Publishing books - I wonder about the process at BL

[Petitioner's City]

Hi all, I wonder if any of you know if this is an accurate summation of the book commissioning and publication process at BL.

 

David Mack, one of the main Star Trek tie in authors returned yesterday his final manuscript for the upcoming "end of litverse" Coda novel to the publishers.

 

After nearly two weeks of painstaking, down-in-the-mud-and-blood revisions to the copy edited manuscript, I have returned Star Trek: Coda, Book III – OBLIVION’S GATE to its publisher, ready for layout. Boo-yah.

Then someone kindly asked "David Mack would you break down the stages in the writing/editorial process for us. I've always been curious about how it works. If you're too busy, we understand!"

 

Mack quickly responded, outlining:

 

"Someone has an idea. Might be the writer, or the editor.

 

Idea gets pitched. If it gets traction, the editor asks for a more detailed proposal. A page or two. Big idea stuff.

 

If that gets bought, the writer drafts a detailed outline. (Length varies as needed.)

 

Editor and licensor (Star Trek, in this case) approve the story outline (or ask for changes until they do).

 

Author writes manuscript. Same approval process as for outline.

 

The editing phase includes line edit (acquiring editor helps writer hone the story and dialogue); copy edit (for grammar, spelling, etc., as well as logic and continuity). After each edit phase is an author rewrite/revision phase.

 

Next is production. The design team lays out the book, makes it pretty. Sends a PDF of their first full layout of the complete novel to the author for final review, and to a proofreader, who checks for errors that have slipped through.

 

There’s 2nd page proofs, but this is a formality — just to make sure fixes requested at first pages got done. No new changes are asked for, unless REALLY necessary.

 

On original novels, there might be ARCs (advance reader copies), but this isn’t done for most media tie-ins.

 

Somewhere in all this, the cover gets designed. Someone writes the back-cover copy.

 

Then the book is printed, bound, shipped to warehouses, and then released to retailers.

 

And then readers find all the typos and plot holes everyone else missed."

Pocket, under Simon&Schuster, is one of the big tie in publishers,and CBS always had an IP hand in trek books; I wonder how comparable this is to how BL publish it's books (Alan Merritt was the IP person for a while, although not sure if anymore).

 

You can see the conversation at https://www.facebook.com/100058280192442/posts/224399949512677/, but overall really curious if anyone knows what the steps are with an "internal" publisher like BL.

[JustinDHill]

I'd say the process is pretty much the same in BL. It's standard across most of the publishing industry. Especially where IP and commissioning is concerned. 

 

In the wider industry, books are less likely to be commissioned - which means the start of the above process is different. Typically, the author writes the book, then sends it to the editor to say yes or no to. If they're in a multi book deal the editor may have more of an input. But typically it's old school: you write the book and then try to sell it to a publishing house. And then you slot into the schema. 

[Petitioner's City]

I'd say the process is pretty much the same in BL. It's standard across most of the publishing industry. Especially where IP and commissioning is concerned.

 

In the wider industry, books are less likely to be commissioned - which means the start of the above process is different. Typically, the author writes the book, then sends it to the editor to say yes or no to. If they're in a multi book deal the editor may have more of an input. But typically it's old school: you write the book and then try to sell it to a publishing house. And then you slot into the schema.

Thanks Mr Hill, that's great to know - given your work across the industry & genres, it would be really interesting to hear how you've found writing ip-literature versus your own books..

 

Ps, I hope we see you soon on the new streaming service!

[JustinDHill]

 given your work across the industry & genres, it would be really interesting to hear how you've found writing ip-literature versus your own books..

 

 

In some ways writing IP and other non-GW stuff is exactly the same and in other ways its completely different. The stuff that is the same is story, characters, how scenes end and how to keep the story going. 

 

The differences - quite a lot really. In my own personal writing I'm free to write whatever I want and take as long as I want. Both of those - freedom of subject and time - can be advantages, or pitfalls. So my GW work starts off more collaboratively - and it continues in that way - and then there are other authors to talk to, check what they're doing, and how to tie your work in with theirs. 

