This week I received the galleys for my psychological thriller, THEY’RE WATCHING, from my publisher. With approximately six months until my book comes out in January of 2027, we are now in the process of getting the manuscript out of a Word document and into a book format.

So what exactly are galleys?

Galleys are the preliminary version of the book in its pre-publication phase. They are also referred to as proofs and in this day and age are most often sent as a digital file. This is the version of the book that will now be edited one more time, then eventually shared as an ARC (advanced reader copy) to reviewers to help build a buzz for the upcoming release.

But why are they called galleys?

In the 1650s, traditional publishing involved typesetters placing the letters into trays called galleys. They got their name because their long rectangular shape resembled naval ships.

So what happens when I receive the galleys?

I will now go through the entire book, page by page, line by line, word by word, looking for a variety of things including:

TYPOS

SPELLING AND PUNCTUATION

AWKWARD PHRASING

INCORRECT WORDING (think their/there/they’re and the like)

CONTINUITY (characters/setting)

LAYOUT (spacing/page numbers etc.)

FRONT AND BACK MATTER

CLICKABLE LINKS (make sure they work)

and anything else that needs correcting.

So for the month of June, editing my galleys will be my priority.

Next up we will be working on the cover design. The anticipation is killing me!

IF YOU’RE A WRITER, TELL ME ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH BOOK GALLEYS IN THE COMMENTS.