Preparing a Novel for Press

A behind-the-scenes look

I’m the author of The Cassatt Sisters: A Novel of Love and Art (October 2025). Escape into Art is a place you’ll find paintings and miscellanea about American Impressionist Mary Cassatt and her circle of artist friends, along with delicious bites from Paris during La Belle Époque, the Beautiful Age.

Today I’m sharing a present-day postcard, a behind-the-scenes view of the publishing process for The Cassatt Sisters: A Novel of Love and Art.

I’ve proofed and approved the final galley and now it’s ready to go to press. The process of turning a manuscript into a book is a long one, particularly when proofing English with French phrases. I asked a Parisian writer to proof my French. The book designer has inadvertently swapped the accents—acute (as in café) and grave (as in crème) at times, testing my Virgo eyes. I comb the changes with each iteration—back checking edits and sometimes changing them again. This phase is maddening. No writer wants to see errors in her printed book, though it happens. The technology of print-on-demand makes correcting a finished book easier, but I hope (pray!) unnecessary.

The Cassatt Sisters will also include illustrations, paintings, pastels, and prints from Mary Cassatt and a few of her Impressionist friends. I’ve found high-resolution images, which will be printed in black and white, but remain in color for the e-book. Including them is possible since the age of the artwork qualifies it as public domain. Writing a novel about the Impressionists without including their artwork would have made for a lesser story. I’m grateful to include Cassatt’s art, along with names of galleries where her paintings reside. I’ve seen most of these paintings in person. I know, lucky me. They’re gorgeous. Honestly, if you get a chance, do it!

Best of all, my publisher sent me a final cover. Here it is, for the first time. The painting “In the Box,” by Cassatt, spans my front and back cover. One in a series of Opéra paintings, Mary showcased this beauty at her first Impressionist exhibit in 1879. The type font used on the cover comes from the time of La Belle Époque as well.

October 9 is my official publishing date, but I wanted to share some behind-the-scenes details of the production process.

Next time, I’ll return to the Belle-Époque past, featuring one of my favorite characters in the novel—Impressionist artist Camille Pissarro. Until then, I see him tipping his hat to you here, saying à bientôt!

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Until The Cassatt Sisters is published, I’ll keep a flame burning here—like an old gas lamp on the rue Laffitte, the charming cobblestone street that was once the center of Parisian art. Merci for coming along!