Diana Gabaldon explains the book production process

I'm sure many of you have been wondering when they'll announce the publication date for GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE, Book 9 in the OUTLANDER series. (Not yet, is the short answer.)

Diana Gabaldon posted a detailed explanation on Twitter and Facebook of all the steps in the production process that occur after the manuscript is "finished". (Though, as her husband says, finished is a relative term!) It's well worth reading, and I encourage you to share it with any other OUTLANDER fans you may know.

For those of you who haven't seen Diana's list of all the (many!) steps in the production process, which she refers to at the beginning of that post, the most recent version (updated in 2015) is on her website here.  It was quite an eye-opener for me, the first time she posted it (back in 2008, before ECHO came out), and I imagine there are a lot of people who haven't seen it before.

In particular, please pay attention to this bit at the end of Diana's post:

Let it be noted that we did ALL of the above within five weeks, for each of the last two books.  This drove everyone to the verge of insanity (and was terribly expensive), and we Really Don't Want to Do That Again (any of us!), which is why you aren't getting a pub date until the manuscript is by-God Finished.

As much as I'm looking forward to BEES, I'm actually glad to hear this. It's always seemed such a shame (to put it mildly!) that Diana Gabaldon spends five years or more working on a book, taking such care over every word, only to have to rush through the final phases of copy-editing etc. at such a breakneck speed to meet the publisher's deadline(s). It's exhausting and stressful for everyone concerned, and I hope the decision to do things differently this time will make it somewhat less harrowing for her.

In the meantime, please try to be patient, and remember, "Fuirich agus chi thu!" That's "wait and see" in Gaelic, one of Diana's favorite phrases. I'm 100% sure that GO TELL THE BEES THAT I AM GONE will be worth the wait!