Publishing is Not a Business for the Impatient

Anyone who has spent even a year in publishing, either published or unpublished, knows that this is not a business that runs on speed. I suppose you could say the same about the music business and the film business. Art takes time and rushing it doesn’t always result in the best product.

I don’t need to tell any of you that writing takes time. So does editing, marketing, planning a cover and, well, just getting the rest of your publishing house to agree to let you make the offer. It’s why I’m always amazed when we get an email from an author pushing us to make a decision because she plans on self-publishing.

Giving an agent a two-week deadline to respond because otherwise your plan is to self-publish won’t usually give you the outcome you desire. Even if you do get an agent, she’ll never get that book published in two weeks. In many cases, you might be lucky if you get that book published in two years. By the time the two of you go through edits, she submits the book, she negotiates the contract and the publisher puts it in the schedule, two years is a real possibility.

They say patience is a virtue. In publishing it’s a requirement.