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When it comes to editing your book— my thought is that editing your book should be a matter of desiring to walk in excellence. It may seem over the top but in everything we do, we should be working as unto the Lord. Your publisher should be stressing the importance and necessity of editing to you.
There should be at least 3 stages of editing for your book. Sometimes more is needed.
Stage 1 – This is the main stage where major cuts and / or rewrites are done. This may be your hardest stage. This is where you must really dig deep. You have to decide what parts of the book must stay, to ensure that the vision is accomplished and the readers will have a lasting takeaway. You also must decide what must go! You don’ t want to overwhelm your reader and cause them to miss the point.
I remember my first big chop with my second book Hurt to Healing.
It was my first Best Seller but my hardest writing project. I was a wreck! Not only was I new to the editing process but it was like reliving this story all over again. Don’ t let that scare you though. I made it through and so can you.
My publisher literally had to walk me through this process because again, this was“ my” story and I felt like“ everything” should be included. Needless to say, the chop was done and the end result was excellent but it was a major lesson learned. She helped me to maintain the integrity of my story and give the readers what they needed.
Stage 2— The Grammar Edits!
If you know that you’ re not the best with grammar, hire an editor and work closely with them. This will ensure that any changes made won’ t change the meaning of your words.
This is a critical part of your process. Producing an excellent product means you’ ve checked and re-checked your grammar. This includes punctuation, spelling, the voice that you write in( that’ s a whole article by itself) and more.
Do NOT skip this part. This part could determine if your readers continue to read your work or don’ t make it beyond the first page because they can’ t understand it. There are many writing tools available to you if you don’ t
Living With More
hire an editor. You can still produce a great book.
My first book, Life’ s Experiences, was edited horribly! It was absolutely unacceptable. But guess what?
I had a lovely cover but a not so lovely inside. And even worse than that is that I had no clue. The publisher that I used for that book simply said – send us your book and we’ ll take it from there. Wrong, wrong, wrong! If a publisher says this to you – RUN!
You need to be an active participant in all parts of your book. – especially editing.
This book only produced a royalty check of $ 7.00. I mean $ 7 in 13 years! Although that was very humbling, it didn’ t have to be that way. As I said, I had a lovely cover and the story line was good but there was major development that was needed to make it a great product.
When I compare that to the editing of Hurt to Healing, which was done with a publisher and Articles of Encouragement, which I edited and published myself, there is a major difference. Both in the product and the sales!
E m p o w e r i n g, E n c ouraging & S trengthening