Are you confident that you are a good writer? Is your book manuscript in fabulous shape? Do your sentences accurately portray your story, do they share your feelings/thoughts and/or do they effectively pass along information or facts? Are the words you use correct and appropriate? Are your transitions effective? Are aspects of the story or the facts in your manuscript consistent?
I know that, as an author, you work very hard—in fact, excruciatingly so—to perfect your manuscript. And then you invite some of your most articulate friends to view it. Good for you! This is what I would advise.
But don’t stop there. This is just your preliminary responsibility to your project and, by the way your readers. Now it is time to hire an experienced book editor.
I cannot tell you how many problematic manuscripts I see even after the authors have taken these important steps I’ve outlined—even after they have followed my self-editing tips.
Just this week, I convinced a gentleman to let me take a look at his manuscript before he put the money out to have it published. He was reluctant because he felt it was ready and had already scheduled a May 1st publication date.
Mama Mia, you should have seen the problems I found: muddy, run-on sentences galore; incomplete sentences; unnecessarily repeated information and misused words and apostrophes—oh that crazy little apostrophe! The manuscript lacked transitions in many places, creating definite distractions and confusion for the reader. Oh my gosh, and the inconsistencies were abundant and truly troublesome. In one instance the man in the story was huge and in another, slight built. HUH? His name was Josh most of the time, but occasionally, he was referred to as Slim. This would be okay if there had been an explanation as to the name variances. There was a dog in the story and suddenly the dog disappeared without a trace. Did the author think his readers would not notice?
What editorial problems lurk in your prize manuscript?
Present your best effort while learning volumes about writing and editing. How? Hire a reliable, experienced book editor to fine-tune your amazing book manuscript. Some of them (including myself) teach as they edit so that you know where your weakness appear and exactly how to correct them. With time, your manuscripts will require fewer and fewer edits.
I’m providing FREE manuscript evaluations. Contact me for details: PLFry620@yahoo.com.
Read some of the testimonials from my happy clients here:
http://www.matilijapress.com/testimonials.html
I’m also considering developing an online editing course. What do you think? Would you be interested in taking it?