Another NaNoWriMo has come and gone. Some emerged victorious, while others can proudly proclaim that at least we tried. Whether you hit your 50,000 or not, be proud of whatever writing you accomplished in November. 50 words or 50,000, if you wrote, you're a writer.

Now, with the possibility of a fresh draft in hand, some people will be looking forward to editing and publishing. To this, I have a word of caution:

Wait.

I'm not one of those naysayers or Negative Nancys who wants to quash other self-publishers and throw up barrier after barrier to keep the from pushing that "publish" button, but I do want each self-published book to go out as the best version of itself. Not every book has the potential to be a best-seller, but I do want each and every book, and each and every author, to be the best it can be.

And for this reason, a quick read-through of your hastily written NaNo project before uploading it to KDP is not necessarily the best way to go. You're riding that writer's high, flying on your accomplishment, and nothing will bring you crashing down faster than an honest beta reader or professional editor pointing out the parts of your novel badly in need of improvement.

However, for your novel to be the best it can be, beta readers and editors are needed. Even the best rough draft is just that, rough, and deserves more attention from you. So print out some copies to have beta-readers comment on, go through it yourself with a fine-toothed comb to fix anything that you know needs fixing, and if at that point your really set on publishing, I can't recommend enough the importance of hiring an editor.

There are a lot of great places to find editors. Reaching out to your writer friends on social media, or finding out who your favorite bloggers use/used (thEditors for me) is a great first step. A quick google will turn up dozens of good options, as will a trip to a freelancing site like Upwork or Fiverr. You can also head over to my own Editing Services page, where I offer beta reading, content editing, and copy editing services below market rate.

I strongly recommend that, before you hire anyone to edit your novel, you have them edit a sample of it first (1000-2000 words should be enough). If they're unwilling to do this for free, I'd move on to someone else. Paying someone money to do a poor job is a waste of money, and refusing to pay for a service--even a crappy service--can give you a bad name in the writing community. So do your homework, and when you're ready, do what it takes to make sure your book is the best version of itself before you go to publish.

National Novel Writing Month is right around the corner, and this year I will be working on the sequel to The Emperor's Daughter. I'm also going to try something completely different this year...posting what I write every day so that people have the experience to see how the sausage is made, so to speak.

I've noticed during my journey as an editor that a lot of people get so nervous about how "bad" they think their rough draft is that they get discouraged and either stop writing the first draft or never attempt to improve the first draft into something that is publishable (or just finished if publishing isn't their goal).

In the interest of radical transparency, I want to show other writers just how rough a rough draft can be, and hopefully by the end of the year I will be publishing it as a serial that has polished, respectable, readable parts based on what is sure to be a "bad" first draft (It's hard to write a good first draft of 50,000 words in 30 days). Since The Emperor's Daughter was a novel originally written just for enjoyment and offered for free, I believe that showing this process can only help other authors on their journey, although fans of The Emperor's Daughter might want to wait to read the finished product if you're not interested in a wild and unwieldy draft.

​I also plan to post the editing process on my editing website so that people can get an idea of what professional editing should be, with the caveat that editing your own novel is never as good as paying a professional editor to do that work for you, regardless of whether you are good enough at editing to offer professional services to others. 

I probably won't be starting at midnight this year, because that is way past my bedtime, but there's a good chance I'll be starting at 4 in the morning on Thursday, so feel free to join me! Remember, even if you don't "win" NaNoWriMo, everyone who tries is a winner in my mind.

Today I am pleased to announce that starting in 2018, I will be offering beta reading, content editing, and copy editing services to other authors. Because I know that being an indie author can be hard, and budgets can be very tight, I'm keeping my rates low.

My beta reading service will be offered free to anyone who would like to take advantage of it, whether they are looking to someday publish their book or just want someone to read it and give some constructive feedback.

My content editing services will start at only $50, although final price will be negotiated with the author depending on the length of the work and the state of the manuscript when I receive it. I will edit the first 3,000 words free of charge before giving the author an estimate of what the rest of the work will cost.

Copy editing will start at only $75, and comes with the same first 3,000 words free service as the content editing, and final costs will be mutually determined from there.

If you're interested in any of these services, head over to my services page to learn more and fill out a contact form. Anyone who contacts me before Jan. 1, 2018 will receive a 20% discount on my services. I will also be offering a referrals program, so that anyone referred to me, or anyone who does the referring, either gets bumped to the front of the line for a beta read or 5% off of their next paid editing service, whichever they choose.