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Writing Tip #5: Editing!

Next to a great writer is a fantastic editor! If you’re like me and can’t professionally self edit your own book (some people can but it’s always key to have an extra set of eyes on it even after you do it by a professional).

This could also serve as step # 4 depending on how many edits you really need. A lot of the best writers need a lot of editing. Some have the story in them and write the book but don’t know how or have the skill-set in regards to grammar or spelling…some writers who know that they need a lot of help in this regard may even take a community college course on writing, or an English class to help them strengthen this part or go through organizations that offer these classes.

If this is the case for you then you may want to get your book professionally edited first at least the first round before you get beta readers.

You don’t want your beta readers hung up on grammatical errors and misspelling. You want them to be able to sit and read the book as if it’s shelf ready or very close to it.

I have a great editor out of Arlington Texas and when I say she’s great, she edits your book and your voice is not lost after she does her edits. It is very important to find an editor that will match your voice.

This is going to be a very important relationship and partnership with your book so choose your editor wisely. It’s also an investment so please read their bio, talk to them. Find out their rates (editors charge per page), how many other books they have successfully edited, get references to talk to those authors, even review those authors books.

Get a sample of edits. Some of the best editors I have met have offered to edit a few pages of my book for free or show me edited pieces so I could determine if they would be best for what I needed. 

Charging per page is how they make their money. Some editors will offer two rounds of edits some will offer 3 and if you need morethan that then they must charge you more. This will all be in your written contract that you both agree to and sign. Also, in that contract they will have payment methods as well.

After that first round of edits, your editor will send the book back to you and now it’s your turn to take their edits and either do more character development, move things around and then you send it back for round two and sometimes there will be a round three. It’s okay to cry or weep when you see the amount of edits that have been made. (It’s okay)…go through edits page by page and take your time. Don’t freak out!

After your book is completely edited then read through it yourself to see if there are any lingering glitches then you can either give it to your Beta Readers if you haven’t already or take it to the next step of turning your manuscript into a book!

Stay tuned for the next step as we will discuss typesetting, book cover design and more.

Remember...you will be self published. It takes time but in the end you will birth your book! Cheers and thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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Writing Tip #4: Get Beta Readers That You Can Trust

Hi again! Sorry it’s been a while since the last blog. This one is short, sweet and to the point. Once you have written your wonderful book, it’s flushed out, and edited (see below if you need to get it edited first or second), then you want to have a test group called Beta Readers. Your book will sound great to you, but how will it read and interest others? This is where your very honest beta readers come into place.


You want to recruit a group of avid readers who will read your book and give you very honest feedback. When I say get readers you can trust, you want not only honest feedback but people who like or love the genre you are writing whether it’s fiction, science fiction, romance, poetry, children’s books, etc.  As a writer you give them firm deadlines. You want your book back within a month or so because you need their feedback so you can move forward. If they can’t commit to the deadline you set, then find another reader.


They have to be more than avid readers and book lovers; they have to read that genre as well as explained above. For example if you have friends who absolutely love science fiction and you’re writing a memoir and they don’t really like those kinds of books then they would not be a good reader for your book. If you have a friend who doesn’t dig poetry and yet your entire book is full of poems then they might not be a good fit for your beta readers group. Get my drift?

There are a variety of ways to recruit them. If you’re active on Facebook, Twitter, belong to a social media group, an organization, etc then put out a call for readers. Ask friends and colleagues if they have friends who are avid readers and would like to be a part of the group.

How many you have is up to you. I would suggest 2-3 people. If too many people have your book, then you now have a lot of feedback to go through. More doesn’t always mean better. (I learned that the hard way). 

Nothing against friends reading your book as a beta reader but sometimes your friends may not want to give you all of the honest feedback you need. Also something may come up and they need extension after extension to read your book and they know you would understand because you are their friend.

This is serious business, this is your dream and passion. So get beta readers that are passionate as you, love to read and especially the genre you write in and can get through your book within the deadline that you set. Remember once you receive the feedback to not take it personal. This is positive feedback to help your book be even greater!

Set a deadline that makes sense. People are busy and taking time out of their schedules to read your book. If your book is very lengthy you may want to have a midpoint check in with them before they read the second half.

As a thank you for reading your book, maybe you can offer them a complimentary autographed book when it’s published, a small gift card or some sort of token of your appreciation. Some people are even paid to be beta readers whether it’s a stipend or something along those lines. If you have trouble finding beta readers then reach out to a writers group or organization that has a list of people willing and ready to read!

If your book needs a lot of professional editing then get it edited first and then get beta readers. Some people write very well and can flush it out without an editor at first. Then they can take the feedback that the beta readers have and integrate it into their book. But it’s okay if you need your book professionally edited first if you have trouble with grammatical errors, run on sentences, etc. Then once you get feedback and factor that in make that part of your editing process with your editor. Talk to your editor about a process that will work for the both of you to accomplish this step.

Stay tuned for the next writing tip, “Getting Your Book Professionally Edited.”

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Feel free to stop by my store to get your copy of Reconstruction, Pieces of Life, Volume 1 and Crying Tears of Teal. Check out the events page to see what’s coming up. Be well and stay creative!

