If you haven't heard (read) yet, I am self-publishing my novel The Talented in October (or November--hopefully October). It's given me considerable angst, sleepless nights, and even a couple weird dreams--and sometimes I feel as though I've hardly started down that road!
Yet here it comes, sneaking up on me like the beast toward Bethlehem. Actually, not at all like that, but that phrase just popped into my head and I decided to use it just because.
Anyway, my self-publishing debut is coming soon. And I took a big step toward it this week by sending my completed manuscript off to my editor this week.
I couldn't be more excited. The last time I was excited to spend money on something it was to get LASIK eye surgery so that I wouldn't wake up half-blind every morning. And this was just as thrilling (plus it came with no recovery time). It's a big, huge, monumental, colossal step toward producing a high-quality book. And that is what I want. I didn't slave over actual paper for months, shift over to typing up the rough draft for more months (I worked very slowly at the time), print out the manuscript to look at it from a new perspective, and rinse and repeat several times to produce a product that is "decent." Or worse, "pretty good for a self-pub."
(Here, obviously, I am going with the assumption that the content of my book is a staggering piece of literary genius so it's the degrees of "polish" that make the difference. And you thought hubris was dead!)
I have read some truly amazing self-pubbed and indie books. But I have read even more self-pubbed books that could have been truly amazing with a little professional help. With the help of a professional editor. And, maybe most importantly (for some of them at elast), someone to proofread who is good at proofreading!!!
I might hire someone to proof my book, or I might get copies to my family and fellow English majors and have them read it with an eye for typos, misspellings, and misused words (because sometimes I don't write the word that I mean to). Either way, someone not me will be checking for those problems. Because when you read your own work, you tend to miss those things.
Just like when you go over your own work for the 10th (or 20th, or 30th) time, you tend to miss the things that your editor is going to point out to you as being info dumps, or repetitive (like this post is getting), or something that doesn't make sense or is completely irrelevant. Because by that time you are far too attached to your story.
But where was I?
Oh yes, I sent my book into my editors. I will get it back in a week or two. And I know, when I open that document and see all of the comments and suggested changes on the side, I'm probably going to have a heart attack. And then I'm going to be so happy that I might have another heart attack. And then I am going to get to work.
Because I am publishing in October. And it's going to be amazing.
Yet here it comes, sneaking up on me like the beast toward Bethlehem. Actually, not at all like that, but that phrase just popped into my head and I decided to use it just because.
Anyway, my self-publishing debut is coming soon. And I took a big step toward it this week by sending my completed manuscript off to my editor this week.
I couldn't be more excited. The last time I was excited to spend money on something it was to get LASIK eye surgery so that I wouldn't wake up half-blind every morning. And this was just as thrilling (plus it came with no recovery time). It's a big, huge, monumental, colossal step toward producing a high-quality book. And that is what I want. I didn't slave over actual paper for months, shift over to typing up the rough draft for more months (I worked very slowly at the time), print out the manuscript to look at it from a new perspective, and rinse and repeat several times to produce a product that is "decent." Or worse, "pretty good for a self-pub."
(Here, obviously, I am going with the assumption that the content of my book is a staggering piece of literary genius so it's the degrees of "polish" that make the difference. And you thought hubris was dead!)
I have read some truly amazing self-pubbed and indie books. But I have read even more self-pubbed books that could have been truly amazing with a little professional help. With the help of a professional editor. And, maybe most importantly (for some of them at elast), someone to proofread who is good at proofreading!!!
I might hire someone to proof my book, or I might get copies to my family and fellow English majors and have them read it with an eye for typos, misspellings, and misused words (because sometimes I don't write the word that I mean to). Either way, someone not me will be checking for those problems. Because when you read your own work, you tend to miss those things.
Just like when you go over your own work for the 10th (or 20th, or 30th) time, you tend to miss the things that your editor is going to point out to you as being info dumps, or repetitive (like this post is getting), or something that doesn't make sense or is completely irrelevant. Because by that time you are far too attached to your story.
But where was I?
Oh yes, I sent my book into my editors. I will get it back in a week or two. And I know, when I open that document and see all of the comments and suggested changes on the side, I'm probably going to have a heart attack. And then I'm going to be so happy that I might have another heart attack. And then I am going to get to work.
Because I am publishing in October. And it's going to be amazing.
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