Please note: We endeavour to keep this FAQ up to date; however, some of these details are subject to change, so please discuss your questions with your Grammar Factory publisher to ensure you have the very latest, most accurate information.
1. General
What’s the difference between the standard Publishing PRO package and the expedited Publishing PRO package?
Our standard Publishing PRO package includes a full structural edit, which is the most intensive type of editing. As the name suggests, in a structural edit, the editor considered the overall structure of the book, pulling it apart and then reconstituting it to best achieve the author’s goals. The editor will eliminate repetitive, redundant, and irrelevant content, move content around, and suggest new content to fill knowledge gaps that the target reader is likely to have. The result is a manuscript that flows more logically and better meets the needs of the reader and, by extension, the author.
Our expedited Publishing PRO package is designed for authors who have worked closely with an approved book coach. It recognizes that while the manuscript still need work to bring it across the finish line as a professional, published book, the overall structure and content should already be strong and not require structural changes. Instead, with the expedited Publishing PRO package, we begin with a copyedit (sometimes referred to as a stylistic edit or line edit) that focuses on the paragraph and sentence level, ensuring a consistent tone and voice, efficient and effective use of language, and the like.
So, which is right for you?
If you’ve worked closely (one-on-one or in intensive group coaching) with a Grammar Factory Approved™ book coach, then you are likely best served by the expedited Publishing PRO package. By forgoing the structural edit, we can shave about 7 weeks off the schedule as well as the associated cost of the structural edit. If in doubt, discuss the state of your manuscript with your writing coach and with us. If together we agree that you’d still benefit from a structural edit or if you’d value the additional time and guidance that comes with it, then we can always proceed with the standard package instead.
If you’d not worked with an approved book coach, then the standard Publishing PRO package is designed for you. It offers the most comprehensive editing support from structure to style to mechanics and ensures that your book gets the professional treatment it deserves.
If you’re an experienced writer and believe that your manuscript is structurally sound and does not require a structural edit, we do offer a manuscript assessment option. In this option, our editorial team will review your manuscript and provide you with a recommendation on whether you’d be best served with the standard or expedited package. We do charge for this assessment; however, if you choose to proceed with the full package after the assessment, the fees paid for the assessment are credited in full towards the cost of either the standard or expeditedPublishing PRO package.
Is there anything special I need to do to format my manuscript?
There are some best practices for setting up and formatting your manuscript. Following these will both help you write more efficiently and help your editor and publisher navigate and work with your manuscript so they can focus on bringing out the best possible book from it rather than on reformatting it so it’s easier to work with.
We’ve created a video guide and companion manuscript template to help you get up to speed quickly on these best practices: https://entrepreneurtoauthor.com/book-manuscript-template/
That said, don’t sweat it too much – do your best to get it 80% of the way there and we’ll take it from there.
How should I handle references in footnotes or endnotes
We cover references and endnotes in the manuscript setup and formatting guide mentioned earlier (https://entrepreneurtoauthor.com/book-manuscript-template/), but here’s the quick summary:
Footnotes and endnotes
For references to exact sources (such as citations of specific page numbers) or supplemental information:
- Use Word’s built-in Footnotes feature to add your notes – it’s easier to write using footnotes (versus endnotes) since they show up right where you are in the document and can be edited in context.
Once you’re finished writing, you can then easily convert them to endnotes (and back to footnotes if you need) by opening the “Footnote and Endnote” window from the “References” tab in Word. While certainly not a hard rule, we usually recommend using endnotes in the printed book as they’re less distracting for the reader, but either approach is fine.
References or sources
If you’d like to include a bibliographic list of all sources used, without citing a specific location, you can put these in a separate section called “References” or “Sources” at the back of your book. These types of sources aren’t referenced in specific places in the text, but rather provide the reader with a more general overview of sources used in your work.
Can you do a hardcover edition also?
In short, yes. If you would like a hardcover edition of your book, we can publish a case laminate or a jacketed hardcover. A case laminate hardcover is a hardcover in which the cover is printed directly on the hard cover board. Like the paperback, we can print the hardcover with either a gloss or matte finish. For a jacketed hardcover, the cover artwork is printed on a removable dust cover (with front and back flaps) that wraps around the hardcover book, requiring custom cover art. These are both available at an additional cost.
If you’re interested in either of these options, please let us know in your initial publishing consultation so we can plan for it in the project schedule.2. Schedules and timelines
How long will it take for my book to be published?
Here are some typical timelines, calculated from the time we begin the first edit of your book – what we refer to as your project Start Date.
