We’ve spoken with bestselling authors about their beginnings and with writers at various stages of their journey. However, we’ve never explored what happens between signing a book contract with a publisher and the book’s actual publication.

It’s easy to be so focused on securing that contract that you forget to anticipate what comes next. If you’re unprepared, it can be a rude awakening.

I spoke with Melissa Ferguson, a romantic comedy author with HarperCollins Christian Publishing, to learn about this in-between time.

How did you get an agent, editor, and contract?

Melissa: I attended the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) Conference. I didn’t have an appointment with my agent, Jim Hart with Heartland Literary, but I had spoken with him a couple of years earlier about a different book. I really wanted to connect with him again.

I approached him after a session and said, “Hi, Jim. I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Melissa Ferguson. I didn’t get an appointment with you, but I’d love to talk for a minute.” He replied, “Oh, your book was the one with the scenes, wasn’t it?” I was amazed that he remembered the book I had pitched two years prior, which he didn’t take on.

We started a conversation from there. He reviewed my manuscript, we talked a bit more at ACFW, and in November, I signed with him.

He sent my book to several publishers, and soon, The Dating Charade garnered interest from a few houses. One offered a two-book deal, which was exciting, but at the same time, Thomas Nelson, an editor I really admired, also showed interest. It was stressful because, while I liked the first house, I loved Thomas Nelson and their work.

I went back and forth, seeking advice from friends and my agent. Ultimately, I decided to talk with the editor at the first house and say, “I really need to hear what’s going to happen with Thomas Nelson before I can decide.” I told her I’d understand if they had to withdraw their offer, which was tough because I had waited five years for a contract. It was tempting to jump at the two-book deal. Thankfully, the editor was incredibly understanding and agreed to wait several months while I was on edge, waiting for Thomas Nelson to respond. They had a team meeting, a group call, a verbal contract, an informal contract, and finally, a formal contract.

In October, I signed a three-book deal with Thomas Nelson.

Thomas: One thing I want to highlight is that you approached an agent who had previously declined you. Many people think a “no” from an agent means they’ll never work with you, but that’s not true. A “no” often just applies to that book at that time.

Your experience of building a relationship with an agent is common. You grew as an author in those two years, and while your earlier book wasn’t ready, your later one was. It’s a reminder not to give up if you get early rejections. It often takes longer than you expect to reach the level needed for big publishers.

Melissa: Absolutely. It’s easy for me to twist people’s words. When Jim told me he couldn’t take on any more speculative fiction, I heard, “I don’t like you, and I’m making an excuse.” That made me nervous to approach him again. It’s wise to trust a “no” at face value and maintain a positive attitude.

What happens after signing the contract?

Thomas: After you got your contract from Thomas Nelson, what were you expecting, and what actually happened?

Melissa: I expected there to be a shower of butterflies every day for the rest of my life. I thought, “They accepted my book, great. They’ll make it beautiful, ship it out, and I’ll gleefully write another book at my computer without distraction.” That’s not what happened.

On one hand, it’s been much more challenging than I expected. On the other hand, it’s been a lot more fun. It’s been delightful getting to know the people involved.

What were the hardest challenges in that first year?

Melissa: Juggling everything was hard. When I turned in my book, I had to manage the contracted book while writing a new one with a hard deadline.

I submitted my book to my editor, my editor did developmental edits, and then she returned it to me.

You don’t know when she’ll send it back. You might be writing your next book when she sends back the developmental changes and says, “Take two weeks and send the final version.” You have to stop, focus, and dive into those developmental edits, which were challenging for me. I’d never done major edits before. I wasn’t prepared for someone to tell me to cut major elements that had problems, and then be willing to make those changes.

Thomas: Developmental edits aren’t about fixing grammar or reworking a sentence. They’re structural. A developmental editor might say that a character doesn’t work or needs to be cut, or that the story is too complicated. You might have to remove a character, redistribute their dialogue, or rework entire scenes.

Many indie authors skip developmental editing and go straight to copy editing, which is a big mistake. Successful indie authors work with developmental editors like traditional authors do.

Whether fiction or nonfiction, a developmental editor will push for major changes, like restructuring a chapter if an argument doesn’t work. For some authors, this is the fun part. I enjoy editing and refining arguments with a developmental editor. But for others, it’s soul-crushing. They think, “I liked it the way it was. This character is like family. I can’t kill my child.”

Melissa: That’s exactly how I felt. My editor and I laughed about it, but when she said, “You need to cut this character,” I responded, “I love this character. I can’t cut them.” She insisted, and I said, “I’m going to dedicate the next book to my dead character because I love them so much.” She replied, “And you’ll sell well.”

