What Does Publishing with Wanderlust Look Like?

We opened submissions for the first time in December, and one of the most asked questions on every post regarding submissions was “What does publishing with your company look like?” This is such a fair question to ask, because when we take on an author, they are trusting us with their baby. I would want to know what the process is going to look like, too.

Wanderlust Publishing operates using a traditional publishing model, meaning we are not pay-to-publish, and once we sign with an author, we take on all publishing costs. Being such a small company, though, we don’t have the means to take on as many authors as we would like to (maybe one day), so this means we are incredibly selective when reading through submissions. This also means we are able to collaborate with our authors through every step of the publishing process, which will always be one of our biggest goals and most important values.

Your Submission

If we’re interested in reading more of an author’s manuscript after reviewing their submission, we’ll request either a full or a partial manuscript. If we want to move forward with publishing the manuscript once reading it, we connect with the author and let them know how we feel! If we have any notes, questions, clarifications (literally anything we might want to discuss!), this is the time we would talk about all of that.

The Contract

If the author is still interested in being signed with Wanderlust, we move into the contract negotiation period! We’ll discuss all factors of the contract that are specific to this agreement, including the plan for editing, advance and royalties, and a general timeline. Once we have all of the logistics decided and entered into the contract, the author reviews it, and once both parties are happy with it, we sign! Once the contract is signed and everything is official, we’ll pay the author the first portion of their advance, which is a third of what the total payment will be.

Editing Plan

Part of what we discuss during the initial meeting is the editing plan, and once the contract is signed, we’ll jump right into it! Wanderlust will always work through edits with the author, and we’ll also hire freelance editors to be part of this process with us. We provide four official rounds of edits: developmental edits, line edits, copy edits, and a proofread. Of course, there will be small edits happening all the time while we work with the author to make their manuscript even better. Brainstorming and a-ha moments don’t stop just because we think we’re done :)

Cover Design

The cover design process is always once of the most exciting parts of publishing a book. Doing multiple rounds of edits is a great feeling as you get closer to the big day, but there’s something about seeing the cover of your book for the very first time that makes it all start to feel real! We’ll work closely with the author and a graphic designer for the cover art to make sure everyone involved is happy with the final outcome.

Marketing Plan

As we’re navigating editing and designing, Wanderlust will also start to put together an official marketing plan as release day gets closer. Like every other step, we’ll collaborate with the author so everyone is on the same page, but all the hard work and strategy is on us! We’ll create marketing and promo materials to post as release day gets closet to build up the hype and get the author’s book into as many readers’ hands as possible!

Distribution

Wanderlust handles all the distribution for our authors, so it’s one less thing off their plate. We currently use IngramSpark as our distributor, and this gets your book into big online stores like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other retailers. We’re a BIG fan of partnering with independent bookstores, though, so we’re always connected with indie bookstore owners to carry our books in their stores. The ONE task we’ll assign to the author is letting us know their favorite and local indie bookstores so we can ensure we’re working with them :) Once we know the name/s, Wanderlust will handle the rest!

Ashley Lauren at a release party for her debut novel, OUR SUMMER.

Launch Day

Becoming a published author wouldn’t be the same without some kind of celebration! It’s our goal to always coordinate with the author’s favorite local bookstore to host a release party, and if we can have multiple events at multiple locations…even better! We’ll work with the author to figure out what local places are possibilities for us to reach out to so we can plan these events, and we’ll make sure launch day is one of the best days of the author’s life.

This post makes it seem like an easy breezy process, but publishing a book is anything but that. It’s time consuming and one of the hardest things an author will ever do, but it is so incredibly worth it! We’re so happy we get to be part of this process and help our authors bring their stories to life in a way they’re happy with, and we hope we get to keep doing it for a long time.

Questions? We’re more than happy to answer and make sure our community and potential future authors know exactly what we’re about :)