For our standard Publishing PRO package, which includes a first-round structural edit, you can expect to have a printed sample in hand in around 4 months:
- Book complete: 15 weeks (Book cover and interior are finished, pending your final approval.)
- Printed sample: 16-17 weeks (We’ll ship a printed sample to you for review and approval before releasing the title for distribution and printing your full quantity of printed copies. If, upon receiving the sample, you require changes, additional time will be needed to make the requested changes.)
- Available for purchase: 17-18 weeks (Your book begins appearing on major book retailer websites)
- Printed copies delivered: 18-20 weeks (Your full order of printed copies arrives. If your book is printed through a local printer, add another 1-2 weeks. A local printer is used if, for example, you request specialized printing treatment that cannot be achieved through our standard print provider or if the quantity of books you request is large enough that local printing is materially less costly.)
For our expedited Publishing PRO package, which moves directly into a copy edit:
- Book complete: 8 weeks (Book cover and interior are finished, pending your final approval.)
- Printed sample: 9-10 weeks (We’ll ship a printed sample to you for review and approval before releasing the title for distribution and printing your full quantity of printed copies.)
- Available for purchase: 10-11 weeks (Your book begins appearing on major book retailer websites)
- Printed copies delivered: 11-13 weeks (Your full order of printed copies arrives. If your book is printed through a local printer, add another 1-2 weeks. A local printer is used if, for example, you request specialized printing treatment that cannot be achieved through our standard print provider or if the quantity of books you request is large enough that local printing is materially less costly.)
Is that a firm timeline? Can we go faster?
The above timelines are estimates, based on our experience working with hundreds of authors. We’ve honed our process so that timelines are fairly predictable. However, each project is unique and a number of things can shrink or extend the timelines, for example:
- Longer manuscripts: Our project schedules assume a submitted manuscript of between 30,000 and 45,000 words. If a manuscript is longer than that, we’ll typically add 1-2 weeks to the schedule.
- External delays outside of our control: Such as higher than normal demand at printing facilities, delays or technical issues with distribution or retail partners, global pandemics (quite rare, but…), and the like.
- Scheduling/capacity constraints: Such as holidays, vacations, project scheduling conflicts, and so on.
- Author-driven delays: Such as missed submission or review deadlines, change requests, additional content added late in project (testimonials is a common one, or making changes to the manuscript after the proofread), and so on.
- Extra rounds of edits: Although not common, if the author adds significant content just before the proofread was to begin, they may request (or we may recommend) an additional round of content editing.
- Extra design revisions: We do not put a cap on design revisions; however, each round of revisions adds time to the schedule. It’s normal to have at least a couple of rounds of design revisions, but the more rounds iterations needed, the longer the project will extend.
- Print samples (and resulting changes): We include 1-2 weeks to have a sample of your book printed and shipped to you so you can see and approve it before proceeding with distribution and printing. If based on this sample, you request changes, that will add time to the schedule, both for making the changes and for printing and shipping another sample to you, if required.
Those are some of the things that can expand the schedule. What about shrinking it? Can we go any faster? There are some things we may be able to do to expedite a project, or at least certain parts of it. If there is a particular date that you have in mind for something, let us know and we’ll do our best to make it happen. Some requests that we’ve been able to accommodate in the past include:
- Earlier “publication date” – useful for “end of fiscal year” considerations, book award criteria, etc.
- Interim PDF eBook – useful for getting testimonials or advanced reviews
- Early eBook launch – useful for getting Amazon reader reviews in advance of print launch
I’d like to plan ahead for my launch activities. When should I plan for?
If you’re planning a launch event (whether live or virtual) or where you have marketing and promotional activity planned, it may be important that all elements of your book are live and fully available. The coordination of these types of activities mean that you’ll be planning things well in advance, so our strong recommendation is to leave lots of buffer so that
- your book gets the full treatment it deserves,
- you have sufficient time to review and approve your sample print copy (and for us to make any adjustments you’d like to see),
- there is time for your book order to be printed and delivered and for the book listing to fully propagate out to all the major book retailers, and
- you aren’t at your wits end hoping and praying that things will “magically work out”.
When hard deadlines are involved, err on the conservative side. If you plan for an “official” launch 25-30 weeks out from the project start date, you’ll almost certainly have enough wiggle room to maintain your sanity. And that “soft launch” time between when your book is ready and when you’re announcing it to the world can be used for a variety of high-value activities like soliciting reviews, lining up media, creating additional launch content, and more.
