So where’s the book? I thought it was ready to go a year ago.

A year ago I was preparing to release the book under the Odyssey Publishing imprint. At the last minute a publisher expressed interest in the title, so I decided to wait until I heard back from them. After nine months of waiting on this publisher, I decided to withdraw the book from consideration and go back to my original plan.

Okay, so when can we expect to see the book?

I could very easily print the book today and have it available for purchase in a month. Unfortunately, the book industry works on a different timetable. To properly release a book requires a minimum of a four to six month lead time. This is necessary to obtain pre-publication reviews, get listed in various online databases, and a multitude of other steps such as getting listed in catalogs that are used by bookstores. Additionally, you have to have a distributor who can handle supplying the book to the various channels. All of this takes time. I couldn’t start the ball rolling while I was waiting on this publisher.

You still haven’t answered the question of when the book will be released.

There are several distribution options available to me. I am exploring my options. One of the more promising options is a major national distributor that has a special program designed specifically for books like mine. Problem is they only select books twice a year. I missed the January cutoff by two weeks. The next submission window is in July. Books selected in July are released the following spring.

What? Are you saying that the book might not be released until next year?

That is a possibility. My goal is for the book to obtain the widest audience possible. Why publish a book if only a few hundred people get to read it?

Why not find another publisher?

If only it were that easy. First there is the process: Send a query to a literary agent; send some sample chapters to the agents who are interested; then send them a proposal; if they’re interested they might ask to see the book; sign with the agent; then the agent tries to interest an editor at a publisher; that editor then wants to see the proposal; if he likes it then it gets passed around to another five or six individuals, anyone of which can nix the project. All of this can take six months to a year. The average acceptance rate is somewhere below 5%.

So where do things stand right now?