The lifeline that sounds dead

Part 5: The deadline is the promise that will get you a book

Hopefully, at this point you know why you want to make a book, who the book is for, and you know the content source. Now you get the best piece of advice on making a book happen. You need a deadline. 

There is no end to funny quotes by writers and their disdain for deadlines. In publishing there is a Due Date and the Drop Dead Due Date. We all operate to varying degrees of respect for these dates. I don’t know why we don’t call it the 4D. In recent years with supply chain madness any Due Date has become a Drop Dead Due Date. I jest, slightly. 

After we’ve answered the questions in Episode 1-3, the best thing you can do is set a release date. As much as I’d like for all of us to sit with a laptop looking roguish at a coffee shop sipping espressos, a book needs a due date. My favorite quote on this matter is, “I don’t need time, I need a deadline.” by Duke Ellington. This is so true. It’s true in a way that seems to know the pain of not having one on a previous project. 

Even if you don’t hit your date, at least make a goal. Maybe you don’t pick your final date but you make a milestone goal. 5,000 words by May the 5th for example. Once you achieve that step, make another milestone and repeat until you have a book. Don’t beat yourself up when you don’t make a milestone but be ready to tweak your plan. The main thing is, keep moving.

Once you have a date, you need to plan backward in time for the milestones you need to hit to stay on your schedule. This is called a Production Schedule. It’s a sacrosanct document that all book making hinges on and is followed like the law. Again, I jest, slightly. In conventional Publishing the Editor will assign due dates and you will have to meet these deadlines. Unless of course you make the Publisher a lot of money, then you can call and they will buy whatever excuse you give them.

Here is the general idea. First we will do it from the book release date and back. 

Book releases-11/18/22

Book to print- 11/1/22  

Interior PDF Due -10/31

Cover PDF Due -10/31

Book final pass from editor to author- 10/29
Next Round back from author to editor-10/26

Book edits from editor to author  10/25

Book from author to editor -10/12

Author finished with Round 1 (All your rough drafts are done and formed into your best shot at your book you can make.) - 10/12

Now, write the dates down in chronological order on whatever tool you feel comfortable using. You can put reminders in your Google or Office 365 Calendar for that matter. ASANA, Monday.com, and other productivity apps probably work but I have not used them for book management. I left out many steps above from Cover Design  to Substantive Editing so keep in mind the above is meant as a general example, but your specific project will demand its own map. 

Once more with feeling my friends. 

1. You can tweak till the cows come home. You need to finish to get a book. To finish, you need a deadline. 

2. If you self publish, self imposed milestones will be the most crucial piece of advice to getting your book in hand. Without a publisher and their team pushing you to a deadline you could float in the doldrums for years. 

I hope that after this, it’s clear, you need a deadline and a schedule. One funny thought from an old colleague, when asked how long it would take to write an article was, “How good do you want it? Two weeks good or two days good?” Happy trails as you make your book’s map to the finish line.