At school my English teacher hated me, called me "stupid" in front of the class, and made sure I came bottom. I must have reminded her of someone she did not like, and she punished me. I was not stupid, and with another English teacher I came third in the class. This experience has shaped my writing because I don't assume I'm good at writing, and will be praised. Instead, I try to think of all the things I could be criticised for, and outpace those. I've just finished my third draft. I got a list of fifty things I will add. When my fourth draft is finished, in about two months, I will pay for an assessment. My manuscript is 182,000 words. This video has come at the time I'm doing editing, thank you.
That teacher should have been fired. Please keep writing. This is what Helen Keller said: "If I write what my soul thinks, then it will be visible, and the words will be its body." Sending love and encouragement to you from Las Vegas. Jordin.
If it is your debut novel, a 182,000 word manuscript might be very tricky to sell to a publisher. Just a tidbit a few people I’ve spoken to have run into when trying to publish longer manuscripts.
Thank you so much for this much needed explanation Alyssa, to the people entering this world of finding an "Editor" & a "Ghostwriter". It can be tough and there are some shady people out there. I was lucky to have my book written and published through "Writers Of The West" and that saved me a great amount of time and hassle and paid like $1000 for editing a 200 page manuscript which was a pretty sweet deal!
This video was very helpful to me by explaining the proper order in which to edit. I find myself getting distracted and frustrated by misspelled words and going back to fix them. Editing is, to me anyway, 10x harder than writing the drafts, or coming up with ideas. My first draft was 156K words but I've managed to get it down to 108K through over a year of editing and fixing drafts.There was so much that didn't need to be there.
I am currently working with a developmental editor and her input and ideas were eye-opening. I am so glad I decided to invest and work with a professional.
Im only in the 2nd draft rn and after watching this I think there will be at least 5 drafts. Also I for sure cant afford these all personally so here's to hoping that agents will want me as a client and publishers will accept the submission. Im really grateful you have query videos 😅
sometimes things slip through the cracks, despite several eyes and many revisions. Daniel Silva misspelled Switzerland, and no one caught it, and it went to print. World-class author... it happens!
Thank you for this overview! Too many writers don't realize all that's involved. Too many don't edit at all 😮 I recently finished my first draft. I'll soon get down to writing the second draft. My plan is after I write the third draft, I'll look into beta readers. I already have some volunteers that make me happy 😊
At the end you ask us to state where we are at in the writing or editing phase. I started in July and I’m now at around 64k words and feeling it’s almost done. I’m working on the couple final stages in the plot. Then I plan to do a reverse outline, as you talked about in video of yours. Then go through and edit on my own, and I would like to get it professionally edited. My goal is big five, and the dream debut; so your advice is extremely respected and I do plan to reach out. I’m just not sure WHEN I should since I’m not “done” yet and you’re so booked in advance 2-4 months. Thanks so much for all these videos! It’s my nightly ritual 😊
I’m at the beginning of editing and it’s my first time and it’s A LOT! 😂 I wrote a trilogy and I’m outlining now (pantser) and condensed a lot and moved major scenes/books around. Question for clarification: if we plan on querying you said we would do that after an editorial assessment or after the developmental edit? Thank you!! ❤
I'm obviously not Alyssa, but querying would come when you are completely finished with all edits and feel like you have a solid book in front of you. Hope this helps!
I try to edit as much as I can by myself. Then I use prowritingaid, which again, is pretty helpful to point out some issues I missed. Sometimes even rewrite an entire paragraph. Then it's off to my development editor and she is thankfully honest. Pointing out issues or has some great suggestions I have never thought of or noticed. Even my beta is pretty good and has good suggestions. Both highly suggested to write new opening chapters of an older work. But I only do the first few chapters as if I do the whole book, I would have no money at all anymore. Since majority of agents want the first three chapters. Yes, I do beta read my whole book to get other issues fixed.
This was a very helpful video. Currently, I'm on my first revision. My goal is to boost my word count from the 48K original to around 60K without harming the pace of the book.
Just found your channel. So helpful and very clear and informative guidance! Thank you. I finished my first draft a few months ago, read it through and as you said in another of your videos, found that it was a very crappy first draft! Now embarking on the editing process and rethinking the storyline and have decided to fictionalise it (it was based on my own experience totally before). Will be checking out more of your videos and advice without a doubt!
