I already keep some of these things in lists already (thank God!). I will add more per the categories in this post. One thing I am wondering about blurbs and reviews is, at what point in the publication process do I send the manuscript out? I assume they need an ARC? How far done does the book need to be though. What if it’s still being edited and the format groomed, etc?
You'll talk with your publisher about when to send it out. Sometimes it's right before it goes to copyediting and/or when the ARC is ready. Everyone who reads an ARC knows that it's not the final final final edition and it's fine. It even says so on the cover! You don't send it out, though, if you're still tinkering with the ending or somesuch. :)
Thank you for that confirmation! This makes sense. Thanks for all your wisdom on here :-). Now I’m curious to know how long a person needs the MS in their possession in order to provide their blurb. What’s a reasonable turnaround time? May have to Google this.
It really depends on the timeline of the book's production. Some blurbs are needed early because they want to print them on the ARC or if not that, the printed book. So it then matters when the book HAS to go to the printer because the printer waits for no man. If you're late on edits lol, then it might make that timeline crunched. You want to give the blurbers as long as you can (so not two weeks but also probably not six months) because it's a lot of work to blurb! But there's no single, definitive timeline. Two months is a kind timeline.
I should have added in my comment above that the final thing I do in my life/health book is I highlight portions of it in different highlighter colors. If I have something related to yardwork, it’s circled in green. If it is related to my writing it is circled in orange. if it is health related, it is circled in red, etc. I keep a bunch of colored highlighters in my basket by my bed and I tend to go through my book and highlight portions at the end of the day a few times a week. At that time, if I need reminders, I will then put the reminders in the calendar in my phone to remind me to do certain things in the following days.
Thank you, Kate! This exact topic was a big challenge for me for many years because I wrote these kinds of notes everywhere you can imagine: corner of my checkbook, sticky notes, napkins, a square of toilet paper, etc. Lol. But I adopted the system a few years ago that has been fail safe for me. I carry two paper notebooks with me all day long. Everywhere I go they are always near me. One is written on the cover, the date that I started the book, my name and my workplace. That is my Bible for work and I keep all things related to my 9-to-5 job in that book. The other book I carry also is written on the front cover with permanent marker, “Health/Life” and the starting date of the book. This is where I keep track of notes related to my life outside of work. It doesn’t work for me to use an electronic system because I have my best ideas when I am standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes or driving down the road. Mostly doing some kind of an activity that doesn’t involve my brain is when I get epiphanies. And I always have my small books handy with me to write them down.
Thank you so much for this! I write stuff down all the time, but then when I need it, I can't find it! Your idea to use an electronic Note is fabulous. I'm starting already. Thanks
I add this kind of info to Scrivener's Scratchpad files which I've synced to the Dropbox mobile app. That way I can make a whole variety of notes on-the-fly and then view them later on my PC and/or import them straight into a project file. No cut and paste required!
Thank you! This is so helpful both practical and a way to keep my eyes on the goal as I slog my way through the thornier thickets of my nonfic project.
Uh, I know one published fiction writer and she writes a completely different genre... Is there a chance an agent or publisher would be able to help get a blurber? I mean, it stands to reason they will both know a lot more writers than I do... maybe they'd say "Sit tight, I'm sending your mystery to Agatha Christie, this agency has repped her for ages and I know she's gonna love it."
Correction, my friend, Gromit. You know dozens and dozens of published authors, because you are in this comment thread and because you read Kate! Reach out to any of us out here in the world. We are all here to support each other. Right?
Such good advice! It took me forever to appreciate the beauty of the Notes app, but now I use it ALL the time. Not only do I love how it syncs between all my devices and is easy to just search by words, I find the simple format to be really welcoming. It doesn't intimidate the way a Word of Scrivener doc might. It's just like a little pad of scratch paper. So I often draft important things there first too.
I also like to make extra pages in the "resources" section (or whatever its called) of a Scrivener doc for things like blurb and promotion ideas. That way I can drop them there while I'm working on the book itself too.
I haven't! I'll have to check it out. Honestly Scrivener has about a million functions I have yet to fully explore. As is true for most applications I love and use every day. 🤣
Yes, yes! This is just what I am trying (so hard!) to keep up with now that I'm in the pre-pub months. I wrote some great ideas down one morning, forgot where, had to search, all the while calling myself names, you know! I've started actually printing pages from websites and keeping them in a folder so my browser isn't so thick with tabs and bookmarks. I had a writer's notebook for this novel when it was in draft and revising stages but now that it's out of my hands, the notebook doesn't feel like a great place to store these random but oh-so-important ideas. Like "ask P about that podcast she knows about, some connection she had from the 90s" and "high school friends to add to my launch party list?" I've just spent time scouring past sent emails from my last book and found such a great list there. So, LISTS ARE GOLDEN! Thank you for this post and the encouragement.
Last week, my first novel got accepted by a small press. The timing of this post applies so perfectly and well to me, as I have just started to panic (I'm gonna need to line up blurbs! I'm gonna need to line up readings! Gah what am I doing??). Thank you for this incredibly helpful post!
I have the list now, thanks for the great reminder! Now I just have to write the book.
Right now, I'm checking on agents.
I already keep some of these things in lists already (thank God!). I will add more per the categories in this post. One thing I am wondering about blurbs and reviews is, at what point in the publication process do I send the manuscript out? I assume they need an ARC? How far done does the book need to be though. What if it’s still being edited and the format groomed, etc?
