The latest agent symposium session, “From Acquisition to Publication” with Stephanie Delman, was about what happens after you sell your book. Delman spoke on the publishing process, everything from editing, marketing, publicity, sales, social media, and the importance of protecting your peace of mind.

1. Publishing is slow. No two paths are the same, but a typical timeline is about a year and half (could be longer/shorter).
2. The publisher doesn’t purchase your words. They are paying you to license the exclusive rights to publish your words in a certain format (ebook, print, audio) and territory (domestic only, global, English, etc.).
3. You will be a partner in the process. The more you’re willing to be involved, the more it will positively impact your book.
4. When working on the jacket copy, cover concepts, fonts, and blurb, it should be a collaborative process with the publisher.
5. Treat the cover as a sales tool.
6. Authors should not be spending their own money on ad campaigns.
7. While you are waiting for your book to be published, you should engage with the literary community, pitch essays and book excerpts to the publicity team, and, of course, take care of yourself.
8. Some of the behind the scenes tasks from your publishing team include the cover, pitching internally, sales, marketing, publicity, celebrity book club outreach (Oprah, Reese, Read with Jenna), and foreign submission.
9. Editing includes a letter from your editor with big picture edits. Then 2-5 rounds of line-level edits.
10. Your publishing date isn’t set until the editing process is complete.

Bonus takeaway: Half of her client’s books ended up with a different title, either before or after they sold.