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.

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.

Recently, my sales for The Talented​ have been reather lack-luster, so I have made the decision to try out a new cover for awhile.

Unfortunately, before launching my new cover I did not have the time or money to hire a professional cover designer, although this is something that I plan to do in the future if I find that a new cover helps sales. Therefore, I had to work with only my limited graphic design skills, which did not produce the best cover imaginably. However, I am hopefully that it is good enough to garner some feedback. So let me know in the poll or comments below whether you prefer the old cover (left) or new cover (right) for ​The Talented.

I'm an author, and in an ideal world I would be an author who made my living completely from writing. The Talented would be a bestseller, and people would be clamoring for it with almost as much enthusiasm (and much more hope) than they are the new George R.R. Martin book. Barring that, The Talented would have a higher ranking in the Kindle store (oh the miseries of being as-yet undiscovered). Alas, this is not an ideal world. I can't eat unlimited amounts of cake batter without gaining weight, there isn't a Pokémon Go stop conveniently located in my bedroom, and I can't yet support myself with my writing.

For those of you who haven't read my last couple of posts, my novel The Talented was published on Kindle on February 12th. Well, today I approved the proofs of The Talented through my POD company CreateSpace. Right now it is only available through CreateSpace, but the paperback should be available on Amazon in the next 3-5 days.

Why the update? Maybe some of you are old-school and would like a paperback copy of my book. Or maybe you were just curious about whether or not I would be releasing a paperback copy of my book.

This is also important because in a few weeks I plan to try approaching local bookstores about carrying my book on consignment, and I want to include news about that adventure here. So watch for that, especially if you are an indie author thinking about doing the same, or just curious to see whether or not bookstores are receptive to that sort of thing (I've heard mixed reports).

Have a happy Wednesday, people, and remember: We're halfway through the week!

Update: It's on Amazon already, although it's not matched with the kindle version yet, which is a little bit annoying. Hopefully that changes soon so that people can easily access both version from the same screen.

If you're in the process of moving from being someone who writes only for their own pleasure to being someone who puts their work out in the world for other people to consume (and hopefully pay for), you're going to need a brand.

Unless this is your first visit to my blog and you skipped my home page, you know that I recently published my first book The Talented on Amazon. And those of you who plan ahead might assume that before publishing, I gave real consideration to how I would brand myself. What would my "thing" be. My niche. How would I distinguish myself from the world around me, and how would I let readers know what to expect from my work?

Good question. And to the dismay of the planners of the world, it isn't one that I spent a lot of time thinking about. Of course, I had a foggy notion of my brand. I always write fantasy, primarily epic fantasy. I always have strong female characters, primarily as my main characters. My stories always take place pre-gun and pre-industrialization. I always write in 3rd person limited, although the actual limits may vary. There are other similarities between my works as well because, well, they're mine. I have a certain style.

But I didn't think of all this as a brand. That sounds so official and planned. And I didn't plan it. I've never gone into a book saying "Okay, this book need a strong female character who's good with a bow and arrow since there aren't any guns, because that is what my brand promises." That might be how my stories end up going, but I don't set out for them to be that way. It just happens.

So I let the fog drift around in my brain, not thinking about brand too much, just going about my life, pushing publish like little things like brands don't matter, until I decided to order some promotional bookmarks to go with The Talented. Being thorough, I started researching what promotional bookmarks look like, and saw over and over again mentions of things like brands and taglines.

What is a tagline, you ask?

Basically, a tagline is a catchphrase. A slogan. Something that ties back to and is particular to a brand or product. Nike has "Just do it." State Farm has "Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there." And I had a foggy brain.

And for the first time I realized that, before I could print any bookmarks, I needed to figure out my brand and/or tagline.

Cue the panic.

I made a list much like the one above, listing what my books had in common. And I tried out some different sayings:

• Fantasy novels with strong female characters.
  
• Action-packed fantasy with interesting characters and intense conflicts.
  
