I’m going through an interesting writing process this week. I’m finishing up my latest book—a revision of Catscapades, True Cat Tales—and will be coming out with it as a perfectbound book. I have two people plus the printer working on the inside photos—the cover photos are set. And I continue to work on the text.
I’m gathering testimonials from customers who read the ebook version of this book—it’s so fun to get that positive feedback. Don’t you just love to hear words and terms such as “delightful” “fun,” “captivating” and “a pleasure to read,” related to your writing?
I’m also working on the back cover copy. We all know how important that is. Don’t you typically spend about 3 seconds looking at the front cover of a book you’re at least slightly interested in and 8 or 10 seconds looking at the back? Don’t you always turn the book over? The cover of this book has a gorgeous shot of a beautiful, engaging cat on the front—it is a slam dunk cover for any cat person. They are going to, at least, want to pick it up and look closer. The back cover is where you sell the book. This is where the potential reader learns “What’s in it for me?”
AND I am doing the final proof on paper. I printed it out and I’m reading it word by word again. This time, while editing and proofing, I’m also making note of words that I may be overusing, unusual words or phrases that might be repeated and so forth. I’ll use the search function to find out just how many times I’ve inserted “of course.” This is one of my bugaboo words. As I go through the manuscript on paper, it seems that I’ve used “beloved” maybe too often, as well as “uncanny,” and “for example.”
I also caught this—one story given to me by another cat owner used the phrase “catnip and tulips.” I’m pretty sure that I used the term “roses and tulips” somewhere in the book. I want to change my phrase to something more creative.
When you are down to the nitty gritty of your book project, what processes do you use in order to fine tune it? It used to be recommended that writers read their stories backwards. This would help them discover misspelled words. But with spellcheck, that probably is a waste of motion.
The best thing you can do for your project and the best money you can spend, after you have finished your self-editing and proofing, is to hire an editor and then have it proofed. I have never met anyone who believes they got their money’s worth by paying their “pay-to-publish” company to edit their books. Don’t rely on these editors—please. Hire your own independent editor and be prepared with an excellent project before going in.
As you know, I edit books for authors. And you’ll find other editors in the SPAWN membership. http://www.spawn.org.
Speaking of SPAWN, how many of you would like to hear Mark Levine speak? Would you like to ask him questions? Members of SPAWN will have that opportunity tomorrow Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 1 p.m. Pacific time through a FREE (to members) one-hour teleseminar. Mark Levine is the author of The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, The Contracts and Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies—Analyzed, Ranked and Exposed.
If you are reading this prior to say 10 a.m. on Thursday January 21, there’s still time for you to join SPAWN online (at the website address above) and get in on the teleseminar.