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BOOK PUBLISHING  EDITING AND PRODUCTION

The Book Production Process

•••

From copy editing to shipping

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BY VALERIE PETERSON 

Updated August 20, 2019

The book production department is responsible for the design, layout, printing, and/or e-
book coding of the finished book. Here's how it happens.

Book Production Step-By-Step 

The book production process officially starts when the acquiring editor of the book
submits a final, edited book manuscript to a copy editor. At that point, the manuscript is
considered to be "in production" and the page layout and design process begin. Note
that while the book is in production, the book jacket is being designed at about the same
time.
Step 1: Copyediting

The copy editor reviews the final manuscript for grammar, spelling, and consistency. He
or she corrects errors and questions anything that isn't clear in the text. The copyedited
manuscript comes back to editor and author with queries from the copy editor. The
author and the editor answer the queries and consult to finalize the text.

The manuscript now goes for design and layout. For books that don't have photography
or illustration (sometimes called "art programs"), the author will likely not see the text
again until the page proofs.

Step 2: Book Page Design and Layout

With books that are art-, photo- or illustration-heavy—such as cookbooks, coffee table
books, or do-it-yourself instruction books—the author is often looped in during the page
design process.

While the pages are being copyedited and reviewed, an overall design direction is
determined for the book by the creative team and editor. At this point in the process, the
author receives sample pages.

Once a design is finalized by the team, an entire "dummy" book is created and all
parties review the page layouts to fit copy, to gauge the appropriateness of art-to-text,
and to make changes as necessary. There may be more than one dummy book stage
to be reviewed.

The author receives the text laid out in page proofs (or the text and art in a dummy
book, see above). At the same time, the page proofs are being reviewed by the editor, a
proofreader and various members of the production staff. Typos are corrected and
minor changes made. There may be additional back-and-forth and fine-tuning in layout
and design that doesn't involve the author.

For some books, uncorrected page proofs, galleys or ARCs of the book may be printed
and bound for advance book marketing and publicity purposes.
Step 3: Book Printing, Binding, and Shipping

During the printing and shipping - the final stages of production - there's usually a lull in
activity for the author. Once the pages are final, an index is created, typeset, and
proofread. (Note: the author generally pays for the indexing; this is outlined in the book
contract and the money is deducted from theadvance against royalties).

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The files are now reviewed for any issues and prepped for manufacturing. Copies of the
final, clean files (including artwork) are simultaneously sent to the printer for printing and
binding, and to a file converter (either in-house or freelance) who preps the files for the
e-book version.

Books come off the press and advance copies are rushed to the publisher. Samples are
distributed to the author, the editor and the agent, but the bulk is generally used for
publicity mailings to media and for the sales departments to give to accounts.

The books are packed and shipped to the publisher's warehouse. The length of time for
printing and shipping varies dramatically--from 3 weeks turnaround for an all-text
computer book printed in the U.S. to months for printing overseas (which is the norm for
most full-color books) and being shipped back via boat, going through customs, and
trucked to the publisher's warehouse.

Finished books ship from warehouse to retail destinations, such as

individual independent bookstores or national account distribution centers—such as
for Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com—where they are inventoried, unpacked, re-shipped
(in the case of distribution centers) and shelved for consumer purchase in time for the
on-sale date.
 In a parallel timeframe to printing and shipping, properly coded e-book files are made
available to the online retailers via data feeds from the publisher. The bookseller offers
them for purchase and download by consumers through their websites.

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