What if I’m not able to submit my manuscript by the agreed-to submission date?
Editing is labour intensive and very sensitive to capacity constraints. For that reason, it’s incredibly important that you submit your manuscript by the agreed-to submission date. If you don’t, two things happen.
First, your lead editor will be left twiddling their thumbs from the planned start date. That’s some expensive twiddling, which is why we may impose a $250 penalty for missed submission deadlines, if not communicated at least two (2) weeks ahead of time (preferably, one month).
Second, we’ll need to reschedule your project start date to the next available slot. We try to be as accommodating as possible in rescheduling, but when it happens at the last moment, out of respect to our other authors, we cannot push out the start date of other projects, and so the next available start date can often be 4-6 weeks later.
If you have any doubt about when your manuscript will be ready to submit, add some buffer. Also, realize that your manuscript will come back to you; this isn’t the last time you’ll be together. Your manuscript doesn’t need to be perfect when you submit it; think 80/20 and we’ll take it from there.
What if I realize I need to make changes after I’ve submitted my manuscript?
Please don’t :) Once your manuscript has been submitted, your editor will be actively making changes, and introducing new content while they “have the pen” nearly always results in version control issues and wasted time and effort. Instead, keep a log of such changes. The manuscript will come back to you, and you’ll have a chance to revise it then. Plus, you may find that once the edit is complete, the changes may no longer be necessary.
3. Editing
How many rounds of editing are included?
Our standard Publishing PRO package includes four rounds of editing:
- First round: Structural edit – 3-4 weeks
- Second round: Semi-structural edit and stylistic (or line) edit – 1-2 weeks
- Third round: Pre-layout proofread (sometimes referred to as a copyedit) – 1 week
- Fourth round: Post-layout proofread – 1 week
Our expedited Publishing PRO package includes three rounds of editing:
- First round: Copy edit (sometimes referred to as a stylistic or line edit) – 2 weeks
- Second round: Pre-layout proofread (some refer to this as a copy edit – confusing, we know!) – 1 week
- Third round: Post-layout proofread – 1 week
What’s a structural edit? Do I need one? Can I have one?
A structural edit is a ‘hands-on’ edit in which the manuscript is worked on directly by the editor, making changes directly to the manuscript, with changes tracked. These edits are likely to be substantial, aggressive, and transformative.
A structural edit includes
- Pre-edit consultation (typically arranged with the author the week prior to the project start date)
- Revising overall structure for clarity and flow (creating new structure if necessary)
- Assessing content for quality, depth, breadth and relevance
- Deleting irrelevant and repetitive content
- Recommending new content
- Writing new linking content where necessary
- Ensuring style and tone is appropriate for the intended audience
- Recasting poorly written sentences for better clarity and flow
- Correcting spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos
- Checking and correcting punctuation for accuracy and consistency
- Checking consistency of layout, headings, illustrations, and the like
- Reviewing/editing (or adding placeholders, if missing) for ancillary content at the end of the manuscript: Back cover description (100-200 words), short description (< 250 characters), back cover author bio (40-50 words)
- Recommending subject classifications: 7 relevant keyword phrases, 3 BISAC subject classifications (from www.bisg.org/page/bisacedition)
- Providing an Editing Notes document detailing changes made to the manuscript, content that should be added (by the author, post-edit), and next steps. The Editing Notes document includes general feedback, structure feedback, content feedback, and a chapter-by-chapter review).
The output of a structural edit includes:
- Edited manuscript with inline notes and with all changes tracked (so the author can see exactly what was changed)
- Edited manuscript with all changes accepted (so the author can easily see how the edited manuscript reads)
- Editing Notes document containing general feedback, feedback on structure, feedback on content, and a chapter-by-chapter review)
- Post-edit consultation with the author (once the author has had a chance to review the edit)
Expectations of the author after a structural edit
- Review the Editing Notes document in detail
- Review the edited manuscript (version with changes accepted, referring to the tracked-changes version as needed) fully
- Revise the manuscript (with Track Changes ON)
- Respond to and/or address any questions posed or comments made in the document by the editor
- Address any content gaps highlighted by the editor, writing new content based on the editor's guidance
How much time do I have to review and make revisions after each?
