And Now Back to the Manuscript

I finished writing my third book yesterday. After a few changes this morning, I finally typed The End on the last page of the manuscript.

It's an awesome feeling, believe me. Almost three years of hard work.

Now, I'm waiting for the inevitable question that comes once I tell most non-writers that the book is complete.

"When can I buy a copy?" or "When will it come out?" or "Will it be on Kindle?"

Their thinking: Well, gee, the book is done...I mean...then it gets published, right?

For some authors, perhaps it's a foregone conclusion.

Here's the way it's going to work for me.

First, a significant amount of editing is necessary. I suspect a couple of weeks worth at least. My editor has already been through it once. We will go through it again together.

Next, I need to find a literary agent. The agent is the go-between . . . the person who will attempt to sell my work to a publisher. I'm fortunate that there are several agents who have expressed interest in seeing what I've written. Once I submit my manuscript to them, however, it could be anywhere from two weeks to, perhaps, six months before I hear back and there is no guarantee any of them will agree to represent me. If none are interested, the agent hunt begins again.

If I'm fortunate and find an agent willing to take me on, he or she will likely want me to make changes to the manuscript. Even then, there is no guarantee a publisher will agree to buy the book. If they do, lag time between acquisition and publication is at least a year, probably longer.

So the answer to the question, "When can I buy a copy?"

Beats the heck out of me.

Stay tuned.