The Composing Process -- Publication

The Creative is taking an in-depth look at the steps I go through in composing a piece of music, from first ideas clear through the end of the publishing process. Realize this is only my process -- this may or may not work for you, so use it only as a guide. This is the eleventh post in the series.

The day has finally arrived --your piece is in print!  It's a date you will remember for the rest of your life, right?

Like everything else in the whole publication process, your piece actually becoming available for the world to see is less a momentous thunderclap as it is a slow sprawl into existence.  That's not to say it isn't exciting, but it happens gradually, a step at a time.

One of the first things you'll see will be evidence of your piece online.  For most publishers, this means that the title and other information will appear on their website.  There's not much there, and, unless you become a truly big name in your field, odds are this won't actually get anyone to buy any copies.  It's more of a, "Hey, I'm here!" announcement that carries little weight.

Not long after that, however, you'll start to see other things on the same website.  Most publishers these days will post a demonstration recording of the piece, as well as a PDF file that contains the cover and a page or two of the music.  For most people, this is what sells them on the idea of maybe, just maybe, buying your piece. 

Next (or sometimes before or at the same time -- publication is the sort of process where it doesn't much matter what order things happen in, so long as they all eventually happen), you'll see your piece showing up on the websites of music retailers.  This is where it gets really exciting, like an author seeing his book in a bookstore for the first time.  Having the information on the publisher website is nice, but, unless you do a lot in music, how many people really know the publishers in a given musical field, or ever visit their websites?  How many times have you gone to the Penguin Publishing website or the Scribner website to see what new books they've put out?  You don't -- you go to Amazon.com.  This is like that -- most musicians don't visit publisher websites -- they go to J.W. Pepper or Sheet Music Plus or that sort of site. 

Fortunately, most music retailers also link to the PDF files and the audio files of your work.  You can also see your name alongside the names of other composers you may have admired or emulated for years.  If you need an ego boost (and a humbling reminder of where you fall in the pecking order), that will do it for you. 

The corollary to this, of course, is actually going in to a music store and finding your music on the shelf (or, in the case of most of mine, in a drawer).  Yes, I've done this, and if I'm ever feeling down, it's quite refreshing to walk in and see my music in a drawer with hundreds of other handbell pieces, just knowing that it's there and available for anyone who wants to walk in and purchase it. 

The other big thing that will happen during this phase is that you will receive your composer's copies.  Every publisher, as part of the contract you signed, will send you a set number of copies of your piece for your own use.  The idea is you'll pass them out as promotional copies to try to get folks to buy more, but I tend to give them to family and friends as thank-yous.  I also hold on to a copy of each of them myself.  Depending on the publisher, this can be as few as 5 copies or as many as 30 (at least in my experience). 

This is a momentous event (and, of the whole "publication" part of the process, it's the one I remember best).  This is the instant when you see the end result of your hard work and creative talents.  This is the point where you actually hold a finished product in your hand.  It's a great feeling, and, unlike much of the creative process, it's something you can actually share with the rest of the world.

There's very little left to cover in the composing process, but we'll finish it up next week, as we look at promoting your music, and that all important subject of royalties.