Sunday, October 24, 2010

How come...

I don't get it.

An author on Twitter had her book contracted by a major NY publisher.  Said contract was signed this past summer.  Her book is due to be released January, 2012?

When I questioned the 18-month-long wait, she said, "That's the norm."

Huh?

It USED to be "the norm" Way Back When because authors submitted typed manuscripts, and the publishing houses needed someone to re-type the entire thing by hand.  Not to mention the tedious task of formatting it for print, etcetera, etcetera.

This is the 21st century.  Computers do 90% of the publishing work.  Manuscripts are now submitted in e-format, making the the rest of the work oodles less time-consuming.

Yes, I've taken into account the actual time they may need to print and ship the thousands of print copies to the market.

Still, why is it taking NY pubs 2-3 times longer to produce a book?

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