Answering "Why Haven't You Published Your Book Yet?" (And Similar Questions)

The holiday season is often a time for family gatherings—and for some, they come with dreading those awkward questions you don't exactly want or know how to answer.

Once you've mentioned you're writing a book, all anyone wants to know is how things are coming along and when they can read it.

Chances are, those questions about your writing are asked out of genuine curiosity and wanting to support your writing goals, but that doesn't mean that answering them time and time again won't get tedious.

Especially if you've been working on your book for a while!

If you're a writer unsure how to answer the age-old question you're bound to hear this Thanksgiving (or you know a writer and you're wondering what's taking them so long to publish their book), this post is meant to offer a starting point.

Writing A Book Takes Time

Nothing in writing and publishing happens overnight. Even the most instant of bestsellers are the result of months, if not years, of hard work and dedication.

This might come as a surprise when you've got renowned writing challenges like NaNoWriMo tasking participants with writing a staggering 50,000 words in a mere thirty days. Some writers can consistently work that swiftly and publish one or even multiple completed books in a year. For most of us, our writing speed is closer to molasses than lightning.

Writing, of course, is more than just the act of writing on its own. Writers often have to do editing, marketing, and more, all of which take time (for more about non-writing things writers have to do, check out this post).

And let's not forget that before we're writers, we're people. A lot of us are squeezing our creative endeavors in whatever nooks and crannies we can carve out for ourselves amid day jobs, childcare, school, and other responsibilities, not to mention general human upkeep. It's a tricky balancing act.

Not to mention all of the other steps that follow the completion of a manuscript. It's far from a straightforward process! And it all takes time.

For many writers, the scarcity of available writing time amid everything else life throws at us means progress often happens in small doses.

The Waiting Game

Writing is often thought of as a solitary venture, but that isn't the case.

Once the first draft of a book is finished and a writer has likely done a round or two of self-edits, the next best step is reaching out to critique partners and beta readers for feedback. Said feedback isn't instant—if it is, it's possibly because that reader only skimmed through your writing and/or left minimal comments that won't be entirely helpful in the long run.

If they're looking to publish traditionally, a writer will eventually take the plunge into the query trenches, the first step of whuch is sending relevant materials including their query letter and the required number of pages from their completed manuscripts to literary agents in the hope of being offered representation (for context, the majority of publishers out there will not accept unsolicited manuscripts, meaning they're only consider looking at a submission if it's agented; some presses might hold occasional submissions windows where a writer can send in their work without an agent, so it's always worth keeping an eye out).

Plus, it might take a while to find an agent who's not only interested in your manuscript but one who clicks with you. You may have an agent in mind, but they aren't accepting new submissions right now, so you might be waiting for their window to open or researching others.

But as we all know, the road to an agent's representation is paved with rejection letters. Querying is a vicious cycle of submitting, waiting, hoping, and redirection.

It's incredibly rare for an agent to offer representation right away. If they're interested in a query they've received, they'll likely send a partial or full request, which means something like the first fifty pages or the entirety of a manuscript, respectively. If that agent feels like the manuscript and its writer might be a good fit for their agency's catalogue, they'll begin the process of offering representation. Between the back-and-forth, there's a lot of waiting—usually weeks or even months.

The waiting doesn't stop with representation. There will be more revisions before your manuscript goes on sub, which essentially means it's being shopped around by the agent with the goal of being acquired by a publisher. If all goes well, then there will be another waiting period while the deal is finalized, and chances are the writer will have to endure even more waiting before they can make any announcements (e.g., the vague publishing post 👀 or book-shaped news).

Publishing has its own lengthy timeline thanks to edits, formatting, cover design, printing, marketing, and other steps I'm positive I'm not aware of as a writer who hasn't entered that side of things yet. More often than not, it'll be a loooong time before a newly announced book deal hits shelves; for example, one of my writing friends announced her publishing deal in August 2025 and it's slated for release towards the end of 2027.

(Hi, Claire! So proud of you btw!!)

This is a super-rough overview of trad publishing, but self-publishing authors aren't excluded from the waiting of writing. Although they aren't querying agents and going on sub and so on, they'll still be having their book edited and formatted and their covers designed.

Very long story short, writing a book involves a lot of waiting, often for things that are out of your hands.

We know how eagerly you're waiting to see our books published, but bear in mind that we've been waiting even longer!

Publishing Can Be Expensive

One of the draws of self-publishing is how much of the process is in your control. However, that control has a price tag.

Necessary services in publishing, like edits, formatting, cover art, and so on, in a trad setting will typically be covered by the publisher and done in-house, whereas self-publishing authors are footing those bills.

And it's not cheap.

Pricing depends on the service and the editor, but according to Reedsy, the average for an 80K-word novel is between $2,000-$4,700; editors might charge a lump sum or by word. That same post from Reedsy indicates an average of $880 for cover art, but that will also vary.

Many editors and artists offer different payment plans and can set up installments that fit your budget, but every writer's budget is different. The writer in your life may be saving up to hire their dream cover artist or have to space everything out to make the overall process more affordable.

Traditionally published authors have their own expenses, too. It's a common misconception that signing with a publisher means everything is handled for you. That's far from the case, especially when it comes to marketing. Authors may pay for advertising to spread the word about their upcoming release, pay fees to attend bookish events, or create merch for readers (which might include commissioning artworks along with paying for manufacturing and shipping).

Money can be a delicate subject. If your writer friend isn't comfortable disclosing their progress towards their goals in this regard, don't force it.

Things Don't Always Work Out

If there is any one certain thing in writing, it's that no thing is certain.

Things don't always work out. Plans can fall through. Even the most rigid of Plotters can veer away from their outlines! And that's okay.

A writer may spend years working on their novel but get stuck or fall out of love with it and move on to a different project. They might have accepted an offer from an agent, but they may come to a mutual agreement that it's not a good fit after all and part ways; that agent could also leave the agency and be unable to take their clients with them. Your book could "die on sub," a term used when a manuscript makes the rounds but doesn't land with a publisher. A publisher could drop it from their release schedule.

You just never know.

Things can happen to even the most prepared and the most passionate of writers at any phase of their journey. Often, the best or even only course of action is to regroup, dust themselves off, and give it another shot.

This list only scratches the surface when it comes to the reasons it can take so long for a book to be published. Every writer's situation is unique, and that makes it all the more special when their work is at last on bookshelves and in readers' hands.

This post is not meant to preclude you from asking the writer in your life how things are going with their WIP. Check-ins and encouragement can go a long way. But I am going to advise against asking the same question too frequently. There is a line between encouraging and pestering.

If you're curious about our writing, there are so many other questions than "So, when's your book coming out?" which writers hear way too often and are probably getting sick of. Instead, try asking about their writing process, more specific questions about what they're working on, or their goals. Questions like these can show your support and interest along the way without placing a focus on the finished product—which, in my experience, takes some of the "Are we there yet?" pressure off and allows us to share our enthusiasm in the here and now as well as for everything to come.