Thank you so much for checking out my channel! Congrats on finishing your first draft - that’s a huge accomplishment in and of itself, and a crappy first draft is the first step toward a polished final draft. Wishing you all the best with your revisions! 😊
Hey, Alyssa super helpful. I just finished the first draft of my book. But I am not a fiction writer. The book is non-fiction. Specifically, it is finance-focused.
When copyedits are done, does the editor do them for the author, or will the editor merely mark the edits, so that the author can do them? I ask because I hate it when someone else changes my text; what if the editor misunderstands something, or I miss something I could have learnt? I would rather fix every comma and misspelling myself.
Editors like to use word because it has two features: track changes and in line comments. With track changes they would make corrections in the manuscript, but you have to go in and accept them. There is an "accept all" button, but you really should go in and try to learn from the corrections they give you so your writing improves. In line comments are shown in a column beside the MS, with a line that points to the area of highlighted text. This is used to give the writer feedback, or also to point out problem where the fix isn't obvious. If your sentence has more than one way it could be interpreted, the meaning behind it could be completely different, but your editor may not be able to tell which one you actually meant. I use inline comments all the time while I'm writing, to track my word counts, make notes on when I add new characters, flag all the instances where said characters need names. Also to remind myself to go back and lookup past passages for congruency errors, if I think I may be making a mistake.
I know my biggest issue is I want to edit as I write. Would creating an outline prior to writing the first word help limit the amount of structural/developmental editing?
Hi there Alyssa. I'm overwhelmed at how many different elements there are. I currently have a manuscript being edited by a full service book editing service and am having serious issues. My comment here to you is one you may see as naive or even ego-based. It's in the area of copy editing. To me this is proofreading, though my lack of knowledge probably means I don't know something. The editors of the service I'm using are only concerned with line and/or copy editing -- I"m not fully aware of the difference -- instead of the top stage elements. I have been continuing despite the increasing doubts I am having as I review their changes. They aren't even great as proofreaders. So I'm surprised that you mention spelling as part of copy editing because first of all I see that as tantamount to arithmetic to a math professor, not to mention spell check is supposed to be highly reliable (or do you disagree with that?). Also if someone is a very experienced writer with excellent feedback for decades, they should not have trouble with grammar. Any errors in grammar I would expect to be few and far between, due to haste. Again, 2+2 vs.word order and sentence structure. Have you noticed that in published material these days, at least in digital form as I use only, the number of mistakes being allowed in publication? As if there was no final proof. It seems to be a sad trend across platforms: have you noticed there are even glaring mistakes in RUclips video titles? For instance, a video on the JFK assassination has the year incorrect, showing 1964 when it was 1963! How are we supposed to trust the integrity of RUclips? Not saying you're not trustworthy. And I'm seeing mistakes galore in books on Akazon Kindle. I appreciate your time in reading, if you have, I know it's long and that's my nature. One more thing, the service I'm using claimed there editors read entire manuscripts before actually editing, but I see no evidence of it. I'm preparing a plea for partial refund. I had decided to take a risk to pay a lot despite immediate red flags, as I find it overwhelming to search for an decide on services that I believe to offer indisputable professionalism. Please excuse my not proofing this comment. Too long even for me! Regards, David NYC
According to reedsy, to do all of the edits (less edits than you suggested) would cost me around 16K$ not including tax and their fees. That's crazy. And imagine having to pay it again after a revision.
Thanks for that valuable info. But being able to do all these edit stages with different editors you have to spend a fortune I am afraid ! And that at a stage when you don’t even know if an agent will offer you representation . If you could also add some estimated prices per edit stage it would be very beneficial!
You should only be going through all these stages if you intend to self-publish. Publishing houses provide all these editing phases when they pick up your book. If seeking an agent, I wouldn’t pay for editing at all unless my manuscript is rejected many, many times. Then I would consider an editorial assessment or developmental edit, revise, then query again.
So how much is a first author talking about spending considering all of these editorial phases? A lot I bet! I don't want to self-publish so you recommended going through a substantive phase at a minimum. How much should one expect to pay for this assuming their work is around 100k words? I got so many different quotes that I wasn't sure what exactly I should be paying.
Do you recommend an editorial assessment before I get a developmental edit? Should I wait to give my manuscript to beta readers until after I’ve had the editorial assessment or the developmental edit? Thanks
i am writing a book myself. But i feel like i need more. I need help with the writing, editing, and someone who can also help publish my book. i am looking for a publisher and a editor.
