What It's Like to Fact Check a Parenting Book
And why I do it.
Right now, I’m in the middle of the very intense process of fact-checking my new book, Hello Cruel World: Science-Based Strategies for Raising Terrific Kids in Terrifying Times, which comes out in May. I thought today I’d give you a sneak peak into what that entails.
I think book fact-checking is essential, and I’ll explain why in a minute. But it’s also something that authors have to organize and pay for out-of-pocket — my friend
, one of my book’s fact checkers, estimated based on her and others’ experience that it typically costs between $8 and $15K to get a book fully fact-checked — and this can be next to impossible when authors have a small book advance or lots of book expenses. it can also be extremely hard to squeeze fact-checking into a tight editorial timetable.
To give you an idea, here’s the editorial timetable for Hello Cruel World. (These can vary a lot by book; by comparison, the time between contract signing and book release for my first book was nine months longer, in part because of the pandemic.)
November 8, 2023: Book contract was signed and I started researching and writing
July 1, 2024: Complete book draft was due to my editor
July 31, 2024: Book edits were returned to me from my editor
August 20, 2024: Revisions due back to my editor, then I went on a two-week vacation as my publisher began copy-editing
September 2, 2024: Returned from vacation and began book fact-checking and final revisions
October 1, 2024: All final text changes are due
May 27, 2025: Book comes out! (eek!)
With regard to fact-checking, the most important detail here is that I’ve had a total of four weeks to get the entire thing checked, which is …..omggggggggg.