The hoary old adage is that publishing a book is like giving birth: It takes nine months. Nowadays, we have electronic typesetting, high-speed presses, print-on-demand, and oceans of text gushing through fiberoptic pipes onto computer screens all over the planet.
So why does it still take so long to publish a dead-tree edition?
Writing in Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, Rachel Donadio explains how technology may move at the speed of light, but humans still need nine months to properly prepare, market, and distribute a book: Essay - Waiting For It - New York Times, by Rachel Donadio.