Costs can vary widely, since each editor sets their own rates, and it can also be dependent on the project. I talk a bit more about the factors that can influence editing costs in this video: ruclips.net/video/pnbfb6-cK_A/видео.html I suggest reaching out to a handful of editors for quotes to get an accurate estimate of what each phase would cost for your book!
Grammarly will clean your manuscript as well as a Roomba cleans your house. It’s a useful tool, but it can’t do more than a small fraction of an editor’s job.
"Transformative character arc"... I keep seeing this as a something that should be included in a novel, but I don't really see it in the books I read. The characters seldom have any kind of epiphany that transforms them. Sometimes the characters may change their mind about something or someone, but this is hardly a "Transformation".
What this often looks like is overcoming their hangups, or emotional baggage that's needed to overcome the problem that's central to the climax. There are also negative character arcs where a morally good character becomes bad and rejects the lesson that's being presented. (Like Breaking Bad.) And genre matters in terms of how central the character arc is to the story. If you want to be inundated with character arcs, read some romances. If you're reading something episodic, like a mystery series where every book is a case, in the detectives career, it's difficult to keep finding new faults for them to overcome. There's exceptions to this (Laurie R King comes to mind), and some try to have their poor characters backslide and try to learn the same lesson over and over again, but that can be a little tedious to the reader. The other option on a series is to have the character act spam over the course of the series rather than over the individual books. That takes way more planning and foresight, and if you're doing it that was, you should likely want to have other characters in the book having their own arcs and growing. (Dr Who sort of does this, it's the Companions that go through the character arcs.) Character arcs should be subtle. Often if they're done skillfully, you don't see that they're there, unless you're really know what to look for.
Editorial Assessment $0.015 to $0.020 per word Developmental Editing $0.05 per word Line Editing $. 04-$. 049 per word Copy Editing $0.021 per word Proofreading $0.02 per word Authenticity reading/Sensitivity reading $250 + $0.013- $0.035 per word Fact checking ??? Beta-reading FREE Cover Art: $500-$800 If you want to spend USD$7000+ on a book before you even hit publish and get any book sales, then you need to figure out some way to make back the investment. Otherwise, it's $7000+ down the drain. Meanwhile... Self-Editing: $0.00 Self-Created Cover Art: $0.00 Will that make the book less marketable? Perhaps. But, at least you get more profits because you don't have to pay those editors and cover artist. The cost of production is reduced by a ton. So, you get to keep more profits. And people are paying you for the whole book, the story, the cover art and illustrations, the editing work, etc.
That’s what I was thinking when she kept saying you’ll need a different editor for this and that. Fact is it’s to expensive if your self publishing it.
I did the editing of my first two books (published as ebooks) by being part of a writers critique group. That helped a LOT. Another help - though indirect - was writing short stories for a fanzine that featured professional editors and writers on its staff. By paying attention to what they said when they sent back my stories with editorial notes, I picked up what editors look for in stories on which they work. I chose the artwork for my first book from free online images, and I did the artwork/illustration for my second book myself. If I may be allowed a little bragging: both books got great reviews, and the first book even won an award (and was a finalist for another award). With those experiences behind me, I'm trying to find literary agents to represent the books I've since written. That's the really hard part to all this. Writing is easy for me, but finding an agent is difficult and frustrating. Sigh.
Two book recs for anyone who wants to self edit: Intuitive Editing By Tiffany Yates Martin has done interesting thoughts on developmental edits. Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer is a wryly written grammar book that demonstrates the rules needed (or ignored) in novels…usually be breaking them. Even if you still will get a professional edit, having a cleaner draft, that takes less time for an editor to work on can lower what they quote you on an edit than if the MS is a hot mess.
I agree paying 6 different people to go over a manuscript seems excessive. My publisher uses one editor plus either the publisher himself or an imprint editor on a book. I tend to turn in fairly clean manuscripts, so the process goes pretty easy and I don't pay for it. An author writing in my series has an additional step, as I go through the manuscript and make developmental and copy edits before we send it up the chain.
@@LordOz3 I once heard about how Louis L'Amour wrote his books. He wrote on yellow legal pads with a pencil. When he finished, he'd mail the hand-written books to his publisher, and the publisher had a typist work to type them up into the standard acceptable form. He didn't use 6 other people to help him clean up his books. Like him, I'm sure that there must be writers out there who still know how to structure and put together a story.
