Hello again readers!
The summer is winding down and so, in turn, is my internship with Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press. My last day will be bittersweet, as I leave behind the excitement of the summer for the hustle bustle of the school year. Nevertheless, I have come to really appreciate change while living in a city as lively as New York and working in a field as dynamic as publishing.
I had the opportunity this summer to read quite a few manuscripts, both fiction and non-fiction, at all different stages of writing. While evaluating manuscripts is only one of many steps in the editorial process, I found that it gave me insight into the publishing world as an industry that is constantly evolving, much like the way in which a manuscript grows into a book. Although most people only see the finished product with every detail in place down to the last period, I have learned that the beauty of publishing is truly all about the process – the process of artistic development, but more notably the process of seeing an idea become something tangible for the author and the readers.
From the acquisition of a manuscript to the publication date, agents, editors, sales teams, and endorsers think (and rethink) critically about an idea with not only the author’s vision in mind, but also the ever-changing market of readers. It doesn’t matter whether the writing is good or bad from the start, because a book will never be perfect in the eyes of every single person who encounters it and will inevitably shift in some way or another (even if it is just a matter of adding a serial comma). When a book moves from one stage to the next – whether it be a contract signed or a proofread cover design – it is one step closer to taking creative shape.
When the publication date finally rolls around, the words and illustrations on the page will remain the same, but the book itself will continue to evolve as the writing style, edits, endorsements, and press releases, impact each reader in a different way. The audience never sees the nitty gritty workings of the publishing process, but they do get to undergo their own process of engaging with the ideas, words, and production of a book, in a way that is significant to them.
A book is never just as it appears with all the different gears working behind it to make it a whole, and you have to embrace the process to understand what the book truly holds.
Happy reading,
Aphra Beauhn
This is a shared blog post for Beaufort Books and Spencer Hill Press.