I Have a Great Idea for a Book!
I Have a Great Idea for a Book!
and other delusions
In the past year, just about a million people have told me that they have “a great concept for a novel,” and another million have told me they are writing (or have written or plan to write) a book, and then they either tell me their idea (and expect me to have a big reaction) or they have refused to tell me said idea (because they are afraid I will steal it before they have a chance to write it).
As if an idea is the only thing you need to publish a novel. LOL.
Guys, I have a bombshell. Despite the plot of THE PLOT (which I loved, despite this petty hill I am dying on right now), having a great idea for a book is worthless.
Let me explain.
When you tell me you have an idea for a novel, what I hear is that you have an inciting incident or catalyst (Aliens invade! A child is kidnapped! A fascist megalomaniac tries to take over the US government!), and that’s super important. You have the story’s kick-off. You know what sets the game in motion.
But a catalyst is not enough—as far as structure goes, it’s one beat out of about 15. One chapter out of 50. Twenty pages out of 350. But I will go further here and argue that having an idea is not even that important. Why? Because the world is full of ideas. Look around. Ideas grow on trees. Inciting incidents happen every day, big and small. Any one of them, even the tiniest and quietest among them, could be a jumping off point for a brilliant book.
Put simply: You need an idea to have a story, but having an idea isn’t a story.
So what else do you need? Well, plot, obviously. But even having a plot isn’t the hard part. In fact, there is not a single reader of fiction I know who couldn’t come up with a concept and the general rise and fall of a plot if they really needed to. Especially with all the resources out there. There are formulas that can help you really nail it if you don’t know the rules. Again, plot is something you need to build a novel, but having a plot doesn’t mean you have a novel.
Let’s take for granted you have a concept and a plot. To that you need to add a specific setting; compelling, well-rounded characters, including a protagonist and an antagonist; a unique voice (which is the polite word for talent, but no one will say that to your face); adequate pacing; lots of intrigue; and the most important thing of all—tenacity.
What’s so irritating to me about The Plot is that the author skips over the hard part of writing a book, which is the actual writing and rewriting and waiting and editing ad infinitum. The time it takes. The layering. The work of it. To ignore this part is to perpetuate the absurd notion that an idea is all it takes.
Bullshit. It can take years from the moment you have your idea until the manuscript is “finished,” and you have to keep working the whole time. You can never give up, even when you want to. Even when it seems impossible and your book feels broken and your mind is ripped to ribbons. You have to keep going.
To prove my point, I want to share my timeline to publication (so far) for Tell Them You Lied.
Are you ready??
February 2016 – had idea / wrote the first chapter
Feb or March 2019 – started working again
November 2020 – finished first draft / began querying
April 2021 – R&R from CeCe
May 2021 – offer from CeCe
June 2021 – got edit letter 1 from CeCe
November 2021 – returned Draft 2 to CeCe
December 2021 – got edit letter 2
Jan 2022 – returned Draft 3
Feb 2022 – line notes from CeCe
Feb 2022– returned Draft 4
March 2022 - Officially on sub!!!
November 2022 - Editor call
December 2022 – Official offer
February 2022 – Agreed to offer terms
May 2022 — sent new draft (Draft 5) to editor
July 2022 – Edit Letter 1 from Hyperion
October 2022 - returned Draft 6 to Hyperion
October 2022 - Officially received contract!!!
November 2023 – Edit letter 2
December 2023 – Editor leaves!!!
January 2024 – Returned draft 7 to New Editor
February 2024– received possible covers!
March 2024 - pub date pushed
May 2024 - Edit letter 1 from new editor
July 2024 – Returned draft 8 to new editor
July 2024 - line notes from new editor
July 2024 – sent FINAL DRAFT (aka draft 9) to copy editor
August 2024 - copyedit 1 received
September 2024 - received pass pages
September 2024 - Link to NetGalley
October 2024 – first meeting with Publicity and Marketing
October 2024 – physical ARCs arrive!!
What we have here is 8 years of work and at least 9 drafts (plus copy edits) of the same book. That is a lot of time, effort, trial and error, and dedication. You’ve probably heard that book publishing is a marathon and not a sprint? Well, this is what that means.
That is what it actually takes to publish a book.
That timeline helps me SO much -- I realize I'm not in some alternate space where the rest of the world moves at its usual speed while my book and I are stuck in some weird, glacially paced parallel dimension. And what (almost) nobody tells you about is the WAITING. I started my book in 2017 or 2018. Its pub date is expected in spring of 2026. I could torture myself with nightmares about my editor leaving the publishing house, but I have the election to distract me.
Love seeing this timeline! You’ve inspired me to track the journey of my second book. Too late for the first—I’ve forgotten too much. And people LOVE asking, “How long did it take you?”