I am in the seventh draft and finally getting neat where I want it to be. I was amazed at how much I deleted in the fifth draft. I lost 7000 words in that one edit alone. I dont understand it, but it might be something subconscious, how I can't see misspelled words in my own text. Maybe because I am skimming the word over subconsciously familiar with the text. DEI and sensitivity reading is what has destroyed the arts. It's nothing more than a means of culture control and means to control artists by giving them opportunities to cancel them if they don't toe the line of trends. That's "my truth" (modern hive mind way of saying opinion)
Not every story is for everyone and the fact is sensitivity readers are easily offended. Inclusion shouldn’t trump story but now a days it usually does.
@@bigbossvi429 Sensitivity readers are like DEI agents in corporations. They have to continue to find problems whether they are there or not or they don't have a job.
Woke Americans won’t be telling me what I can and can’t write or read. Fancy selling thought police readers to poor writers. I know who needs a sensitivity lesson.
I can't take seriously anyone who takes seriously any "sensitivity reader". That just some marxist telling you how not culturally marxist your work is. "This is not one of the accepted opinions. I'm afraid you've had too much independent thinking."
At school my English teacher hated me, called me "stupid" in front of the class, and made sure I came bottom. I must have reminded her of someone she did not like, and she punished me. I was not stupid, and with another English teacher I came third in the class. This experience has shaped my writing because I don't assume I'm good at writing, and will be praised. Instead, I try to think of all the things I could be criticised for, and outpace those. I've just finished my third draft. I got a list of fifty things I will add. When my fourth draft is finished, in about two months, I will pay for an assessment. My manuscript is 182,000 words. This video has come at the time I'm doing editing, thank you.
That teacher should have been fired. Please keep writing. This is what Helen Keller said: "If I write what my soul thinks, then it will be visible, and the words will be its body."
Sending love and encouragement to you from Las Vegas.
Jordin.
If it is your debut novel, a 182,000 word manuscript might be very tricky to sell to a publisher. Just a tidbit a few people I’ve spoken to have run into when trying to publish longer manuscripts.
Thank you so much for this much needed explanation Alyssa, to the people entering this world of finding an "Editor" & a "Ghostwriter". It can be tough and there are some shady people out there. I was lucky to have my book written and published through "Writers Of The West" and that saved me a great amount of time and hassle and paid like $1000 for editing a 200 page manuscript which was a pretty sweet deal!
This video was very helpful to me by explaining the proper order in which to edit. I find myself getting distracted and frustrated by misspelled words and going back to fix them. Editing is, to me anyway, 10x harder than writing the drafts, or coming up with ideas. My first draft was 156K words but I've managed to get it down to 108K through over a year of editing and fixing drafts.There was so much that didn't need to be there.
I am currently working with a developmental editor and her input and ideas were eye-opening. I am so glad I decided to invest and work with a professional.
Im only in the 2nd draft rn and after watching this I think there will be at least 5 drafts. Also I for sure cant afford these all personally so here's to hoping that agents will want me as a client and publishers will accept the submission. Im really grateful you have query videos 😅
Editing is an absolue nessesity.
The image of a funnel is helpful in understanding what you are saying about the book editing process.
Also tysm for the free knowledge. The process seems way less nebulous now
This may as well be the best structured technical advice I have heard over 2.5 years of researching on how to write, to be honest. Thanks, Alyssa
sometimes things slip through the cracks, despite several eyes and many revisions. Daniel Silva misspelled Switzerland, and no one caught it, and it went to print. World-class author... it happens!
Great video. I love the funnel image; starting with bigger issues and slowly working towards the smaller, more detailed issues.
Very well done! You'll help many authors know the steps with this great video!
Thank you for this overview! Too many writers don't realize all that's involved. Too many don't edit at all 😮 I recently finished my first draft. I'll soon get down to writing the second draft. My plan is after I write the third draft, I'll look into beta readers. I already have some volunteers that make me happy 😊
Speaking of editing--your video editing on these is getting slicker! Nice work.
At the end you ask us to state where we are at in the writing or editing phase. I started in July and I’m now at around 64k words and feeling it’s almost done. I’m working on the couple final stages in the plot. Then I plan to do a reverse outline, as you talked about in video of yours. Then go through and edit on my own, and I would like to get it professionally edited. My goal is big five, and the dream debut; so your advice is extremely respected and I do plan to reach out. I’m just not sure WHEN I should since I’m not “done” yet and you’re so booked in advance 2-4 months. Thanks so much for all these videos! It’s my nightly ritual 😊
A very helpful video with the depth of explanation I’ve been looking for. Thank you. 🙏🏼
Towards the end, you mention something about sensitivity screening and/or ensuring cultural accuracy. Can you expand on that a bit?
