Managing Editors are the unsung heroes of publishing.

They aren't the Editor editor, who acquires the book and champions it in-house to sales and marketing (in addition to being the best sounding board the author has), or the assistant editor, who does a lot of the back and forth with the author (and in my case, is one of my most perceptive early readers). But the Managing Editor is the one who also copy edits (minding all the details), edits (as in, for story consistency and clarity), and most importantly keeps the book on track through production to the onsale date. And it's a difficult track to navigate in the best of circumstances.

For readers who are unaware of the production process of a book, publishers like to have them wrapped up and tied with a bow a full year before the release date. This allows them, among other reasons, to adequately promote, market, and sell the book to the booksellers and librarians who they hope will be buying it. The catalogs go out several seasons before the onsale date, so the earlier they have the book in-house the better prepared they'll be to sell it.

To use the Imaginarium Geographica books as an example, I'm supposed to have the first draft and sketches in to my editors in July, with finished art and copyedits done in September for a book to be published in October of the following year. I have rarely hit those marks (although this year, for book five, I was early with the mss, and God willing will stay ahead of the curve) and have often gone into spring of the release year to finish the art. However, with this series there's been a little grace given and a little flexibility - with a draft of the mss, a finished cover, and thumbnails, my publisher has been able to do almost everything they need to do, saleswise. The bulk of our buyers know what to expect, and the sales force knows how to sell a James Owen Imaginarium Geographica book. Such is the power of a series and a known quantity. But it's still better (for a PLETHORA of reasons) to be on time, not the least of which is that it keeps your Managing Editor from having a coronary.

I know (as does the reading public) that some authors whose name alone sells books, can push the limits of these schedules and deadlines. Neii Gaiman has often mentioned in his blog that he's been working on a book as late as the season before pub date. That's scary - but then again, he also knows what he's doing, and his publisher obviously trusts that he knows what he's doing. But I'm certain that the Managing Editor overseeing those books is still sweating bullets.

However, this last weekend at the Westercon in Tempe, it was revealed to me that Neil and I are mere pikers when it comes to deadlines.

A very successful author (whom I know well enough, as an Arizona author, to consider a friendly acquaintance) held a kaffeeklatsch where she casually mentioned that she has a new book coming out in October, and lamented the fact that it wasn't going to start at #1 on the bestseller lists, as it's going on sale a week after Dan Brown's new book. She didn't mention the size (Book Page, which carried the announcement, lists the book as being 982 pages) but said she had considered not coming to the con at all since she was still writing the book.

Still. Writing. The. BOOK.

In July.

Section three alone is in the range of 100,000 words, and of seven sections, she had part of section six and all of section seven to go (I may be remembering incorrectly, as she did say she writes out of order... also, all of the blood had drained from my head.) Whatever it was, she still had a LOT to write to finish. And had a vacation coming up.

Also, because she was running so late in the game, the foreign translators were translating sections AS SHE FINISHED THEM, with the understanding that copyedits were yet to come. Same with the person recording the audiobook, which would have to have corrections spliced in. The really fun part is that her old editor was let go last December, so it's a new editor who is in the middle of this (and hadn't even READ her older books yet). The learning curve alone had to be bonkers.

Now, everyone already knows that this book will be a bestseller. It WILL make money for the publisher. But dear Lord, what a nightmare of coordination, especially for the team at her publisher, who somehow have to keep the train on the track, even without half the cars they need.

This may work for them, but it was, to me, the ultimate cautionary tale. Having once been on a tight schedule (with my comic books) and then watching that schedule evaporate (when I broke my drawing hand in the car accident), I never want to tempt fate in that way. And being on schedule means less pressure for everybody, so I'm planning on staying that way - if only to keep my Managing Editor from losing her mind. Because without her, things don't work.

So, this is a hug and a high-five to Dorothy Gribbin at Simon & Schuster. She makes my job easier. I shouldn't make hers harder.