How Publishing Works
A basic breakdown of the book making process
Step 1: An author will often work with an agent
Unpublished books will often be referred to as manuscripts. Agents will read these manuscripts and decide which ones they want to present to a publisher. At Octopus we also work with a lot of brands (such as food and drink companies or design and lifestyle brands). This sometimes means liaising directly with the brands as opposed to working via an agent.
Step 2: The agent will offer the book to a commissioning editor at a publishing house
The agent will present the book to a publishing house or a number of publishing houses. In some cases the publisher will then pitch for the book and in other cases the agent and publisher will move straight to negotiating the terms of the contract.
Step 3: The commissioning editor will work with the author to create and edit the book
Together they will go through it, checking the spelling, grammar and any references, as well as recommending changes to the text and structure. They will be the book’s champion throughout the process and will work with the author and also all of the internal teams to maximise all opportunities for the book to make it a success.
Step 4: An audiobook might get made
Sometimes publishers will make audio versions of the book. These tend to work best when they’re long form books, so over a couple of hours of listening time.
Step 5: The book gets designed
Designers will create the book jacket and interior layouts, as well as hiring photographers and illustrators if required.
Step 6: The production team make the book into something tangible
Production teams work with designers and editors to agree the format of the book, how it will look and feel, the paper it will be printed on, and then work with out of house suppliers to transform the book into something you can pick up and hold.
In the case of ebooks the digital team will work on the content to ensure it is optimised for ereaders – this might mean adjusting layouts or images or even adding additional functionality.
Step 7: The sales team get the book into the shops
The sales team will work with bookshops and book retailers in the UK and around the world to bring the book one step closer to its reader. It includes bookshops on the high street and online, supermarkets, department stores and other shops which take books alongside other things like music or clothes. Sometimes this includes selling books directly into the US market, if we have the rights and where we also have a publicist to help promote them.
Step 8: The rights team sells the book to foreign book publishers
When an agent does a deal with the publisher they agree what international rights they own. As Octopus publish a lot of illustrated books these are very often global deals and we work with foreign publishers on co-editions whereby we print books for them alongside ours and make the books available in as many territories as possible. The international publishers then sell the book in their own language and under their own imprint, occasionally with different covers to appeal to the tastes of each territory. This means we can reach as wide a readership as possible globally for a book. Sometimes we will sell the rights to foreign publishers and they publish and print the books themselves. This is very often the way that it works for books without illustrations. Sometimes we might also work with publishers in the US in this way, where we feel this it the best route to maximise the sales.
Step 9: The marketing and publicity teams gets the word out (NB this happens both before and after step 10)
The press team will look to secure TV, radio, print and online coverage of the book and author. This might be interviews with the author or extracts like when you see recipes in weekend newspapers. Between them the marketing and publicity team also run events for authors with bookshops, festivals and partners. The marketing team will look after things like posters and radio adverts, physical material for bookshops if they would like it or online content for independent bookshops and social media. They may also run targeted digital advertising on channels such as Facebook or Instagram. These ads allow them to reach people who they can tell from data might be interested in the book. Publishers may also choose to run Amazon Advertising. Click here to find out more about Amazon Ads.
Step 10: The book arrives in our distribution centre and then is off out to the shops and is ready for a reader to buy it.
Click here to see the Hachette Guide to Publishing