 

The style of writing is also a little different, for me, at least. There's a range of vocabulary that I'd only use in 40K writing. And there's a lot of 40K jargon that you have to get your head around to use it naturally and confidently. 

 

Writing books for the public means that once the newspaper reviews are done, then there can be something of a silence until prize-season comes around. It's a bit like punting a ball and it taking a long time to bounce back to you. So one of the things I really like about writing for BL is that there is a dedicated community - on places like this - who are so eager for the next story that there are threads that discuss what might be coming out and when... and which means that you will get responses to your work pretty quickly. And it's fun to interact with them. 

 

And - on a personal note - I've been part of the community since it began so I love that I get to play around in this great big grim dark sand pit.

[DukeLeto69]

And we are certainly looking forward to Traitor Rock - the next Cadian novel from Justin D Hill Edited June 25, 2021 by DukeLeto69

[JustinDHill]

Traitor Rock - yes! It’s been waiting a long time to come out.

 

Meanwhile DukeLeto69 - Not sure exactly what you're asking....but happy to answer when I'm clear.

 

Loose cannon in terms of what?

[DukeLeto69]

“Loose Cannon” - there used to be a lot of debate (often entered into by ADB) around what is and isn’t cannon. This was often prompted by lore/timeline contradictions. The theory was that mistakes happen, authors get it wrong, editors don’t pick it up and the IP is not especially tightly controlled for those kind of elements, apart from the big beats and stuff you actually see on the table top.

 

There was/is also the joke (in terms of timeline cock ups) that “the warp did it” and that explaining away a “loose” approach to lore governance (while that is a bit hand wave away, actually it makes in-universe sense and I am surprised GW/BL don’t actively use it more to underline some of the insanity) but...

 

With the timeline now moving forward we are starting to see a chronology of events shaping up with the Chris Wraight’s VoT and WotT series, and the Dawn of Fire series and Guy Haley’s Dark Imperium trilogy (plus maybe the Conquests of the Space Marines - though some timeline shenanigans here).

 

So I was wondering whether books now being written in the CURRENT timeline (ie since the rift opened) are subject to tighter scrutiny than those written previously that could have taken place any time over a 1-10,000 year period?

 

Hope that makes sense. Long winded!

[Petitioner's City]

It is "canon"! Edited June 26, 2021 by Petitioner's City

[DukeLeto69]

Lol Canon not Cannon quite right. Sorry that is such a “bigbear” guess typos galore in this thread

[JustinDHill]

So I was wondering whether books now being written in the CURRENT timeline (ie since the rift opened) are subject to tighter scrutiny than those written previously that could have taken place any time over a 1-10,000 year period?

 

Hope that makes sense. Long winded!

 

lol! Yes. Makes sense to me. I thought you must mean canon... ;-) 

 

I think ADB's thoughts still stick. Having grown with the hobby from its earliest beginnings I have all kinds of conflicting stories and fluff pieces in my head. It's a mess, and I think the limited/unreliable narrator explanation is the best way of understanding it. History is a mess - with texts that were once taken as canon, being undermined by DNA and archaeological evidence. 

 

As to whether the 'current' time line is being edited more tightly than before, I'd say that all BL material is probably being edited more than say, 20 years ago. My hunch is that BL is probably become more professional all round, and that it's also learnt a lot as a business. And the business has grown hugely. 

 

Personally I think one of the reasons that GW IP has been so successful is that it has been informed by a variety of artists and (later) authors. Each have their own view of the world, and everyone has something new to offer. It's like comparing a John Blanche picture of Horus to a Neil Roberts Horus... their are similarities, but interpreted differently.

 

Different authors have different takes on certain aspects, and looking back over the last thirty-odd years of material, this has been a strength - helping the IP develop. A 'Let many flowers bloom' kind of approach. ;-)