You'll talk with your publisher about when to send it out. Sometimes it's right before it goes to copyediting and/or when the ARC is ready. Everyone who reads an ARC knows that it's not the final final final edition and it's fine. It even says so on the cover! You don't send it out, though, if you're still tinkering with the ending or somesuch. :)
Thank you for that confirmation! This makes sense. Thanks for all your wisdom on here :-). Now I’m curious to know how long a person needs the MS in their possession in order to provide their blurb. What’s a reasonable turnaround time? May have to Google this.
Awesome info! Thank you again. I hadn’t even thought about blurbs already being on the ARCs. Two months to read and review does sound reasonable.
It really depends on the timeline of the book's production. Some blurbs are needed early because they want to print them on the ARC or if not that, the printed book. So it then matters when the book HAS to go to the printer because the printer waits for no man. If you're late on edits lol, then it might make that timeline crunched. You want to give the blurbers as long as you can (so not two weeks but also probably not six months) because it's a lot of work to blurb! But there's no single, definitive timeline. Two months is a kind timeline.
I should have added in my comment above that the final thing I do in my life/health book is I highlight portions of it in different highlighter colors. If I have something related to yardwork, it’s circled in green. If it is related to my writing it is circled in orange. if it is health related, it is circled in red, etc. I keep a bunch of colored highlighters in my basket by my bed and I tend to go through my book and highlight portions at the end of the day a few times a week. At that time, if I need reminders, I will then put the reminders in the calendar in my phone to remind me to do certain things in the following days.
Thank you, Kate! This exact topic was a big challenge for me for many years because I wrote these kinds of notes everywhere you can imagine: corner of my checkbook, sticky notes, napkins, a square of toilet paper, etc. Lol. But I adopted the system a few years ago that has been fail safe for me. I carry two paper notebooks with me all day long. Everywhere I go they are always near me. One is written on the cover, the date that I started the book, my name and my workplace. That is my Bible for work and I keep all things related to my 9-to-5 job in that book. The other book I carry also is written on the front cover with permanent marker, “Health/Life” and the starting date of the book. This is where I keep track of notes related to my life outside of work. It doesn’t work for me to use an electronic system because I have my best ideas when I am standing at the kitchen sink, washing dishes or driving down the road. Mostly doing some kind of an activity that doesn’t involve my brain is when I get epiphanies. And I always have my small books handy with me to write them down.
As I finished reading sent the note/post to my notes. Don’t want to miss a thing
Thank you for such good advice/insight, and helpful information
Thank you so much for this! I write stuff down all the time, but then when I need it, I can't find it! Your idea to use an electronic Note is fabulous. I'm starting already. Thanks
I add this kind of info to Scrivener's Scratchpad files which I've synced to the Dropbox mobile app. That way I can make a whole variety of notes on-the-fly and then view them later on my PC and/or import them straight into a project file. No cut and paste required!
This was so helpful, as ever, thank you!
Thank you! This is so helpful both practical and a way to keep my eyes on the goal as I slog my way through the thornier thickets of my nonfic project.
Uh, I know one published fiction writer and she writes a completely different genre... Is there a chance an agent or publisher would be able to help get a blurber? I mean, it stands to reason they will both know a lot more writers than I do... maybe they'd say "Sit tight, I'm sending your mystery to Agatha Christie, this agency has repped her for ages and I know she's gonna love it."
Correction, my friend, Gromit. You know dozens and dozens of published authors, because you are in this comment thread and because you read Kate! Reach out to any of us out here in the world. We are all here to support each other. Right?
Yep! They will absolutely help!
Such good advice! It took me forever to appreciate the beauty of the Notes app, but now I use it ALL the time. Not only do I love how it syncs between all my devices and is easy to just search by words, I find the simple format to be really welcoming. It doesn't intimidate the way a Word of Scrivener doc might. It's just like a little pad of scratch paper. So I often draft important things there first too.
I also like to make extra pages in the "resources" section (or whatever its called) of a Scrivener doc for things like blurb and promotion ideas. That way I can drop them there while I'm working on the book itself too.
Katie, have you tried using the Scrivener Scratchpad function? See my note below.
I haven't! I'll have to check it out. Honestly Scrivener has about a million functions I have yet to fully explore. As is true for most applications I love and use every day. 🤣
Great advice! And I've already written most of this stuff down --yay! I can't wait to be the most prepared writer in all the land. : )
Yes, yes! This is just what I am trying (so hard!) to keep up with now that I'm in the pre-pub months. I wrote some great ideas down one morning, forgot where, had to search, all the while calling myself names, you know! I've started actually printing pages from websites and keeping them in a folder so my browser isn't so thick with tabs and bookmarks. I had a writer's notebook for this novel when it was in draft and revising stages but now that it's out of my hands, the notebook doesn't feel like a great place to store these random but oh-so-important ideas. Like "ask P about that podcast she knows about, some connection she had from the 90s" and "high school friends to add to my launch party list?" I've just spent time scouring past sent emails from my last book and found such a great list there. So, LISTS ARE GOLDEN! Thank you for this post and the encouragement.
Last week, my first novel got accepted by a small press. The timing of this post applies so perfectly and well to me, as I have just started to panic (I'm gonna need to line up blurbs! I'm gonna need to line up readings! Gah what am I doing??). Thank you for this incredibly helpful post!
Congratulations!!