• Epic fantasy, fantastic tales.
  
• High fantasy, high stakes.
  

The first one I disliked because it made my stories seem like "girl" stories. I love my main characters, and I don't agree with the concept of "guy stories" and "girl stories" (with the possible exception of romance), but I know that a lot of people view things like that, and that men especially can be hesitant to pick up a book that they perceive to be geared toward women. So the last thing I wanted from my tagline was to run the risk of turning away half of my potential market when my books aren't actually written with women or female empowerment in mind.

The second one just sounds bad, plus "action-packed" isn't the best descriptor of my work.

The third and fourth ones I kind of liked. They weren't perfect, and they weren't everything, but they were close. So I mulled. And I brainstormed. And I drank some wine. And then I got it.

Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.

Everything I've ever written has had those components to one degree or another. It's short and descriptive, without being overly detailed or clunky.

I like the sound of it, and it fits.

My brand, which I am beginning to define more and more now that I've accepted the fact that pushing it off until "some day" doesn't make sense when you already have one book on the virtual shelves, is slowly evolving and solidifying into something clearly definable, and until then, I have my tagline to fall back on.

Epic Fantasy. Secret Missions. High Stakes.

If people don't know anything about my work, they should have some idea based on that.

Do any of you have a tagline? What is the tagline or brand of your favorite author?

Usually, Wednesdays are merely the midway point of the week. I acknowledge the hump-day, and I respect it for being a sign that I am closer to next weekend than last. But other than that, I don't think about Wednesdays that much.

Until this week. This Wednesday. Because this Wednesday doesn't bring me just one day closer to the weekend. It brings me one day closer to Friday. Friday. The day that I am publishing my first novel, The Talented. 

And I'm both excited and terrified.

I don't know why it struck me today. I decided last week that it was finally time to get my book out on those virtual bookshelves. That waiting until the paperback was ready for sale as well was just an excuse, and that this Friday was as good a day as any to finally put The Talented on the market.

It's been written, proofed, gone over by professionals, and edited again. It's had its cover designed and been as well formatted as I can make it. If The Talented isn't ready for release now, it never will be.

​So it's time.

In two days, my book will be up for sale. People all over the world (conceivably) will be able to download and read it. People will be able to leave reviews (good or bad) on Amazon. And The Talented will officially leave the realm of WIP.

And I will officially be self-published and ready to formally join the ranks of indie-authors.

It's exciting. And terrifying.

​But I'm ready.

I've raised 51% of my Kickstarter goals as of today, which is both perfect (since I am halfway through my campaign) and terrifying (since I am halfway through my campaign). But I've become confident enough to search for editors and request sample edits, and after today I think that I have found one (assuming that I get my Kickstarter goal met).

In an earlier blog post, "Why I'm scared of self-publishing," I talk about the fact that one of the worries I have about publishing my author is that it will somehow be less than traditionally published books. Less well-written. Less fluid. Less polished.

Less.

And that is one of the major reasons I am going to invest in an editor. I don't want my book to be less than just because there isn't a publishing company backing this endeavor. There are tremendously talented traditionally published authors out there. The kind of authors whom are adored by fans and emulated by other writers. The Tolkiens and Kings and Robertses of the world. The people that we want to be when we grow up.

I'm not ready to rank myself with them (even privately), but I do think that I have the chops to stand with some of the mid-level traditionally published authors. And I know that I will get better with experience (like fine cheese). So if I really, truly am the equal to some of mid-level authors, there is no reason that my final product should not be just as good as theirs.

As long as I have an editor (and a cover artist).

My hope is that, with the help of my editors, my book could be placed alongside of some traditionally published author's with the reader completely unable to tell which of us had a publishing house backing it (aside from the places on the trad. pubbed book that say which house it came from...).

P.s. I have been comparing myself to mid-level authors out of a sense of decency and modesty. Maybe next year I'll compare myself to the A-list authors.