From sketchy half-baked idea to shiny, hardback novel:
Agent extraordinaire Ted began pitching Busted to publishers in June 2007, and shortly after, Andrew Karre at Flux called me to chat about the book. I was completely wowed by his vision, as well as his remarks on how it could be improved. (And yeah, he was dead right, by the way.)
Once I’d signed on with Flux, we began the process of editing (again) and reediting. And sometimes, just for fun, we’d edit some more. In fact, from September to December 2007 the word count ballooned from 47000 to 56000 through the addition of some much-needed back story and clarifying scenes. Andrew was a delight to work with the whole time—full of great ideas, and supportive of any way I chose to interpret them. If it weren’t for the constraints of those pesky deadlines and release date, I’d still be revising the book with him today, and loving every minute of it too, to be honest.
Between January and March 2008, things were quiet at my end, while Gavin Duffy at Flux conceived the cover art, and began producing an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy, to be used for publicity purposes). In April, Sandy Sullivan (another editor) took over, sending me comments on matters of consistency, timelines, etc. These I completed by mid May, just as the ARC was coming out. Of course, the ARC revealed some more issues that needed resolving, hence another round of edits which were completed, um . . . kind of at the last minute.
But as of this moment, Busted is at the printers, and I am eagerly awaiting the October 1 release date. And to be honest, I couldn’t be happier with how everything has worked out, from start to almost-finish.
Still, there’s a long way to go before October 1, and that’s where this blog comes in . . . I’ll use it to keep you posted on promotional matters, appearances, and the countdown to publication. Toddler-nap permitting, it’ll be the place where I fill you in on everything that goes down in the weeks leading up to the release date.
Something tells me it could be a fairly chaotic ride!
Great story!
Antony, I found your blog through the Firebrand website. I jumped over there for their Query Holiday offer (something you don’t have to worry about now!)and then found your details on the News page.
Hey, great blog. I love reading Road to Publication stories from authors. Yours is great and congrats!
I’ll be querying my Middle Grade fantasy soon, and I am hoping for success. Your story gives those of us in the trenches inspiration!
Cheers!