After each content edit (structural, semi-structural, or copy edit), your manuscript will come back to you for you to review and make changes. The time allotted for this review is as follows:
- After a structural edit: 4 weeks
- After a semi-structural edit: 1 week
- After a copy edit: 1 week
After proofreads, your manuscript is sent directly to the design team for layout and typesetting. It will also come back to you, however there should be no additional material changes at this point. You should still review the proofread manuscript, which may include some clarifying questions for you, and if you notice any factual errors, these should be itemized and sent to the Publishing Assistant assigned to your project rather than being corrected directly in the manuscript.
If you feel you'll need more time, given other commitments, please discuss this with your publisher and we can add additional buffer into your project schedule.
What’s included in a copy edit? (And what’s NOT included?)
A copy edit (often called a ‘line edit’ or a ‘stylistic edit’) is suitable as a first-round edit for manuscripts that have not previously been edited by Grammar Factory, but where there is a mutual assumption that the manuscript is already well-structured. This may be because the author has been working closely with an approved writing coach, is an experienced/skilled writer, or has previously engaged an outside editor for structural editing on the manuscript.
A copy edit is a 'hands-on' edit in which the editor works directly on the manuscript, making changes to the Word file with all changes tracked.
A copy edit includes
- Optional pre-edit consultation
- Ensuring style and tone is appropriate for the intended audience
- Reorganising paragraphs to optimise clarity and narrative flow
- Recasting poorly written sentences for better clarity and flow
- Deleting/cutting back verbose or repetitive sentences and phrases
- Correcting spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and typos
- Checking punctuation for correct usage and consistency
- Checking consistency of layout, headings, illustrations, etc.
- Reviewing/editing (or adding placeholders, if missing, for the author to add) for ancillary content at the end of the manuscript: Back cover description (100-200 words), short description (< 250 characters), back cover author bio (40-50 words)
- Recommending subject classifications: Relevant keyword phrases, subject category classifications
The output of a copy edit includes
- Edited manuscript with inline notes and with all changes tracked (so the author can see what changed)
- Edited manuscript with all changes accepted (so the author can see how the edited manuscript reads)
Expectations of the author after a copy edit
- Review edited manuscript (with changes accepted, referring to tracked-changes version as needed)
- Revise the manuscript (with Track Changes ON)
- Respond to and/or address any remaining or additional questions posed or comments made in the document by the editor
- Make any final tweaks or minor updates to content based on the editor's notes
Will I have direct interaction with my editor and proofreader?
A couple of weeks before your project start date, you’ll be assigned your Lead Editor who will arrange an editorial kick-off call with you the week before the project start date, will perform your content edits (structural, semi-structural, and/or copy edits), and act as your main point of contact for all things editorial.
When it comes time for the proofread, your Lead Editor will remain your editorial contact either performing the proofread directly (as is often the case with the expeditedPublishing PRO package) or liaising with another editor as is nearly always the case with the standard Publishing PRO package (it’s helpful, when an editor has been immersed in a manuscript for multiple rounds of editing to have a fresh pair of eyes on it for the proofread). Regardless, your interaction will be with your Lead Editor as they are the one who has the full context around your manuscript, ensuring consistency throughout.Can I make changes after the copy edit?
After the copy edit, there should not be any significant new content added as the manuscript will be proofread next without any additional content editing. Rather, the author’s focus should be on finessing the manuscript based on the output of the copy edit. Adding large amounts of new content at this stage can introduce fresh structural issues that may require additional rounds of content editing, adding additional cost and time to the project.
Can I make changes after the proofread?
At Grammar Factory, we do two proofreads: one before the manuscript is laid out, and one after. Changes, including adding or removing content, should not be made after either proofread as this can introduce new errors and issues. Any factual errors or typos should of course be flagged and fixed, and these will be managed through a strict change request process to make sure nothing is missed and that new issues are not introduced into the otherwise ‘locked’ manuscript.
What if I want another round of editing before the proofread? Is that possible?
If you’ve added a significant amount of new content after your second round of editing (in the case of the standard Publishing PRO package) or after your copy edit (in the case of the expedited Publishing PRO package), then you may want (or we may recommend) an additional round of editing before moving into the proofread. In this case, we’ll schedule the additional edit (normally charged at 50% of standard rate, depending on the magnitude of the changes) and then re-calculate the project schedule to provided an updated estimate on the expected completion date.
Do you guarantee that there won’t be any errors/typos after the proofread?
Our standard processes are carefully designed to eliminate errors. However, it’s important to realize that with 30,000, 50,000, or more words, minor errors can still sneak through, even in books by big-name authors published by the Big-5 traditional publishers. Even if a manuscript is 99.99% error free, a 50,000-word manuscript could still be left with 5 typos lurking in its dark recesses.
