Category: Editing Your Self-Published Book

Editing Your Self-Published Book, Wendy Speaks

Copyediting 101

You’ve spent weeks, months and maybe even years working on your book. You’ve read and revised the manuscript several times. Now it is ready for publication, right? Wrong. No matter how good of a writer you are or how many times you’ve proofread and revised your book, you need to consider professional copyediting if you want your book to be taken seriously. Here are three reasons why.

1) Copyediting is More than Proofreading

Most books are expected to adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines. (There are other styles  for certain books such as medical or scientific books.) The Chicago  Manual of Style has specific guidelines on everything from numbers to hyphens to spellings. The most important style issue is consistency. For instance, if you use the word “e-mail” in chapter one, you can’t later spell it as “email” in chapter six. While proofreaders can find obvious errors such as spelling mistakes or typos, they don’t find the larger errors a copyeditor looks for.

2) It is Almost Impossible to Edit Your Own Work

Sure, you can read your work several times and find mistakes, but most authors cannot thoroughly edit their own work. This is because you are so familiar with your manuscript that you look over mistakes a new set of eyes would find. Also, you may not have the skills needed to perform a copyedit. Copyeditors are considered professionals for a reason.

3) A Flawed Book Won’t be Taken Seriously

Yes, even books published by top publishing houses and well-known authors occasionally have errors. It is impossible for every writer and every editor to always catch every error, but professional books are almost 100% error free. If your book is riddled with errors, no one will take your book seriously. You will be subject to the harsh criticism that sometimes surrounds self-published authors. Prove to your readers and your critics that you value your book and you are a professional by hiring a professional copyeditor to review your book before publication.

If you are interested in hiring a professional copyeditor, find out what services are available through your self publishing company. You can also find professional copyeditors online or ask writer friends to recommend a copyeditor they have used.

I’d love to know, do you plan on hiring a copyeditor?

ABOUT WENDY STETINA: Wendy Stetina is a sales and marketing professional with over 30 years experience in the printing and publishing industry. Wendy works as the Director of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable customer service reps and publishing consultants; and together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process in order to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction, or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Wendy Stetina can put you on the right path.
Cheri Speaks, Editing Your Self-Published Book

Should You Hire An Editor?

In traditional publishing, there is a process to ensure that manuscripts are flawless, or at least near flawless; we all know that mistakes occasionally make it in to print. After submitting your manuscript to a publisher, it is reviewed by an editor and returned to you, the author, for review. After you have reviewed the manuscript and addressed any issues, the editor reviews the manuscript again, but it doesn’t end there. The manuscript is then proofread, either by the author or a professional proofreader. If everyone does their job correctly, you should publish a flawless book.

In self-publishing, however, it is up to you to edit your work. You can use spelling and grammar tools, but these programs are not flawless. They are not capable of recognizing typos or misused words, and believe it or not, sometimes the grammar suggestions are incorrect. The biggest problem with these tools is inconsistencies. Word processing programs are not designed to recognize style inconsistencies or factual inconsistencies. Only human eyes are capable of identifying these issues.

So how do you make sure your manuscript is flawless? One possibility is hiring a professional editor. This individual will be able to edit your manuscript with a fresh set of unbiased eyes. In addition to correcting spelling, grammar, and style errors, an editor can point out areas in the manuscript that are unclear or contradictory. Best of all, an editor will make your manuscript more professional. One of the biggest misconceptions about self-publishing is that the books are poorly written and filled with errors. The easiest way to dispel that myth is to treat your manuscript as a professional book and take charge of the editing process.

To find an editor, check out websites such as craiglist.com, elance.com, guru.com, and outskirtspress.com. You can also search Google for editors near you, and ask other writers for recommendations.

Cheri Breeding

ABOUT CHERI BREEDING:
Since 2005 Cheri Breeding has been working as the Director of Production for Outskirts Press. In that time, she has been an instrumental component of every aspect of the Production Department, performing the roles of an Author Representative, Book Designer, Customer Service Representative, Title Production Supervisor, Production Manager and, Director of Production. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.
Editing Your Self-Published Book

I’ve Hired an Editor – Will My Book Be Perfect?

Today’s post was written by professional copyeditor, Joan Rogers.

When authors are deciding whether to purchase copyediting services, the question is sometimes asked: “Will my book be perfect when you’re done?”

