The Process of Producing a Book

For me, completing (notice I didn’t say writing!) the first draft of a new book is the most thrilling part of being an author. The second most exciting moment is when I finish what I hope will be the final draft of the text, usually after months of rewriting.

Once the publisher’s editor has approved the last draft, it is sent to be copyedited. My next step is to look over the copyeditor’s changes. First, I comment on her suggestions, either approving or rejecting them, and then I reread the manuscript myself. I go over the full text twice in painful detail, finding what now seem like egregious errors in what I thought was a final draft.

Finally, the corrected text is turned into book pages, and I get one more chance to review what I’ve written. Supposedly, by now, there are no more writing errors, so I’m expected to read the page proofs looking for mistakes made by the printer. But inevitably, I find words that simply have to be changed! If I can fit my new word choices into the same number of spaces as my cringeworthy old ones, even some of these final, final corrections can be made. After that, the text is set!

By now in the process, I should have discovered two wonderful, generous fellow mystery writers who have agreed to read my new book with an eye to endorsing it and giving me a positive quote to cite. I’ve also agonized over every word of the short description appearing on the book’s back cover. Writing this text is one of the hardest things we authors do since a good blurb really does sell a book. Almost as hard is coming up with an appealing title.

And then there’s the front cover to struggle over.

Since I write a series, I want my books’ covers to match and yet be individually distinctive. I also look for a cover image that complements the title, illustrates the book without giving away spoilers, and draws potential readers’ attention.

Much of my fourth book, which comes out on April 15, 2025, takes place in and around Bern’s Gothic cathedral, the Berner Münster. The second chapter describes how a fifteen-year-old boy causes a young glassmaker to fall off a scaffold while he’s working on a sixteenth-century stained glass window. Trying to stop his fall, the glassmaker puts his hand through a section of the window and makes a hole in it. The boy’s attack and the glassmaker’s fall are the start of a complicated case for police detective Renzo Donatelli to investigate.

With that explanation, I’m ready to introduce you to the cover of my fourth book, Splintered Justice. I hope you like it!

All of the photographs in this post, except for my book cover, are taken from https://www.pexels.com/search/pixel/, a website that provides free photos and identifies the photographers, at least by first name or company. The featured photo of the man standing in the library is by Mark Cruzat. Starting with the happy writer at the computer, the rest of the photos are credited to Timo Miroshnichenko, Mart Production, Andrea Piacquadio, Emily, Hicret, and Sevi Schiegg.