I got 14 or 15 single-spaced pages of detailed developmental edits, covering every character, how to make them stronger, issues with the time of year, relationships that weren’t likable or romantic enough, and more.

It’s a domino effect. If you pull out one element, you fear the whole book will collapse. Figuring out how to address a weakness without destroying the book, and doing it in two weeks, was incredibly challenging.

Thomas: Especially if you weren’t expecting it, you might anticipate just getting typos corrected. Instead, you’re told to rework your entire book. They’re not picking on you. It’s what happens to nearly every author during the developmental edit process.

If you’re expecting your editor to accept your manuscript as is, you’re mistaken. They bought your book as a starting point to create a version with the greatest chance of selling to the most people.

What advice would you give your past self?

Thomas: What would be some tips for someone going through this? If you could go back in time, what advice would you give yourself at the beginning of this year?

Use the Lulls

Melissa: First, during any lull, like waiting on developmental edits, line edits, or proofs, I would keep writing the next book. I signed up to produce a new book every nine months, and I can write one in that time, but I didn’t anticipate all the other tasks unrelated to writing. So, always work on your next book.

Evaluate the Return on Additional Writing and Marketing Tasks

Another surprise was the endless opportunities. Since signing my contract, I’ve thought of so many things I could do better: more Instagram, more Facebook, better newsletters, podcasts, blogs, writing a different book or novella, attending conferences, or networking. Many of these can be expensive. It’s important to assess them and be willing to say no.

These opportunities can get pricey. You can add extra publicity, update business cards, get new headshots, or make your website fancier. Setting a budget for both time and money, as you suggest, is wise.

Thomas: It’s important to frame the question correctly. If you ask, “Would this be beneficial?” you’ll say yes to everything, including new headshots, more Facebook, email marketing, and more. But that’s the wrong question.

The better question is, “What offers the most benefit for the time and money invested?” Email marketing might be ten times more effective than Instagram, or vice versa, but you’ll only know if you measure. If you don’t frame the question right, you’ll feel obligated to do everything.

Many authors, especially in their first year, get overwhelmed by self-imposed expectations to do it all, and they end up doing everything poorly. Focus on a few things and do them well. As the old Chinese proverb says, “The man who chases two rabbits catches neither.”

Focus on one rabbit, then catch the other later.

How did you maximize the times when you were waiting on your editor?

Thomas: I advise authors to designate a budget for both time and money. If you set aside two hours per day for writing, edits can be like tennis. When you get edits back with a two-week deadline, the ball’s in your court, and you need to focus fully on it. Other times, the ball’s on the publisher’s side, and there’s nothing you can do.

Most publishers use Microsoft Word, which doesn’t allow simultaneous editing. One person has the master document at a time. In my utopian future, we’d use Google Docs for collaborative editing, but the industry runs on Word. This means you might go a month or two with nothing to do. It’s good to have a plan to use that time effectively. What were you doing in those lulls, and how did you learn to maximize that time?

Melissa: Honestly, I didn’t have many lulls. Between developmental edits, line edits, proofs, and manuscript design, I was busy.

What are the different stages of editing?

Thomas: Let’s slow down and clarify each step of editing.

Developmental Edits

You begin by receiving about 14 pages of feedback. These notes focus on big-picture elements like plot structure, pacing, character development, and overall storytelling.

You make significant revisions to improve the manuscript based on this input.

Once revised, you send back a much stronger version of the manuscript.

Line Edits

After developmental edits, the focus shifts to the sentence level. Line edits refine your writing style, tone, clarity, and flow. Editors also address grammar, word choice, and awkward phrasing.

Copyedits

Once the content and sentences are polished, the manuscript goes through a technical review. Copyedits focus on grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and consistent usage. This stage ensures your manuscript meets publishing standards.

Proofreading

This is the final quality check before publication. Proofreaders catch lingering typos, formatting issues, and any errors that may have slipped through earlier rounds. It’s the last step to make sure the manuscript is clean and professional.

Melissa: You might submit line edits, but then get them back from your line editor and need to review, accept changes, or make tweaks. You send it back again, and they might make more changes or disagree with you. This can go back and forth several times. The same happens with developmental edits if they don’t like your revisions.

Once line edits are done, I could breathe a sigh of relief because then it goes to proofreaders.

During that time, I got emails about a titling meeting and an advanced sales and marketing information packet. I had to provide a long and short author bio, a book description, a back cover blurb for The Dating Charade, and cover ideas. That part was fun. I’d include my favorite covers in the document for inspiration. I also listed title ideas and influential people who might endorse or support the book.

You’re juggling all these tasks while writing your next book.

