What happens after you're done?

Lots!

Editing comes first. My editor, Justin, read the manuscript and made all kinds of notes right on the pages. He also wrote me an editorial letter - sort of an extended book report - outlining the changes he had in mind overall. There were things he wanted me to add, things to delete, and stuff to smooth out. I read all his notes, then decked the whole manuscript out in color-coded Post-it flags and got to work. When I'd finished making all the changes I could stomach, I sent the corrections back to Justin.

Then we did the whole thing all over again, this time with fewer notes and Post-its. It's very much a team effort, and Justin made it infinitely clear that I was free to debate or disagree with his suggestions. I'd guess that I took about 80% of them.

Next came copyediting. A grammar-master went over everything with a fine-toothed comb, checking facts, verifying quotes, making sure all my verbs agreed and my punctuation passed muster. In the process of all that, she saved me from a handful of embarrassing errors. When she was done, my editor and I once again put our heads together and looked over those corrections to make sure we agreed with everything. Sometimes style and dialogue trump grammar, you see.

Now the scary part for me: vetting, which I referred to as the Helen Keller Final Exam. Justin tracked down a Helen Keller expert at the University of Wisconsin to read Miss Spitfire and make sure I hadn't committed any major historical blunders. I got a passing grade - yay! - and some nice nuances to think about fitting into the story.

While the vetting was going on, I got a big envelope full of double-wide sheets of paper, each printed with two side-by-side pages of Miss Spitfire. They are called first pass galleys or 1Ps in publisher jargon. At this point, the designers had done their magic, and I could see exactly how the inside of the book would look. This time, it was my turn to play proofreader. For the fourth time in this process, I read the book through to check for errors and make any last-minute alterations, such as squeezing in my vetter's suggestions. Back at Simon & Schuster, the copyediting department was doing the same thing.

While all this checking and rechecking was happening, bound galleys, or advance reader copies (ARCs) were printed up from the 1Ps. Those are the paperback preview copies that get sent out to booksellers, librarians, and reviewers. By the way, when they tell you that ARCs are uncorrected, they mean it - Miss Spitfire went through two more rounds of proofreading and tweaking after the ARCs were printed and bound.

Now, because I'm a nervous sort of person, I convinced Justin to send me the updated version - the 2P galleys - so I could read the bugger yet again and verify that my alterations to the 1P had been made. I'm not sure if this is standard procedure or if he was humoring me. At any rate, I found just enough trifling errors to make it worth my while -- errors I'm sure the copy editors probably also caught at their end, but hey, I felt better having looked for myself, since this was my last chance to change anything.

Meanwhile, the book designer had created the jacket art. I have to admit that the artwork took me by surprise, but I loved it from the get-go. Miss Spitfire went through three minor cover revisions. First the title font changed in favor of something bolder and less delicate. Then I found out they'd decided to emboss both the title and subtitle in Braille underneath the print. (Woo!) Finally, everything was adjusted to accommodate Richard Peck's very kind complement above the title. Voila!

In the midst of all that, there are scads of smaller details to manage. I had to write the flap copy - that catchy little summary on the inside of the jacket - and a short biography of myself for the rear jacket flap. I also needed a picture of myself to go with it. Then there are things like the bibliography, author's note, and afterword. The biggest obstacle by far was tracking down permission to use the archival photos that appear in the afterword. That took months.

As I write this, there's a little over a month until Miss Spitfire debuts in bookstores. Everything seems to be done, and I've just received my first positive review. I've enjoyed the ride so far.

View additional behind-the-scenes photos.

Witness the evolution of a book cover.