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Lighthouse

The pipeline

Thirteen stages, and you can see all of them

This is the whole of it. Every stage below appears on your dashboard the day the book enters the house, with the date it started and the person holding it — including the stages where the person holding it is us.

Start your bookWhat it costs
1

Commissioning

Within 14 days

A commissioning editor reads the whole manuscript — a person, not a queue. Everyone gets a reply.

2

Offer & terms

Week 3

Advance, royalty rate, territory and term, written in sentences rather than clauses.

3

Contract

Week 4

Digitally signed. The advance is paid on signature, not on publication.

This one waits on you

4

Structural edit

Months 2–5

The big argument: shape, pacing, voice. Two to four passes with your editor.

This one waits on you

5

Line edit

Month 6

Sentence by sentence, then a copy-edit against the house style.

This one waits on you

6

Cover design

Month 6

Original commissions, never templates. You will be shown directions, not decorations.

7

Interior & typesetting

Month 7

Typography chosen per book and proofed on the actual paper stock. Ebook and audio prepared in parallel.

8

Proofs & approval

Month 8

Two independent proofreads, then your sign-off. Nothing changes after your yes.

This one waits on you

9

ISBN & registration

Month 8

An ISBN per edition, copyright filing and CIP data. The book becomes a permanent record.

10

Printing

Month 9

FSC-certified paper, thread-sewn hardcovers, and a press check someone from production attends.

11

Marketing

Months 9–10

A named publicist, a launch plan in writing, review mailings and festival submissions.

12

Publication

Month 10

Distribution to 400+ retail and library partners across 38 countries, and a launch worth attending.

13

Sales & royalties

Ongoing

Sales by channel and country, updated weekly. Paid quarterly. For as long as the book is in print.

About the timings

Guidance, not a promise

The months against each stage are what a book of ordinary length normally takes. A structural edit that needs a third pass takes a third pass. We would rather tell you the date moved, and why, than hold a schedule by shipping the book before it is finished.

Send us the book

The whole manuscript, a synopsis, and a line about who it is for. A commissioning editor reads all of it, and everyone gets a reply.

Submit your manuscriptSee pricing