My editor would come back with titling ideas, and her first suggestion wasn’t my original title. We went back and forth, involving the sales and marketing teams to ensure the book was marketable. We settled on The Dating Charade, which I agree is a great title.

The cover process was similar. My editor, Jocelyn, got a cover from the art designer but wanted changes, so they went back and forth several times.

How do you choose a marketable title?

Thomas: That process is crucial because authors aren’t always great at choosing the best titles.

For example, an author wanted to title their book Ouch, I’ve Been Shot, but the publisher chose All Quiet on the Western Front, which was much better.

Steve Laube has a list of famous books with their original author-suggested titles, and the publisher’s titles are almost always stronger.

Crafting a title is an act of marketing, not literature, and it requires a different skill set. A title must spark curiosity in just a few words. It’s more about psychology than English.

Publishers have experts in titling, but they haven’t read your book, only the pitch or summary. The author knows the book well but doesn’t know much about titling, so collaboration is key. Sometimes feelings get hurt, and an agent can mediate. It’s great that you went through that process and got a title you’re happy with, even if it wasn’t your original choice.

Melissa: I came up with some bad titles. I suggested something like “the serendipitous something,” and my editor immediately said no. Their digital marketing team compared my proposed titles with others to see what was already taken and what would perform best based on keyword searches.

They were very savvy and knowledgeable. I trusted them to make the final call, and I love what they chose.

After line edits, they moved to page proofs, which I didn’t expect. The associate editor sent me a physical copy of my entire book in the mail. I had to review it by hand with a pen, making marks and shipping it back quickly, sometimes within two days.

It’s sudden, and you stop everything to read your book one last time. Later, you get advanced review copies, or ARCs, as part of the process.

Why are physical page proofs still used?

Thomas: People might wonder why publishers still send paper copies instead of doing this digitally. Some publishers use digital page proofs, typically as PDFs, but paper copies are still common. This is because of typesetting, a process your publisher handles. Typesetting ensures words and line breaks are set beautifully on the page.

Microsoft Word does this poorly, so publishers use specialized tools. A human checks each page to make it perfect, but this can reintroduce errors. A famous example is the “Wicked Bible” from the 1600s, where the word “not” was omitted from the Ten Commandments, changing “Thou shalt not commit adultery” to “Thou shalt commit adultery.” It was just three letters, but it caused a huge issue.

Physical proofs help because your eye catches mistakes differently on paper compared to a screen. Even if a dozen people miss an error in earlier reviews, the final layout might reveal it. You want those mistakes caught before readers see them. They’ll notice errors in the final book.

What is an ARC, and how is it used?

Melissa: ARCs, or advanced review copies, are physical books marked as such. I wasn’t aware of them before they arrived. You can give them to librarians, for example. I attended an ALA conference for librarians, where they distributed ARCs.

The hope is that librarians will order the book for their libraries, promote it to patrons, or use it in book clubs. You can also send ARCs to other authors for endorsements or use them in newsletter promotions. There are many creative ways to use them effectively.

How can ARCs be used for promotion?

Thomas: ARCs are promotional tools. It’s tempting to give them to friends or people in your acknowledgments, but that can be a missed opportunity. The best approach is to create a strategic list of recipients in advance, not at the last minute.

A pro tip is to post on social media, asking influencers to request a review copy via a form on your website. This helps you gauge their reach. You might discover megachurch pastors or popular podcasters following you, people you didn’t realize were in your network. These are better recipients than strangers.

Many authors overlook this and assume their followers aren’t influential, but that’s often not true. I’ve seen authors get great endorsements this way. You can also send ARCs to journalists for reviews. Publishers have their own lists of go-to journalists and bloggers, but you often get a chance to send ARCs too.

How does the pre-release promotion process work?

Melissa: I was surprised by how many people read my book before its release on December 3rd. Right before the launch, HarperCollins asked for a list of about 20 influencers to send copies to, not ARCs but finished books, the week before release.

My book was also on NetGalley, which is a platform where reviewers, librarians, and booksellers get free e-books in exchange for honest reviews on sites like Goodreads or their blogs. Physical ARCs were also distributed to various people. I was shocked by how many had already read it. I wondered if anyone would be left to read it after release.

Why is word-of-mouth promotion critical?

Thomas: The hope is that ARC recipients and early readers fall in love with your book and use their influence to spread the word. The quality of the writing is key here. Sometimes, people read it and don’t react strongly, which can happen. You might give away free copies, sell to friends, but the book doesn’t take off.

The goal is to get it in front of as many people as possible to spark word-of-mouth buzz. Publishing is like venture capital, a gamble that the book will catch fire.

Publishers vet authors carefully and reject many manuscripts.