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Writing Tip #3: Read Your Own Book and Then Copyright It

Once you have written the book and are holding yourself accountable (or have an accountability partner to assist you with getting your book done) the next step as a writer is to read it yourself and go through your own set of edits. Yep, it’s time to roll up the sleeves and see if you like your own book and to start smoothing it out.
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I am not a professional editor but I hire one after I read through my own book once or twice and flush it out so it makes sense and is grammatically sound. Afterwards I then submit my book to get copy written before it goes to the editor.
You may ask, “Why should my book be copy written before getting it professionally edited?” I have an editor who is trust worthy, but you want to be careful of your work of art. I have a built trust with my editor but even she told me she would rather read it a copy written book. If your book is not copy written then anyone can state that your book is there’s unfortunately if they are dishonest (it has happened in this industry)! If by chance you love to write but you know you need a lot of assistance with sentence structure and your book still won’t be grammatically sound even after you do your own set of edits, then make sure to add a clause into your editing contract that states that your book is owned by you and you only and even after the book is edited it is your property (you get the gist). Then maybe after the first round of edits from that editor send it in for copywriting.
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You definitely want to make sure your book is edited and copy written before you even put it in the hands beta readers (we will review that part the next step) you want to start the copyright process once you write the book. Get your book legally protected by going to www.copyright.gov
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This website is the Library of Congress’s website solely for getting your materials copy written. You can upload your manuscript as a PDF into this website and generally the cost to copyright your book is between $45 to about $60. The minute you submit your work it is copy written. It will take weeks to months (depending on how busy they are) for you to get the copy right number and certificate in the mail. You will put the copyright number into your book as you can see in the picture below and it goes towards the front of your book.
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Your copyright certificate will show the date of submission. This way your book is legally protected from the moment you click the submit button on the website unless there are any issues with your book. Once you receive it, please put it in a safe place (I know you know this already…but just in case you forget). Lock it away in a file cabinet for safe keeping.
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Some issues that arise that my delay the process are using another author’s work without their permission or not mentioning them, if you are co-authoring a book you have to alert copyright.gov and the website will walk you through step-by-step and ask you if you were the sole author or of there are other authors and if there are any major contributions to your book.
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As stated you also want to start the copyright process before you even let another friend or person read your book as a beta reader and in most cases before it is professionally edited unless you put a special clause in your editing contract. Better to be safe than sorry!
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Thanks for reading this blog. Stay tuned for the next step which will talk about beta readers! Everyone doesn’t need to read your book before it is published (trust me)!
Cheers!
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Writing Tip #2: Write The Book

Now it’s time to write. Usually by now writers know what they want to write about. Some writers like to do an outline (table of contents), some already want to have the chapters laid out in advance.

I like to get into it and start writing and put them into chapters as I write or I backtrack and look at the chapters later (it depends on the book). Every writer is different. The goal is to get writing. Do not over-think how you want to write your book.

Find out how you want to write it.  I have written chapters of my books in my phone, journals, memo pads, on my laptop. Sometimes when I’m in the midst of writing a book I make sure I have a journal on me or in my car at all times because sometimes it just hits you and you have to start writing.

I have a dear friend (Tresniece Perry) who came out with her book  recently and she wrote her entire book in her phone. She would write during her lunch breaks, after work, at night, whenever it would hit her she would write. She found it best to write most of her book in her phone since she had it on her most of the time and would pull it out when she felt the urge to write.

Some people need accountability partners or a group to help them along the writing process. It’s important to have accountability when writing your book. (You can refer to my blog post on titled, “Hold Yourself Accountable.” When I lived in Dallas I belonged to The Writer’s Block which is a membership group that meets every month.  There is an additional meeting each month if you have a book you want critiqued and you have a partner who will read part of your book and you read part of theirs and you give each other feed back. I went to writers retreats as well which helped me out a lot through this same group.

I remember one great author who presented at the retreat, (Michelle Stimpson) told us if we wrote one page a day, by the end of the year we would have a book and that depends on how long you really want your book. Some people write 5 pages a week, one page a day, Mon-Friday.

I have a friend who once drove a couple hours away from her house where there were no distractions; she got a hotel for a few days somewhere remote and it was just her and her laptop and by the time she left that hotel her book’s first draft was done.  In a busy world it is sometimes hard to shut off; but your dreams are waiting for you to go after them. Your book won’t write itself, so let’s get to it! Find out what’s going to work for you and write your book. Stay tuned for the next blog post on writing tip #3: Reading Your Draft and Copyrights! 

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Writing Tip #1: Hold Yourself Accountable!

Peace and love everyone. People have been asking me about my writing journey and if I could share some tips on the steps I took in writing a book. The first step I’m going to share with you is one that some people shy away from or don’t like to talk about and that is accountability. Yep I said the “A” word Accountability! Its time to do some soul-searching and find out what is going to work for you so you can hold yourself accountable from writing your book all the way to promoting it.

A couple of things that have worked for me is that I have an electronic list of things of what I want to do for my book and as I get them done I check things off. (Such a great feeling when you can check things off)!

I also like visuals. I’m a visual learner and I have that same electronic list on a huge piece of chart paper that hangs up on a wall so I can see it everyday.

(Image doesn’t belong to me).

Whether you want to carry your list in your phone, write it down in a journal, put it in your calendar or get big and use chart paper you want to make sure it’s somewhere accessible and where you will look at it. If it gets too hidden or buried chances are you’re not going to look at your writing things to do list.

Some of us need accountability from an outside source so whether that’s a friend or a writer’s group or center that you find. You want to make sure that you have a good accountability partner and set up times where you would like for them to check in on you to see how you’re doing with the writing process.

Another thing I like doing is what I call an editorial calendar. I’m old school. Have an actual planner that I carry around (it’s cute and vibrant) and I lay out how many pages a week I would like to write. If I’m writing an article I have the deadlines in this planner and my planner is only for writing. Nothing else is in this planner except for my writing endeavors which makes a huge difference. My writing does not get lost in the shuffle of everything else I’m doing in life. I’m also honest with myself and if life happens and something comes up that’s important and I have to reschedule my writing plans then I will put it in my planner but hold myself accountable to doing it when it’s time.

(Image from Anthropologie).

Stay tuned for another step coming up in the near future which is writing your book! Be blessed.