuscript. My husband literally came running into the room and jumped on the bed while I was asleep to tell me! Naturally, I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night!!! :)
6/9/08 - Right before I was going to send out samples to the rest of the agents and editors I’d met, Laura made a preliminary offer for representation via email (she was almost finished with manuscript at this time). We scheduled a phone conversation for later in the week.
6/12/08 - My first phone conversation with Laura Rennert, Super-Agent. She offered me representation and emailed me the contract. WOW! It’s real at this point, I have an agent!
6/13/08 - Laura leaves to New York on a previously planned trip, and while there, she pitches THE BODY FINDER and gets a great response from editors.
Around the beginning of July - Submissions start to go out.
8/1/08 - Met Laura in LA at the SCBWI, and she tells me that she’s just received a call from an “interested” editor. (What the holy hell does that mean?) We won’t know for certain until after the weekend. *sigh* LONGEST. FIVE. DAYS. EVER!
8/5/08 - First official offer comes in (You can read more about “getting the call” here).
8/8/08 - A second offer comes in from another publisher, and negotiations ensue. This sounds exciting, but is actually very slow and boring, with long lags in between calls and emails. Time! Ceases! To! Move!
Around 8/14/08 - At last, a final deal is brokered with HarperCollins.
9/12/08 - Because they have decided to put me in the Fall 2009 slot, edits start even before the contracts are signed. You can read more about the editing process (which I freakishly LOVED!) from my earlier post. We used TrackChanges and did everything electronically rather than using hard copies.
10/10/08 - Edits completed (first round).
10/13/08 - Second round edits arrive from my editor (mostly just minor changes).
10/13/08 - I make the corrections and send those edits back to my editor.
10/22/08 - The contract arrives! I am officially “under contract” with HarperCollins!!!
11/10/08 - Saw my first jacket copy (written by my editor). Man, that makes it seem so real!
11/16/08 - Went to NY (met fabulous editors, PR and Marketing…AND saw a Naked Cowboy!).
11/17/08 - My deal is formally announced in Publishers Weekly, on Publishers Marketplace, and on my blog!!!
11/27/08 - Copyedits arrive, and I spend two weeks learning the difference between “one another” and “each other”, and discovering my glaring overuse of commas. SWEET!
12/9/08 - Copyedits are finished after a little back and forth with my editor, and I can breathe a sigh of relief at last. I finally understand that copyeditors are our friends!
1/23/09 - Page Proofs arrive. They are beautiful! I love the font they’ve chosen and the treatments that the art department gave the chapter breaks! (Currently, I am still pouring through them, looking for errors and making minor revisions.)
1/29/09 - My first SNEAK PEEK at the cover (which, unfortunately, is still hush-hush).
2/8/09 - Sent in the completed manuscript for Book 2 to my agent!!!
9/22/09 - THE BODY FINDER’s official release date!!!
This has truly been the most amazing year ever. I’d like to thank my family and my friends…all of my amazing blog followers…of course, my agent and the brilliant editors at Harper…the Academy, *sniff*…you like me, you really like me!
(Nice '80's Hair, Sally!)
Mid-May - Finished THE BODY FINDER. There is much celebration in the Derting household!
5/28/08 - Went to the BEA in Los Angeles where I pitched to seven agents and editors (including my first-choice agent, Laura Rennert) in their three-minute Pitch Slam sessions. Got the go-ahead from six of them to send sample chapters. Yee-freakin’-Haw!!!
6/2/08 (8:00PM) - Submitted sample chapters to Laura Rennert via email. (Psst, she’s the only agent I submitted to…I gave her kind of a head-start.)
6/2/08 (later that night) - Got an email back from Laura requesting the complete manuscript. My husband literally came running into the room and jumped on the bed while I was asleep to tell me! Naturally, I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night!!! :)
6/9/08 - Right before I was going to send out samples to the rest of the agents and editors I’d met, Laura made a preliminary offer for representation via email (she was almost finished with manuscript at this time). We scheduled a phone conversation for later in the week.
6/12/08 - My first phone conversation with Laura Rennert, Super-Agent. She offered me representation and emailed me the contract. WOW! It’s real at this point, I have an agent!
6/13/08 - Laura leaves to New York on a previously planned trip, and while there, she pitches THE BODY FINDER and gets a great response from editors.
Around the beginning of July - Submissions start to go out.
8/1/08 - Met Laura in LA at the SCBWI, and she tells me that she’s just received a call from an “interested” editor. (What the holy hell does that mean?) We won’t know for certain until after the weekend. *sigh* LONGEST. FIVE. DAYS. EVER!
8/5/08 - First official offer comes in (You can read more about “getting the call” here).
8/8/08 - A second offer comes in from another publisher, and negotiations ensue. This sounds exciting, but is actually very slow and boring, with long lags in between calls and emails. Time! Ceases! To! Move!
Around 8/14/08 - At last, a final deal is brokered with HarperCollins.
9/12/08 - Because they have decided to put me in the Fall 2009 slot, edits start even before the contracts are signed. You can read more about the editing process (which I freakishly LOVED!) from my earlier post. We used TrackChanges and did everything electronically rather than using hard copies.
10/10/08 - Edits completed (first round).
10/13/08 - Second round edits arrive from my editor (mostly just minor changes).
10/13/08 - I make the corrections and send those edits back to my editor.
10/22/08 - The contract arrives! I am officially “under contract” with HarperCollins!!!
11/10/08 - Saw my first jacket copy (written by my editor). Man, that makes it seem so real!
11/16/08 - Went to NY (met fabulous editors, PR and Marketing…AND saw a Naked Cowboy!).
11/17/08 - My deal is formally announced in Publishers Weekly, on Publishers Marketplace, and on my blog!!!
11/27/08 - Copyedits arrive, and I spend two weeks learning the difference between “one another” and “each other”, and discovering my glaring overuse of commas. SWEET!
12/9/08 - Copyedits are finished after a little back and forth with my editor, and I can breathe a sigh of relief at last. I finally understand that copyeditors are our friends!
1/23/09 - Page Proofs arrive. They are beautiful! I love the font they’ve chosen and the treatments that the art department gave the chapter breaks! (Currently, I am still pouring through them, looking for errors and making minor revisions.)
1/29/09 - My first SNEAK PEEK at the cover (which, unfortunately, is still hush-hush).
2/8/09 - Sent in the completed manuscript for Book 2 to my agent!!!
9/22/09 - THE BODY FINDER’s official release date!!!
This has truly been the most amazing year ever. I’d like to thank my family and my friends…all of my amazing blog followers…of course, my agent and the brilliant editors at Harper…the Academy, *sniff*…you like me, you really like me!
(Nice '80's Hair, Sally!)No, not time for the speech yet???
Fine, fine, I’ll save it. For now. But I’m gonna keep it close…just in case!
Fine, fine, I’ll save it. For now. But I’m gonna keep it close…just in case!
EDITED UPDATE: Obviously this post was written before my new release date of March 16, 2010 was announced. But everything else is the same!
Comments
I second Christy's comment.
so exciting! I know it was years in the making, but truly, this timeline looks like it happened overnight! I'm glad this one went so fast!
-amy
Hope I can write the same one someday.
So great to be on that journey with you...i smile reading it. Congrats. Look forward to the book.