Crikey it's been a while, hasn't it? I am so sorry.
I gather from snippets of conversation here and there, and the occasional direct question ('Where's me bloody book then?') that some of you are impatient to receive your copy of Why Do Birds Suddenly Disappear?. It is written, you reason, so what is stopping it from plopping into your eager grasp?
In earlier updates I've used Unbound's own schedule template to show where we are in what sometimes seems a lengthy process, so here we are again:
1. Funding target reached (TICK)
2. The final draft of the manuscript is delivered (TICK)
3. The editor edits. And edits. (TICK)
4. Cover and artwork design begins. (TICK)
5. The copy editor reviews the manuscript for consistency. (TICK)
6. Typesetter formats manuscript for printing (TICK)
7. First proofs come back and are sent to the proofreader (THIS is where we are right now)
8. Final edits are made
9. Artwork finalised
10. Final proofs go to press
So progress has been made, and you'll be glad to know that I found two stray commas and a faulty em dash in my own proofreading. Im sure the profeshonals will fined moor.
Progress has also been made in the vexed question of when the book will appear. We have a publication date for the trade edition – the one that will be available in the shops and online – and it is June 2018. The subscribers' edition – the slightly posher version that you have signed up for – will arrive some time before that, usually a couple of months, although it's difficult to be precise.
It's very flattering that so many of you are so keen for it to appear, and I'm sorry if this is longer than you want to wait. A good tactic, I've found, is to forget completely that you've supported this book – that way, when it does arrive, it'll feel like a freebie.
Part of the problem with the transparency of the Unbound process is the transparency of the Unbound process. You don't hear about most books until they hit the shelves. With this one, you were in on the whole thing before a word was written, which makes the time between payment and delivery feel even longer. For what it's worth, I gather that fifteen months from delivery of first draft (which I did in February this year) to delivery of actual book is about par for the course. Factor in the need to slot it into Unbound's publishing schedule and Penguin Random House's distribution schedule, and, well, that's where we are.
So I refer you to my 'forgetting about it' advice above, and thank you for your continued patience.
Meanwhile, here's a picture of a heron patiently waiting for his copy.
