April Newsletter
"Editing Process"
After I’ve fixed the content issues, I check for problems with writing style. I use my computer’s “go and find” function for this, searching for overused phrases and words. This cleanup phase is the most tedious, boring process imaginable, and it is the one part of putting out a professional piece of work that I really don’t enjoy. It takes me about a week to correct a full-length manuscript—necessary, but blah!
Now the book is ready to go off to my two developmental editors. These gals check for plot issues, character arcs, etc., looking for flaws as well as what I’ve done right. I get back their notes and ruminate on them. I’ve worked with the same two developmental editors since the beginning. As an independent contractor, I’ve had to change cover artists, formatters, etc. But these two gals have been with me since my first published book, and by now they understand my voice and what I’m trying to achieve with my writing. So I always very seriously consider their comments, and generally implement most of their suggested changes.
After I make these changes, I send the book back to one of my initial editors. She changes her cap from “developmental” to “copy” editor, and checks for grammar, spelling errors, and unwieldy sentence structure. She also gives me a thumbs up on the developmental changes I’ve made (no thumbs down to date, thank goodness!).
After I get the manuscript back from her, I make (most) of her suggested changes, then I put the book on my kindle. I settle back and read it like a reader, letting my harshest judgmental side come out. I check for flow and more grammar/typo problems. Some always spring up. Interestingly, this is also where I sometimes change back some of the suggested changes I accepted (if a sentence doesn’t sound like me, for example).
The manuscript is now as clean as I can get it—and by now I’ve read the book so many times that I never want to see it again in my whole life.
The final step is to send it off to my copy editor—the last gateway—just to make sure it is perfect.
It’s NOT perfect! Argh!
When I get the manuscript back, I gripe and grumble that I didn’t find the errors myself. But I have also come to realize that NO book is completely free of errors (I’ve found dropped words in Pulitzer Prize winning novels, for instance).
I make (most) of my copy editor’s suggested changes…and NOW it’s ready. Right?
Right. At some point, the book just has to be set free.
So off the book goes to my formatter, and—
Whew! Ready to go to press on bookseller sites…and time for happy reading for all of you!
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