Still drafting a series of interconnected stories.
Great video, as usual.
I’m at the beginning of editing and it’s my first time and it’s A LOT! 😂
I wrote a trilogy and I’m outlining now (pantser) and condensed a lot and moved major scenes/books around.
Question for clarification: if we plan on querying you said we would do that after an editorial assessment or after the developmental edit?
Thank you!! ❤
I'm obviously not Alyssa, but querying would come when you are completely finished with all edits and feel like you have a solid book in front of you. Hope this helps!
Superb! Love the video ❤
I try to edit as much as I can by myself. Then I use prowritingaid, which again, is pretty helpful to point out some issues I missed. Sometimes even rewrite an entire paragraph.
Then it's off to my development editor and she is thankfully honest. Pointing out issues or has some great suggestions I have never thought of or noticed. Even my beta is pretty good and has good suggestions. Both highly suggested to write new opening chapters of an older work.
But I only do the first few chapters as if I do the whole book, I would have no money at all anymore. Since majority of agents want the first three chapters. Yes, I do beta read my whole book to get other issues fixed.
This was a very helpful video. Currently, I'm on my first revision. My goal is to boost my word count from the 48K original to around 60K without harming the pace of the book.
Just found your channel. So helpful and very clear and informative guidance! Thank you. I finished my first draft a few months ago, read it through and as you said in another of your videos, found that it was a very crappy first draft! Now embarking on the editing process and rethinking the storyline and have decided to fictionalise it (it was based on my own experience totally before). Will be checking out more of your videos and advice without a doubt!
Thank you so much for checking out my channel! Congrats on finishing your first draft - that’s a huge accomplishment in and of itself, and a crappy first draft is the first step toward a polished final draft. Wishing you all the best with your revisions! 😊
Thanks a ton for this.
Hey, Alyssa super helpful. I just finished the first draft of my book. But I am not a fiction writer. The book is non-fiction. Specifically, it is finance-focused.
When copyedits are done, does the editor do them for the author, or will the editor merely mark the edits, so that the author can do them? I ask because I hate it when someone else changes my text; what if the editor misunderstands something, or I miss something I could have learnt? I would rather fix every comma and misspelling myself.
I had the same thought and I feel the same way.
Editors like to use word because it has two features: track changes and in line comments.
With track changes they would make corrections in the manuscript, but you have to go in and accept them. There is an "accept all" button, but you really should go in and try to learn from the corrections they give you so your writing improves.
In line comments are shown in a column beside the MS, with a line that points to the area of highlighted text. This is used to give the writer feedback, or also to point out problem where the fix isn't obvious. If your sentence has more than one way it could be interpreted, the meaning behind it could be completely different, but your editor may not be able to tell which one you actually meant.
I use inline comments all the time while I'm writing, to track my word counts, make notes on when I add new characters, flag all the instances where said characters need names. Also to remind myself to go back and lookup past passages for congruency errors, if I think I may be making a mistake.
@@dueling_spectra7270 That sounds great. Thank you.
I know my biggest issue is I want to edit as I write. Would creating an outline prior to writing the first word help limit the amount of structural/developmental editing?
This video is extremely helpful. Thank you so much!
I'm so glad - thanks for commenting!
I’ve just finished a developmental edit and I don’t know what to do next. How do I find a copy editor?
Would American Psycho be published today, do you think? Or Lolita? Given the sensitivity issues...Just curious :)
Hi there Alyssa. I'm overwhelmed at how many different elements there are. I currently have a manuscript being edited by a full service book editing service and am having serious issues. My comment here to you is one you may see as naive or even ego-based. It's in the area of copy editing. To me this is proofreading, though my lack of knowledge probably means I don't know something. The editors of the service I'm using are only concerned with line and/or copy editing -- I"m not fully aware of the difference -- instead of the top stage elements. I have been continuing despite the increasing doubts I am having as I review their changes. They aren't even great as proofreaders. So I'm surprised that you mention spelling as part of copy editing because first of all I see that as tantamount to arithmetic to a math professor, not to mention spell check is supposed to be highly reliable (or do you disagree with that?). Also if someone is a very experienced writer with excellent feedback for decades, they should not have trouble with grammar. Any errors in grammar I would expect to be few and far between, due to haste. Again, 2+2 vs.word order and sentence structure.