While we can’t guarantee that no errors will sneak through, know that we make every effort to catch them all before publication. You too should be on the lookout and flag any that you find in your reviews so we can be sure it isn’t missed. Also know that if any errors do make it into the published book, we’ll fix them at no cost to you and push the update out to all distribution channels and ensure that all future copies are printed from the updated master file.
4. Design
How does the design phase work?
Shortly after editing begins, you’ll receive a questionnaire to complete. The purpose of this questionnaire is to get the input we need to prepare a proper brief for the design and publishing teams, including:
- Your business goals for your book
- What type of person your book needs to resonate with and the first impression you want to leave with them
- Your design preference, including examples of books you like (and why), and ones you don’t (and why)
- Whether your book includes any interior visual elements and if you’re providing print-ready artwork
- Your printing preferences, including your book’s physical dimensions (trim size), cover finish, interior ink and paper, and the like
- Your preferred pricing for your book
- How many printed copies of your book you expect to need printed
- And so on
Your responses to this questionnaire will be used to prepare design briefs for your cover designer, your internal layout designer, and the publishing team who will be setting up your book listings for distribution.
Cover design
Cover design normally begins during editing (during the semi-structural edit for the standard Publishing PRO or during the copy edit for the expedited Publishing PRO package).
To begin, your cover designer will develop a variety of different concepts for the front cover, usually between 8 and 10, for you to review based on a) the design brief, and b) their experience designing other nonfiction books in your genre. When you receive these initial samples, one of three things will happen:
- You may see a single concept that jumps out to you as “the one” – in which case, we’ll proceed with that one, making any minor tweaks as needed.
- You may like different elements of two or more concepts – perhaps the title treatment from one, and the imagery from another. In this case, the cover artist will prepare another set of cover concepts combining these elements together.
- Or perhaps none of the initial concepts will feel right to you. If that happens, that’s perfectly fine and not at all out of the ordinary. In this case, we’ll use your feedback to produce another set of cover concepts and repeat the process until we land in the right place.
Once you’ve approved the front cover, your designer will extend the design to the full cover wrap (front cover, back cover, and spine), and once the full cover has been approved, print-ready versions are created for distribution and printing.
Internal layout design
The design of the inside of your book begins when the manuscript is being proofread, however since the manuscript isn’t yet “locked”, your interior layout designer will begin by developing a sample layout of the first chapter or two of the book. We’ll send this sample to you for your review so you can see how we propose treating elements such as:
- Section and chapter dividers
- Body text, titles, and headers
- Bulleted and numbered lists
- Callouts, breakout boxes, exercises, quotes, and the like
- Figures and tables, if applicable
- Page headers and footers, including page numbers and footnotes, if appliable
- And so on
We’ll revise the sample based on your input until you’re happy with it at which point, the proofread should be complete and the manuscript locked. The designer will then pull in the complete manuscript and lay out the book in its entirety based on the design of the sample layout.
With the full layout complete, you’ll have a chance to review it end-to-end, while at the same time our editorial team will do the second and final proofread of the fully laid out book. Any factual errors, typos, or inconsistencies found by you or the proofreader will then be provided back to the designer for fixing before the manuscript is locked.
eBook edition and sample print
With the cover and interior final, we’ll then:
- Create the eBook edition
- Set up the book listings in preparation for distribution
- Have a single copy printed and shipped to you for review and approval
When you receive the printed sample, if you’re happy with it and approve it for distribution and printing, we’ll release the book and place the order for your full quantity of books.
Otherwise, if you see anything you’d like adjusted when you see the book in print (colours, for example, can look different in print compared to on screen), we’ll update the files and either send a new sample if the changes are material, or release the book for distribution and printing (if the changes are minor).Will I have direct interaction with my designer?
Although the design process is project managed by your Publishing Assistant, there are times when it can be helpful to have a live Zoom call between the author and the cover designer in particular.
We find it’s most helpful for the author to share as much detail as possible through the design questionnaire first, so that we can prepare a fulsome brief in the format that the design team is used to receiving, and then allow the designer to prepare the initial concepts based on the brief – this is where some of the most creative and effective designs are conceived. After you’ve received the initial set of concepts and provided feedback on them, this is when a live touchpoint with the cover designer can be most helpful and can be arranged through the Publishing Assistant, either at the request of the author or the designer.
The design elements inside the book tend to be more mechanical and less visual, and for that reason, it’s not as common for the author or the designer to need a live call about the interior. However, if an interior is particular visual a live call can sometimes be he