Q & A – How long did it take to publish your first book?

Hi everyone! It’s time for another Q & A! This week’s question comes from Instagram.

How long did it take to publish your first book, from conception till publication? And was it the first book you wrote or not?

Gracebought on Instagram

As we discussed last week, Pippa of Lauramore was my first published book. I wrote it in April of 2014, during Camp NaNoWriMo. I finished 60,000 words of it that month, and then I picked it up again and finished it a few months later. I would say the actual writing took me about five weeks. The idea popped into my head about a week before the event started, so I planned and plotted during that time.

There was definitely a lot of prep that went into that one. Editing took a few months. I had no clue what I was doing at the time, so I paid for formatting, and that took another month. I spent several months reading it over, obsessing over every word. Once it was as ready as I could make it, I gave it to friends and family for feedback. That took another few months.

I finally released it April 6th of 2015, so it took about a year from start to finish! (And that doesn’t include the huge editing overhaul we did on it in 2017 when we launched the new covers.)

For the other half of the question, nope, Pippa wasn’t the first book I’d ever written. I had about four half-finished manuscripts languishing on my computer before that, along with my first complete book, a retelling of Jorinda and Joringel. (It’s a fairy tale most people have never even heard of, and it’s my favorite. I’d like to rewrite it someday–it’s on the ever-growing to-write list.)

I think that about wraps it up! Though it definitely doesn’t take me a year to put out one book anymore, my schedule is booked so far out, it’s usually a long time before I can work on a project when it squirrels its way into my head. Every once in a while, I have to sneak something in (like the upcoming Riven Kingdoms series), but usually, if I get a new shiny idea, I know I’ll have to wait at least a year or two before I’ll get a chance to work on it.

If you have questions for me, leave them in the comments! I’ll add it to the list. :)

Have an awesome week, everyone!

Wishing you the best,

Shari