Have you noticed that in published material these days, at least in digital form as I use only, the number of mistakes being allowed in publication? As if there was no final proof. It seems to be a sad trend across platforms: have you noticed there are even glaring mistakes in RUclips video titles? For instance, a video on the JFK assassination has the year incorrect, showing 1964 when it was 1963! How are we supposed to trust the integrity of RUclips? Not saying you're not trustworthy. And I'm seeing mistakes galore in books on Akazon Kindle.
I appreciate your time in reading, if you have, I know it's long and that's my nature.
One more thing, the service I'm using claimed there editors read entire manuscripts before actually editing, but I see no evidence of it. I'm preparing a plea for partial refund. I had decided to take a risk to pay a lot despite immediate red flags, as I find it overwhelming to search for an decide on services that I believe to offer indisputable professionalism.
Please excuse my not proofing this comment. Too long even for me!
Regards,
David NYC
According to reedsy, to do all of the edits (less edits than you suggested) would cost me around 16K$ not including tax and their fees. That's crazy. And imagine having to pay it again after a revision.
Good stuff!
Thanks for that valuable info. But being able to do all these edit stages with different editors you have to spend a fortune I am afraid ! And that at a stage when you don’t even know if an agent will offer you representation . If you could also add some estimated prices per edit stage it would be very beneficial!
You should only be going through all these stages if you intend to self-publish. Publishing houses provide all these editing phases when they pick up your book. If seeking an agent, I wouldn’t pay for editing at all unless my manuscript is rejected many, many times. Then I would consider an editorial assessment or developmental edit, revise, then query again.
As a beginner writer the only hope I feel I have is within the editing process haha!
So how much is a first author talking about spending considering all of these editorial phases? A lot I bet! I don't want to self-publish so you recommended going through a substantive phase at a minimum. How much should one expect to pay for this assuming their work is around 100k words? I got so many different quotes that I wasn't sure what exactly I should be paying.
Do you recommend an editorial assessment before I get a developmental edit? Should I wait to give my manuscript to beta readers until after I’ve had the editorial assessment or the developmental edit? Thanks
i am writing a book myself. But i feel like i need more. I need help with the writing, editing, and someone who can also help publish my book. i am looking for a publisher and a editor.
What are costs of each phase on average?
Costs can vary widely, since each editor sets their own rates, and it can also be dependent on the project. I talk a bit more about the factors that can influence editing costs in this video: ruclips.net/video/pnbfb6-cK_A/видео.html I suggest reaching out to a handful of editors for quotes to get an accurate estimate of what each phase would cost for your book!
Thanks, Alyssa, Can I use Grammarly to edit my book
Grammarly will clean your manuscript as well as a Roomba cleans your house. It’s a useful tool, but it can’t do more than a small fraction of an editor’s job.
How do I make sure a sensitivity reader (not that I ever intend to talk to one) is at least politically neutral?
"Transformative character arc"... I keep seeing this as a something that should be included in a novel, but I don't really see it in the books I read. The characters seldom have any kind of epiphany that transforms them. Sometimes the characters may change their mind about something or someone, but this is hardly a "Transformation".
What this often looks like is overcoming their hangups, or emotional baggage that's needed to overcome the problem that's central to the climax.
There are also negative character arcs where a morally good character becomes bad and rejects the lesson that's being presented. (Like Breaking Bad.)
And genre matters in terms of how central the character arc is to the story. If you want to be inundated with character arcs, read some romances.
If you're reading something episodic, like a mystery series where every book is a case, in the detectives career, it's difficult to keep finding new faults for them to overcome. There's exceptions to this (Laurie R King comes to mind), and some try to have their poor characters backslide and try to learn the same lesson over and over again, but that can be a little tedious to the reader. The other option on a series is to have the character act spam over the course of the series rather than over the individual books. That takes way more planning and foresight, and if you're doing it that was, you should likely want to have other characters in the book having their own arcs and growing. (Dr Who sort of does this, it's the Companions that go through the character arcs.)
Character arcs should be subtle. Often if they're done skillfully, you don't see that they're there, unless you're really know what to look for.
My writing prof at university used to say that true writers are known by their calloused asses and chewed-up red pens.
