The Publishing Process: 9 Steps at Elyssar Press
Each publishing press has their own process for publishing a book. At Elyssar Press, we take our time with each stage. We know how much time you put into your stories.
By the time of the book launch, we want everyone to fall in love with the new book that is ready for the world.
The Publishing Process at Elyssar Press
Ready to learn more? Here is how we publish a book in nine steps. The process begins when the writer submits their work via our online submission portal. It ends with the celebratory book launch.
Step 1 - Submit Your Work
When you submit your excerpt to Elyssar Press, you can expect to hear back from us within six months. If you have a longer work of prose, please select three–four chapters. If you have a collection of poetry, please submit 10-15 poems.
Per standard operating procedure, we ask that in your submission, you include a short blurb about your work as well as your bio.
Step 2 - We Contact You for More
Within six months after you submitted your excerpt, you will hear back from the team at Elyssar Press. We will either ask for your full manuscript or inform you that your work is not right for our press.
As writers and poets, we have had our own work submitted and rejected countless times–perhaps hundreds of times, collectively speaking. We understand that it is a major bummer to receive a rejection letter, no matter how nicely it is worded. Our hope is that you keep writing and submitting your work.
If you received a “more, please!” from us, great! Please know that it takes three months for us to read the entirety of your manuscript.
Step 3 - Final “Yay or Nay” Shared with Author
After three months reading and re-reading your manuscript, we will communicate our final decision with you. If we decide your work is a perfect fit for Elyssar Press, we will provide you with that announcement and offer a contract for you to review and sign. If we decide your work is not the right fit for our press, we will also let you know.
Step 4 - Author Signs the Contract
If they received a yes from the staff at Elyssar Press, then you (as the author) have a chance to read and review the contract provided. At this stage, you either sign the contract with us or you don’t. We understand that at this stage, there is still a chance you will withdraw the manuscript, if you are accepted elsewhere or you changed your mind.
Once the contract is signed, we have the right to go forward with publishing your work.
The publishing process and timeline for Elyssar Press begins 24 months out, when you submit an excerpt of your manuscript. Refer to this infographic for details.
Step 5 - Manuscript Receives Editorial Assessment
At Elyssar Press, we work closely with editors who first read your work from a “big picture” perspective to assess what kind of editing is necessary. The editorial assessment usually takes one month.
Your assigned editor will contact you and together, you have the option to sign a proposal and contract with them–this arrangement and agreement is not covered by Elyssar Press, meaning, we do not pay for your editing services.
You also have the option to work with an editor who is not recommended by Elyssar Press. Make sure you specify with your editor how many rounds of editing they will be offering and what the rates cover.
One perk of working with an editor who our team is familiar with is that they work closely with our team and have positive testimonials accompanying their practice.
Step 6 - Manuscript Undergoes Editing
It can take two–four months to edit your manuscript depending on the arrangement you make. There are several possibilities regarding the types of editing your work may need.
At Elyssar Press, our three main types of editing services fall into:
Developmental editing
Copy editing
Proofreading
Developmental editing does not occur with every manuscript. It consists of addressing and strengthening story elements like plot, conflict, character development, themes, and form. Poetry collections can receive developmental editing too, with suggested changes around the substance, flow, form, and the order of the poems.
Copy editing refers to the process of reviewing your work for grammar, usage, and flow. These edits are often to align with the Chicago Manual of Style.
Proofreading is the final stage of the pre-design editing process and catches typos, typeface issues, that one spelling mistake everyone missed, etc.
During this time, you should make a list of which writers, friends, and colleagues you'd like to ask for blurbs, as well as for longer reviews of your book. We recommend giving people a deadline of one month to return a blurb and two months to write and submit a book review–at least! You can send potential reviewers a PDF of your manuscript by this point, or during step seven in the case of longer reviews. You can also ask reviewers to submit their longer reviews to GoodReads, literary magazines, small newspapers, and more.
Some authors want to include blurbs (a.k.,a short endorsements or praise of the book) on the back or inside cover of their book, which is why our team needs blurbs prior to the next step.
Step 7 - Edited Manuscript Sent to Layout and Design Team
Once your manuscript has gone through multiple rounds of editing and review, we can now press print, right? If only it were that easy! At step seven, our layout and design team begins the final arrangement of your manuscript. This stage is the last chance to provide any photos, bios, art, back-cover content, etc., to the Elyssar Press team.
If you are including reviews on the manuscript itself, such as on the back cover, then you need to provide them to us by this stage. That means months prior to the layout stage (refer to step six), you should ask fellow writers, friends, and colleagues to review your book.
A visual proof will be sent to you and you can discuss any edits with the Elyssar Press team. Final layout edits will be shared with you during these two–three months.
Step 8 - Manuscript Available to Purchase on Website and Social Media Campaigns Begin
We will push your book across the Elyssar Press website and our social media channels. We also will help you with questions around marketing your book. If you have any connections to certain authors, publications, partners, or venues to make your release and launch happen–don't be shy to ask people who can help you! Now is the time to push your book to people who would be genuinely excited to celebrate your success and share your new book in their circles too.
Toward the end of this stage, we are two-three months away from the book launch, which you will need to plan and orchestrate. Our marketing team is here to answer questions around best practices, and set-up the technical support (for an online launch, for example), but we cannot plan the event for you. You will need to think about the flow, if there is author Q&A, other authors celebrating their debuts in partnership with you, etc.
We will make sure your book is available for purchase on our online bookstore, and you will also receive one complimentary copy.
Step 9 - Book Launch and Cheers!
Almost two years since the day you clicked “submit” on our submission portal, we arrive at the launch for your book. We want our authors to love the final manuscript as much as we do. That's one reason why we do not rush this process. It also allows time to make sure the book launch is a special event. Members of the Elyssar Press team may attend the event, if they can.
Some manuscripts are ready for this final step much sooner than two years. Each manuscript is different in its needs and some stages are shorter.
This means that your manuscript could be ready to debut with a book launch as early as 18 months after you submitted your work. In general, however, you can count on this process being a two-year endeavor.
Published Books at Elyssar Press
We hope this behind-the-scenes peek at our publishing process answers questions you may have. You can see that it is a long process. We take your submissions seriously. Our goal is to publish and share books that celebrate and explore what it means to be alive.
We believe in the importance of individuality, the richness of every culture and the understanding attained in the knowledge about each other by ways of beauty in the written language and design.
Every October through December, our submission portal opens to the world. We encourage you to submit an excerpt of your work during those months.