On September 14th, I received this LinkedIn message from Mark Maxwell.
I have an ex-colleague that may be a candidate for your Long Overdue expertise - and I wanted to check to see if it would be o.k. if I put him in touch with you? His name is Rick Tabor. I'm not sure everything he's looking for - but probably worth a follow-up call.
Mark was also a former colleague of my dad's at Dow Corning, and his son, Andrew, was a good friend of mine back in Midland. Andrew was the quarterback of our high school football team and actually went on to play at Michigan State University.
When people ask how do authors find us, is it SEO? Google Ads? Facebook? Not necessarily. Sometimes it's just a good old fashioned, "Hey, your friend's dad's former colleague is working on a book" situation.
What's remarkable about the book writing phenomenon that has gained traction, particularly in the last 15 years, is that it encompasses a wide range of first-time authors. It's not limited to a single stereotype, such as a former English major or a retired librarian. No, it truly could be anybody.
Case and point, here's a look at Rick's background:
40+ years of experience in polymer science
Principal Polymer Science Consultant at Tabor Polymer Consulting, LLC, a consulting firm that delivers solutions for clients in various industries, such as coatings, adhesives, sealants, elastomers, and polyolefins.
Iventor on 85 U.S. patents or patent applications in my field. I have also developed multiple commercial products that have generated more than $100MM in revenue for my previous employers and clients.
Let me guess, you read those bulletpoints and thought, "I bet he's working on an action packed novel that's part Da Vinci Code, part Pet Sematary, and part Iron Man/Wonderwoman."
Well, if that was your guess, you were correct. After introductions were made, I had the privilege of reading Rick's manuscript (then titled "The Pandemic Scroll"), which was pretty far along. This wasn't a rough draft that needed a big overhaul of a rewrite. Not at all. I'd say it was 70-75% of the way there. Very impressive considering Rick had only started writing the book in January of 2024.
Which, again, goes to show how many different paths there are when writing a book. Some people work on theirs for 20 years. Some it takes 9 months. Or 9 all nighters. There's no one-size fits all program for creative inspiration. Everyone's process is different and can change from book to book.
Rick also had a couple book cover concepts ready, which is always helpful for our designer to see.
Alright, so when did Rick want to publish his book? Sometime next year?
Nope.
By Christmas.
To be clear, that's Christmas 2024. And to reiterate, the introduction was made in mid-September. Of 2024. We're talking like 90 days to go from First Draft to final book! We've never turned a book around that quickly. Some publishers work on a book for 2 years. I'm sitting here nervous even telling this story because I don't want to make 90 days seem like the norm. It's not. I don't know what it was, maybe cuz I'd just watched the new Mission Impossible movie trailer, but I said yep, we can do it. And immediately started sprinting like Tom Cruise.
First step: Feedback Circle.
Rick assembled half a dozen "beta" readers. They were joined by myself and Logan Tomaszewski. Rick and I created a list of questions for the readers to answer. Normally, Long Overdue compiles the answers, makes it all anonymous, and shares the feedback with the author. We give the option of a Creative Writing style workshop where the author can join a Zoom call with their readers and go over notes live. That takes a lot of courage. It's hard receiving feedback on your work. On something you deeply care about. I think it's one step less vulnerable than posing nude for an art class.
Credit to Rick: he showed up. And he implemented his readers' notes. Wrote a couple new chapters. Revised a few things. Again, working fast. Knocking it out.
As if the pre-Christmas deadline wasn't pressure enough, I decided we should have a book premiere at the Wild Onion Brewery in Barrington. Location was perfect. Rick lives close by in Crystal Lake. And the banquet room at Wild Onion is perfect for these types of events.
[Fun fact: It's also the brewery where I asked my now father-in-law for his blessing to marry his daughter way back in 2012. Man, I was just a kid back then. I hope I picked up the bill!]
When was it available? Friday, December 6th. Alright. Book it. Forget "published before Christmas." This thing's gonna be ready a week after Thanksgiving!
Okay, quick terminology. "Developmental Editing" is when a book goes from First Draft (or Rough Draft) to Second Draft. At Long Overdue, this is achieved primarily through that Feedback Circle + Revision process.