Even when they accept a book, they make significant changes based on what they believe will make people talk about it. Success isn’t just someone enjoying the book; it’s them recommending it, debating it online, starting a reading group, or buying copies for others. That’s what publishers aim for with every book.

What does it feel like to have your book releasing soon?

Thomas: Your book is coming out in just a couple of weeks. What does that feel like? How has this process of revising and refining your book been emotionally?

Melissa: I was talking with another author recently at ACF. She seemed so calm and confident, but then she mentioned ending up in the hospital for an anxiety attack when her book was released. I totally understood that feeling, and I’m hoping that won’t be me.

Every day, my to-do list grows longer. Suddenly, I have blog interviews to write, articles to create, podcast invitations, and even aspiring writers asking for tips or help with their work. I want to respond to them all, but I feel very time-crunched right now.

I’m also planning a physical launch party for the first time, which adds to the unknowns.

How has self-doubt affected you during this process?

Melissa: I’ve felt a lot of writer’s self-doubt, which I know is common. It’s been worse this year since signing a contract than ever before, which is ironic. I spent years trying to get published without major self-doubt, but now I feel even more pressure.

I don’t want to let my publisher or editor down. What if they signed me with high hopes? What if people know the book is coming, and then they read it and think, “How did she get this deal?” Facing and fighting that self-doubt is crucial. I’m preaching to myself here.

How does post-performance anxiety manifest for you?

Thomas: I know exactly how you feel. In high school, I was in choir and did musicals, even though I was homeschooled. We had a homeschool choir and put on a musical every summer.

I’d often be more nervous after the performance than before. I starred in musicals, singing solos in front of crowds, and the fear sometimes hit afterward, like post-performance anxiety. It’s useful because it doesn’t interfere during the event, but it’s also irrational since the performance is done.

How has the publishing process impacted you spiritually?

Melissa: Honestly, there’s a lot of spiritual warfare in the publishing world, more direct than in other areas of my life. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by tasks and lies about people’s reactions or expectations.

Prayer is more critical for me now than before I got a contract. I feel a desperate need for God to meet me here, more than ever. Taking time to pray, read Scripture, and do non-writing activities is vital. I know I should do more of it.

I don’t want to prioritize posting on social media or writing a newsletter over quiet time with the Lord.

Thomas: There’s a Martin Luther quote I find convicting. He said, “I have a very busy day today. I’m going to have to spend an extra hour in prayer to prepare for it.” That’s not how I am! How much was he praying to add an extra hour?

Your relationship with the Lord is the top button. If you get that right, everything else lines up. If it’s off, nothing else aligns.

What are some key tips for aspiring authors?

Melissa: Have a couple of really good author friends you can be honest with and who will support you. Also, maintain close friends outside the writing world to keep perspective.

When things feel overwhelming, they can remind you of life beyond writing, like having a husband, children, or enjoying the outdoors. Relationships you gain through this process are wonderful.

Communicate with your editor. Some friends are scared to talk to their editor and prefer to ask author friends instead. I called my editor yesterday because I was nervous about revisions for my second book, which needed a lot of work. She once said, “From the ashes of this book will rise a great book.” That was daunting.

How do you handle major revisions?

Melissa: I was working on major revisions for my second book and sent in a progress update. I was so nervous. I imagined my editor saying, “We gave you a month, and this is all you’ve got? We’re letting you go. This was a mistake.”

I prayed about this doubt and decided to call her. I said, “Please deal tenderly with me because I worked hard this month, and I hope it works for you, but I’m unsure.” She reassured me, saying, “Don’t worry, you’re going to be great.”

Communicating directly with your editor or team is crucial. Don’t fear them. They’re kind people who want you to succeed. They’re not your enemy, even if they suggest deep revisions or changes to titles or covers. They want your book to be the best it can be because your success is their success.

Thomas: That’s right. You’ve already been paid your advance, so the publisher only makes money if the book sells a lot. They’re motivated to see it succeed. That’s why they give advice to improve it.

Viewing their feedback as free advice to become a better writer makes it easier to accept. It’s not about them hating you or your book. That negative self-talk is unhelpful.

What is your book about?

Thomas: We’ve been talking with Melissa Ferguson, author of The Dating Charade. We’ll have a link to it in the show notes, taking you to the Amazon page. Melissa, give us your one-minute pitch for The Dating Charade.

Melissa: The Dating Charade is about a couple who go on a fantastic first date, agreeing they don’t want kids. Then, they come home to find three children dropped in each of their laps.

They spend the book hiding this from each other while sorting out their new lives and maintaining their relationship. It’s a twist on The Brady Bunch, and it comes out December 3rd.

Links:

• 207 Where to Spend Your Marketing Dollars
• MelissaFerguson.com
• The Dating Charade (Affiliate Link)