🙂🙌
Writing is rewriting. Does this mean that the editor is the writer?
Editorial Assessment $0.015 to $0.020 per word
Developmental Editing $0.05 per word
Line Editing $. 04-$. 049 per word
Copy Editing $0.021 per word
Proofreading $0.02 per word
Authenticity reading/Sensitivity reading $250 + $0.013- $0.035 per word
Fact checking ???
Beta-reading FREE
Cover Art: $500-$800
If you want to spend USD$7000+ on a book before you even hit publish and get any book sales, then you need to figure out some way to make back the investment. Otherwise, it's $7000+ down the drain.
Meanwhile...
Self-Editing: $0.00
Self-Created Cover Art: $0.00
Will that make the book less marketable? Perhaps. But, at least you get more profits because you don't have to pay those editors and cover artist. The cost of production is reduced by a ton. So, you get to keep more profits. And people are paying you for the whole book, the story, the cover art and illustrations, the editing work, etc.
That’s what I was thinking when she kept saying you’ll need a different editor for this and that. Fact is it’s to expensive if your self publishing it.
I did the editing of my first two books (published as ebooks) by being part of a writers critique group. That helped a LOT.
Another help - though indirect - was writing short stories for a fanzine that featured professional editors and writers on its staff. By paying attention to what they said when they sent back my stories with editorial notes, I picked up what editors look for in stories on which they work.
I chose the artwork for my first book from free online images, and I did the artwork/illustration for my second book myself.
If I may be allowed a little bragging: both books got great reviews, and the first book even won an award (and was a finalist for another award).
With those experiences behind me, I'm trying to find literary agents to represent the books I've since written. That's the really hard part to all this. Writing is easy for me, but finding an agent is difficult and frustrating. Sigh.
Two book recs for anyone who wants to self edit:
Intuitive Editing By Tiffany Yates Martin has done interesting thoughts on developmental edits.
Dreyer's English by Benjamin Dreyer is a wryly written grammar book that demonstrates the rules needed (or ignored) in novels…usually be breaking them.
Even if you still will get a professional edit, having a cleaner draft, that takes less time for an editor to work on can lower what they quote you on an edit than if the MS is a hot mess.
I agree paying 6 different people to go over a manuscript seems excessive. My publisher uses one editor plus either the publisher himself or an imprint editor on a book. I tend to turn in fairly clean manuscripts, so the process goes pretty easy and I don't pay for it.
An author writing in my series has an additional step, as I go through the manuscript and make developmental and copy edits before we send it up the chain.
@@LordOz3
I once heard about how Louis L'Amour wrote his books.
He wrote on yellow legal pads with a pencil. When he finished, he'd mail the hand-written books to his publisher, and the publisher had a typist work to type them up into the standard acceptable form.
He didn't use 6 other people to help him clean up his books. Like him, I'm sure that there must be writers out there who still know how to structure and put together a story.
3 editors? Sounds expensive.
Correction: Not Book Editing Service, full-service Publishing.
❤
That intro is me to a T. Third time over my book re-editing.
I developed ptsd from red pen in grammar class.
I am in the seventh draft and finally getting neat where I want it to be. I was amazed at how much I deleted in the fifth draft. I lost 7000 words in that one edit alone.
I dont understand it, but it might be something subconscious, how I can't see misspelled words in my own text. Maybe because I am skimming the word over subconsciously familiar with the text.
DEI and sensitivity reading is what has destroyed the arts. It's nothing more than a means of culture control and means to control artists by giving them opportunities to cancel them if they don't toe the line of trends. That's "my truth" (modern hive mind way of saying opinion)
Not every story is for everyone and the fact is sensitivity readers are easily offended. Inclusion shouldn’t trump story but now a days it usually does.
@@bigbossvi429 Sensitivity readers are like DEI agents in corporations. They have to continue to find problems whether they are there or not or they don't have a job.
Woke Americans won’t be telling me what I can and can’t write or read. Fancy selling thought police readers to poor writers. I know who needs a sensitivity lesson.
My development editor is worth more than 10 beta readers, combined. Not that betas aren’t useful, but they serve a different purpose.
I can't take seriously anyone who takes seriously any "sensitivity reader". That just some marxist telling you how not culturally marxist your work is.
"This is not one of the accepted opinions. I'm afraid you've had too much independent thinking."
I lost my fear of the red pen many years ago. Track Changes, on the other hand...