After Developmental Editing there's Line Editing and Copy Editing. Line editing is when you're looking at that second draft and really focusing on the dialogue, character development, pacing, and sentence structure. Copy Editing is what most people think of when they hear editing, that's the red pen, sentence level, grammar, punctuation, nitty gritty stuff.
The editing of Rick's book was a team effort. Myself. Logan. Jon Oldham. Jon made a great catch, he pitched a name change in the 11th hour turning one of the lead characters from "Igor" to "Ivan." Rick agreed. It works much better in the final version.
After Copy Editing, I call that the finished manuscript. But there's still one last step. You need to put that file in book format. For Rick's book, that was a 6x9'' paperback. This is when you do a final proofread and make sure the spacing looks right. And I don't know what it is, but there's something about this proofread stage, you always catch a few grammar mistakes that snuck through the cracks in the earlier three editing rounds. I think the eye becomes even more focused the closer you get to the finish line.
Designing the Book Cover
Heather's first version of the cover:
Some notes from Rick: No coffin since the character in question is cremated. Shorter eyelashes. Let's drop the magical yellow stars or incorporate them in a different way.
Heather's updated version:
Even better. The urn is both more fitting to the story but it even looks better, design wise. And then Heather used the back cover to tie in some of those elements and further connect the yellow font on the spine and for Rick Tabor author name.
Printing the Book
Whew! Files complete but that clock was ticking. Tick tock. Tick tock. I think it was November 25th or 26th at this point and that December 6th party date was staring me down. I even -- somewhat desperately -- suggested to Rick, "Hey, so what if we pushed the party back a week?" No can do. 50 people had already RSVP'd.
But I mean, you know, how important is it, really, to have the book at the book launch? (checks notes) Oh. Right. That is literally the one thing that has to be there. Gulp.
Long Overdue has brought 22 books across the finish line. Nineteen public ones, 3 that were just for friends and family. In terms of who we've used as our printer for those first copies, it breaks out like this:
Diggypod - 12
Amazon - 5
Blurb - 2 (really nice hardcovers)
Pint Size Productions - 1 (board book)
BookBaby - 1 (nice hardcover for cookbook)
Print Ninja - 1 (board book)
I've had good experiences with all of those companies, but my Number 1 and the winner for "who I'd pick if for some reason my life were on the line" is Diggypod. Four reasons:
Their quality. Incredible
Customer support. Also incredible
They're located and print in Michigan. Love repping my home state
They are so freaking fast
With December 6th fast approaching, boy did I need that last bulletpoint to come through. Diggypod offers three different options for production times, Normal (5-10 business days), Rush (3-5 business days), Super Rush (2 business days). I went Super Rush.
And you know what, that's why you pick Diggypod; because on December 3rd, three days before the big event, I wasn't worried anymore. This was the scene at Rick's house:
Let the Party Begin
Mission Impossible complete. I slept like a baby on December 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Us publishers let out a pretty long exhale once those finished books are safely delivered.
Now it was time to celebrate. Wild Onion was the perfect venue. Great food. Great drinks. Rick had an amazing turnout and it was awesome to see him signing books and reading a chapter as well. And my father in law and mother in law surprised me by also showing up. Great to have them in attendance and less pressure that evening than asking for a marriage blessing!
As we continue to grow in 2025, I think these book launch/book premieres are essential. It's an awesome way to kick things off and a lot more fun to feel the energy in the room vs. seeing likes on social media.
Rick, congratulations on an excellent debut novel. Can't wait to keep promoting this book and see it on the table, especially in Chicago at Printers Row, but at other Lit Fests too in 2025.
And to Heather, Logan, and Jon, there is no WAY this would have been possible without the work you put in. Heather, you're winning streak on these book covers continues and I'm so grateful Annie made that introduction, wow, 2 years ago now.
And speaking of introductions, Mark Maxwell, thank you for teeing this all off. What a fun and epic ride this one was. From LinkedIn message to published book in 90 days. I'm not sure we'll ever break that record...
... but hey, maybe we'll attempt it on Children of the Scroll 2...
Rick's Long Overdue book is available right here or by clicking on the cover here below. Not to launch another Mission Impossible mission here, but as long as you order by Dec. 19, it should arrive by Christmas.
And stay tuned for a Kindle version in the very near future.
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