Plan and manage advance copies
Confirm final manuscript or galley availability date
Know the date a reviewable version of the book (final manuscript, digital galley, or printed advance copy) will exist, because review submissions cannot start before it.
Why it matters
Every review deadline is anchored to the moment a reviewable copy exists, not to the publication date. Authors who learn the galley date late discover that the windows for the outlets they most wanted have already closed. Knowing the date six to nine months out is what makes a review plan possible.
Your part
- What you do
- Ask. Someone else normally owns it. Get an answer, then record it.
- Who normally owns it
- Publisher. Publisher schedules; author asks and plans around it
- When
- Six to nine months before publication, before review submissions need to begin (Plan and manage advance copies: twelve to six months before publication, ahead of every review deadline)
Your part changes with your publishing route.
How to do it
The full walkthrough
A galley is a pre-publication version of the book, typeset but not yet final, used for reviews and early reading. It may be a printed advance reading copy (ARC), a PDF, or a file on a digital review copy platform. Many trade review outlets require galleys three to four months or more before publication, so the date the galley exists is one of the most important dates in the schedule, and one authors are rarely told unprompted.
Ask the editor or publicist when the galley will be available and in what forms, and with a hybrid press ask whether producing galleys is part of the package or an extra. If you are the publisher, the galley date is whenever you decide the manuscript is final enough to show reviewers, which should be after copyediting and before final proofreading is complete. Either way, work backward from the review lead times you want to meet: the answer tells you whether the publication date leaves enough room for the outlets you care about.
Record the date per galley form (PDF, digital platform, printed) in the Book Identity Sheet and put it on the master calendar.
Common mistakes
- Assuming galleys exist when the manuscript is accepted; they exist when the book is typeset.
- Planning trade review submissions without knowing whether a galley will exist in time.
- Confusing the printed advance copy date with the digital galley date, which is often earlier.
- Sharing an unproofed manuscript as a galley without marking it as uncorrected.
Identifiers for Confirm final manuscript or galley availability date
Set a status on any record and it joins this step. All book identifiers.
| My status | Identifier | Why this matters | Yours |
|---|---|---|---|
| NetGalley The main platform for giving reviewers, librarians, and booksellers a secured digital review copy before publication. | This decides who can read your book before it is out and how early, and feedback posted through it frequently reappears as reviews on Goodreads and retailers around publication. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask whether the book will be listed, when the listing goes live, how long it stays up, and who approves requests, and a hybrid author should confirm who is paying. If you publish the book yourself, this is a real expense you choose, and it needs an approval plan, a plan for reading the feedback, and enough lead time, typically three to six months before publication, to be worth anything. Record the listing dates and check that the description and review file match the book you intend people to read. | Add your NetGalley listing link | |
| Edelweiss+ The digital catalog where booksellers, librarians, and reviewers see forthcoming books, months before publication. | Buyers deciding what to stock and librarians deciding what to buy often see your book here first, so the description, the author biography, and the comparison titles in that listing do their work long before anyone has read the book. It displays what the publisher's feed and catalog team supply, so it is a downstream view rather than a source, and a mistake in it came from upstream. Traditionally and hybrid published authors normally ask which catalog the book sits in and to see the listing before buyers do, and a hybrid author should confirm the publisher has an account at all; a self-published book appears only if a distributor lists it, and titles published through IngramSpark don't appear automatically. Check the listing against your own record, especially the description, biography, comparison titles, and publication date. | Add your Edelweiss+ listing link |
What done looks like
- A date for each galley form: PDF or manuscript, digital review copy platform listing, printed advance copy.
- The date compared against the lead times of the review outlets you plan to approach.
- The dates on the master calendar with the review submission windows they unlock.
- A note of who will have the files and who may share them.
Ask your publisher
Copy this into an email. Replace the bracketed parts with your details.
Sources and last checked
- Official source
- No single official page for this step.
- Last checked
- Not checked against its source yet.
- How confident we are
- Verified