Prepping a book for publication is the healthiest part of the process. You’re done with all the writing and rewriting but you’re not yet publicising. In other words, the cabin-fevered voices in your head quieten down, but you don’t yet have to listen to the annoying sound of your own voice yapping on about the book.
Instead, you get to listen to the input of others. And I’ve been very lucky to have been working with some amazing people at Unbound over the past few months. So here’s a quick rundown of recent developments and shoutouts to all the lovely people who have been helping to turn my manuscript into an actual book – from editing, to copy editing, to designing the cover. (The cover will be revealed at the end of this update).
Editing
My editor Rachael Kerr first gave me some brilliant advice about how to improve the manuscript when she first read it way back in 2015. Last year, she gave me even more great advice in the form of detailed notes as part of the development edit. I lost count of the number of revisions she read and also the number of times she offered much-needed moral support and encouragement. Each time I sat down with her to go through the manuscript, she’d instil in me this amazing combination of energy and calmness. The book is much better for all her help and I’m beyond grateful for that.
In-house editing
There’s so much that goes into producing a book – from masterminding the actual publication, to overseeing the copyedit and typesetting, to coming up with blurb for the back of the jacket and finding the ideal typeface (in this case, Warnock Pro). Unbound editor DeAndra Lupu, otherwise known as Eagle Eye, has been undertaking all this and much else, making sure that everything that needs to happen does happen. Without her, we simply wouldn’t be able to get the book into your hands later this year. I’m also really grateful to her for her encouragement and forbearance – she’s somehow been able to keep things on track even when I’ve come off the rails. Or when I’ve done something ridiculous like inadvertently adding 20,000 words…
Copy editing
This was the stage where the book was read for accuracy and consistency and other errors. I’m very lucky that Unbound commissioned the sharp eyes and mind of Justine Taylor to go through the manuscript. Her thoughts and comments have proved invaluable and she called me out on things that I’d been a little lazy about. It was also interesting to have an electronic dialogue with her conducted solely through the tracked changes and comments facility on Microsoft Word. Interestingly, the disembodied nature of the dialogue made me even more conscientious about the text, as if I was answering some kind of transcendent higher power…
A new title
You’ll have probably already noticed that we’ve changed the title of the book to Distortion. A big thank you to John Mitchinson, Unbound’s co-founder and chief publishing officer, for suggesting the new name. Not only is it a much stronger title than A Story Distorted, it’s also more fitting. John is also the person who first picked up my manuscript and suggested that I publish it with Unbound, for which I’ll forever be grateful. This makes it even more special that he ended up naming the book. Nailing the right name was a catalyst for so many other good things. It helped me to think about the manuscript more clearly, bringing certain elements more into focus. It also influenced the cover design.
Cover design
And now for the cover, courtesy of Mark Ecob. Mark has designed a number of book jackets that I really admire, both for Unbound and for other publishers. I was so psyched when I saw what he’d come up with for this book – and I hope you are too. There are many, many things I love about it, but I think I should just let the image speak for itself:
I’ll be working with many other brilliant people at Unbound in the months ahead and will be sure to keep you posted about things come along. Of course, the book also wouldn’t be happening were it not for everyone who has kindly crowdfunded it. So, once again, my thanks to each and every one of you for supporting this book.
Gautam
