You've submitted your work, recieved a contract and have returned said contract to Wild Horse Press. You may be wondering what happens at this point.
COVER ART
Once we receive your signed contract, our cover artist is notified that we need a cover to place on our Upcoming Releases list. A copy of the cover will be provided to you once it's completed. As previously mentioned, unless you plan on hiring your own cover artist, you do not have a say in your cover. This may seem harsh, however, if we allowed every author to dictate how their cover looked our cover artist would be making the same cover over and over and all productivity would be lost. So keep in mind we don't say that to be mean, simply to keep things flowing smoothly.
EDITING
After the cover is finished and has been posted to our site, an editor will be assigned. Now, just because an editor is assigned does not mean they begin working on your book immediately. Our editors are very busy people and there is a waiting list. Our authors usually receive their books back from the editor's first cursory glance about 3-4 weeks prior to their release.
If the author makes any changes at that time, it needs to be notated precisely what changed and the author will need to notify the editor. Depending on the changes made, it could alter your release date. We advise against making changes once the book begins the editing process. If you have a fabulous idea you want to incorporate into your story, please ask to do so before the editing actually begins. It will save both you and your editor time.
PROOFING
Once you have determined that you are not making any changes and the editor has done their job, the book will be emailed back to you for another read through. As our editors are human, they do miss something from time to time. If you see anything, simply notate it and let us know. If you see numerous mistakes, please let us know as they have sent you the wrong file by mistake.
REVIEWING
Ah... it's been edited and proof-read. Now comes the fun part. Okay, it's more like the nail biting part. Now your book is ready for review. We submit to a large list of review sites. Typically a title is submitted to 5 or 6 places. If we do not see results from the first batch, a few more sites will be contacted. We never give up! :)
SALES
All Romance Ebooks allows an item to be posted for Pre-Sale. We usually do this about 2-3 weeks prior to the release date. The other sites we use, including our own, will not have the title listed/submitted until 24 hours prior to the release date.
IS THERE A TIMELINE FOR ALL OF THIS?
No. There are many factors in the above mentioned items. If you press us for a deadline for each of the above items, we'll do our best to give you one. However, things in life happen that we cannot control. So regardless of how much we'd love to say A will be done by this date and B will be done by this date, it doesn't always happen that way. For one thing, the editor may start working on your book and may find more things than we initially noticed when we accepted the manuscript. That alone takes up a good chunk of time. So please be patient and we'll get your book back to you just as quickly as we can.
WHAT DO I DO WHILE ALL OF THIS IS HAPPENING?
What do you, as an author, do during this lengthy process? Simple. You promote yourself, your website, and your book.
If you do not yet have a website, there are several free websites out there with easy to use templates (wix, wetpaint, weebly, homestead - just to name a few). It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Just tell the readers who you are, what book(s) you have available or coming soon, and if you'd like you can add a guestbook. Check out the "Our Authors" tab to get a feel for what others have done.
Not sure how to promote yourself or your book? We have a "Promo Ideas" section on our site. We aren't saying you have to use those sites or ideas, but it might help you figure out a game plan.
Blogging seems to be one of the more popular options, and it's completely free! Not only can you set up your own, but there are plenty of authors and review sites out there who would love to have you send them something about your book(s).
If you'd like to give out free copies of your book (you are allowed up to 3 per month, but we prefer you give out no more than 9 per year), you may do so. If you are blogging or hosting/attending events prior to your books release date, simply tell them a free copy will be available to them when the book is released. Take note of their name and email and you can send it to them when the time comes.
Still have questions?
Feel free to ask us. We're always happy to answer any questions you may have along the way. The more informed you are the better you will feel about the process.
