Publishing in the Pandemic: 2020 Schedule Update
It would be a tremendous understatement to say that things have changed over the course of this year, especially as we’re only just now hitting the end of the 3rd quarter. You don’t need me to recap 2020, even if I had the inclination, just listing events would take up the entirety of this blog, and likely miss a huge swath of them. Things are pretty far from normal, and that is impacting us all in a lot of different ways.
I touched on this a few months back when uncertainty was still higher, but on a personal level, there have certainly been a few breaks and delays caused by all the chaos, though I’ve been able to keep them minimal. That trend has stayed true, and overall my writing isn’t too far behind where it would normally be at this point in the yearly schedule. That said, what I didn’t consider thoroughly enough at the time was that everyone else would be going through similar scheduling issues.
While it’s been addressed before, this seems like a very apt time to remind everyone that books do not happen in a vacuum. Outside of just the writing, one needs to consider editors, cover artists, beta readers, formatters, publishers; roles all filled by people. People who are also going through 2020, some with more hecticness, some with less. But pretty much no one is entirely unaffected by the global pandemic, and that’s certainly true here in the USA where the vast majority of my contacts work.
All of that combines to form the indisputable fact that every step of the publishing process is taking longer than it normally would. Please do not take that as me throwing blame on the people doing the work, it would be ridiculous to expect everyone to keep up their usual pace with the shitstorm swirling constantly around us. If anything, it’s on me for not realizing sooner how much of an issue this might be, something I’m working to adjust in my scheduling moving forward.
So, what does this mean for 2020 releases? Let’s start with the bad news, the most obvious of which is that Spells, Swords, & Stealth #5 is absolutely not happening this year. Even in the original schedule, I had a hunch that one would only get started being written in 2020, and at this point that’s shifted to being the goal. I would like to say look for it in 2021, but for right now I’m trying to avoid concrete timetables until I’ve got a better sense of how things are flowing.
There is also a fair chance that Fred #7 will not be out this year. That one hurts to say, as I’ve done a Fred book every year for six years now, yet it’s a possibility that has to be addressed. While I’m working on Fred #7 currently and things are going well, even my most optimistic plans don’t have the writing part finished until early November. Normally, that would still leave enough time to hit another December release, but as has been stated, we’re pretty damn far from “normal” at this point. It is still possible that the timing could work out, I’m certainly holding onto hope. But it would be deceitful of me to present that as a reasonable expectation, odds are most likely that Fred #7 will be my an early book of 2021.
Okay, with all of that said, let’s move on to the more positive topic: good news. First and foremost of which: Villains’ Code #2 is still on track for a 2020 release. It’s going to be later in the year than originally planned, but all those scheduling issues I mentioned only get amplified when the book is over 300k words. There is a chance things could suddenly go to shit, if I’ve learned no other lessons this year that would be the main takeaway, but in every aspect I can currently measure things are still looking good for a 2020 release.
Second piece of good news: 5-Minute Sherlock #2 is also still on track for an upcoming release. As a reminder to folks unfamiliar with the series, this is published by Audible under their Audible Originals program, meaning it will be an audiobook only for the first six months, followed by an ebook and print release. Seeing as the audio folks are the ones usually having to wait for their preferred version, this is a series where they get the earlier release. Audible hasn’t released a publication date as of yet, however I expect it will within the next several months. Or maybe I should say “hope” rather than “expect”, the last thing I want is Fate thinking I’m calling it out.
I think that addresses and adjusts expectations for everything on the schedule, which brings us to the schedule itself. For newer readers, I am huge on transparency. You can go to my Series Status page and see what is currently being worked on, along with what series are still in production. Part of that process is publishing a look to the year ahead annually in my Wrap-Up posts, that’s where most of the information I updated today originated from.
Moving forward, at least for 2021, I’m going to have to take a less concrete approach. My old schedule estimating methodology is currently toast, and I don’t see things stabilizing that much in the next three months. Until I’ve got a better handle on the new flow of a developing manuscript making its way through the publication process, any attempt at actual predictions would be 90% guess. I’ll still give you all the lay of the year ahead in terms of what I’ll be working on, however I can no longer be quite so sure what will and won’t make it to publication in a given time period.
Much as it always sucks to write these kinds of posts, I am thankful to be in a position where I can be upfront with you all on the situation as it stands. I know these issues have been hitting folks all over the industry, including folks who may not be able to adjust or speak on their schedules so easily, and it would suck so much worse if I couldn’t read you in on the situation. Hopefully this is a hurdle I can get a handle on soon, until then rest assured that I’m working hard to get the books out the moment they’re ready.