The answer is no, it won’t be perfect. But it will be greatly improved. Authors who see my copyediting samples are often amazed that a small, randomly selected portion of text – a thousand words or fewer – will have dozens of style errors. This doesn’t mean that the author isn’t a good writer; storytelling, pacing, dialogue, and character development are skills and talents separate from knowing the exact usage of a semicolon. But it is the case that technical and style errors can be distracting to a reader. In the case of nonfiction, errors can undermine the writer’s authority, particularly if the text is educational or informational.

Is it possible to achieve a perfect book? Probably not. It’s useful for writers to know that a once-through edit will not catch all errors. This is true regardless of the editing service used; when a book is published with a traditional publisher, it usually goes to a copyeditor, and then to a proofreader. Even with this, extant errors are common in published books; I saw several in Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, one of the major releases in literary fiction last year.

I work on a large number of manuscripts that have already been edited once by professional editors prior to being submitted to me, and I still find errors. This is not because the original editor didn’t do a good job; it’s reflective of the fact that editing and proofreading are two parts of a process.

Joan Rogers ABOUT JOAN ROGERS:
Joan Rogers has provided services as an Author Representative and Editor for Outskirts Press since 2008. She studied at Oberlin College Conservatory. She also edits for several academic and scientific researchers at UC Berkeley, as well as for a nationally known journalist. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.
Cheri Speaks, Editing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing Author: There’s a Problem with Your Book

Today’s post is by publishing industry expert, Cheri Breeding.

Your book published. Your family and friends have bought it. You’re excited…until they call you to tell you there were so many grammatical errors in the book that it was difficult to finish reading. “Oh no, I should have paid for copyediting”. Now you run the risk of “looking” unprofessional in the author community.

Too often authors are faced with the decision to either save their pennies or invest in editing services. They decide to bypass the editing. Fast forward to publication and many authors wish they would have made the extra investment. Even if you have gone through your manuscript with a fine tooth comb and had friends or family look it over, you’re almost guaranteed to find mistakes at publication. As a matter of fact, when you pay for professional copyediting services, the editor normally still has a 5% margin for error. With that margin of error from fresh and professionally trained eyes, imagine the level of error from amateur and familiar eyes.

When asked what they would have done differently when self-publishing their book, most authors agree they would have invested more money into professional copyediting and customizing their book cover.

So, I’m sold on the need for copyediting service, what do I need to know about working with an editor? Here are a few tips/things to keep in mind when you hire an editor:

  • Proofread and spell-check your work before sending it to an editor.
  • Remember that Editors are human and many work with about a 5% margin of error.
  • There are different levels of editing intensity: basic, moderate, and extensive.
  • Basic copyediting typically catches about 70% of errors in a manuscript.
  • As a self-publishing author, don’t focus on what the editor didn’t find, but rather what WAS found.
  • Review your manuscript again after you receive it from the editor to check for errors they may have missed.

If you want to be a successful author, it is important that you take the publishing process very seriously. That includes investing extra money into creating a polished product.


Cheri Breeding ABOUT CHERI BREEDING:
Since 2005 Cheri Breeding has been working as the Director of Production for Outskirts Press. In that time, she has been an instrumental component of every aspect of the Production Department, performing the roles of an Author Representative, Book Designer, Customer Service Representative, Title Production Supervisor, Production Manager and, Director of Production. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.

 

DISCUSSION: Did you have a professional edit your book? If not, do you wish you did?

Book Doctor, Book Reviews, Editing Your Self-Published Book

Book Reviews and Editing

Q: Can you tell me if reviewers ever judge based on editing/style? So many authors/editors do things differently that I guess they just look for consistency. What I was not sure about was use (or overuse) of commas. Can you tell me if commas should be in these sentences?

“That’s what I thought,” Mark said with a smile. (comma before “with”) and “Yeah, such a storm we had..” Mark said sarcastically.

Is it just preference? If so, would it look bad if the author put commas for some, and not for others?

A: Most reviewers consider everything about the book, including the cover, content, editing, writing style, plot, characterization, flow, resolution, and more.

The volume of commas is not important; what is important is that the commas must be used correctly. How can you know where the commas go, when we were taught one style in school, newspapers use another style, and book publishers use yet another style? Book authors (or their editors) should follow Chicago Style, which book publishers follow, because it dictates punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, when to spell out a number and when to use a numeral, etc. Once that style is followed, commas will be in the right places and the volume of them won’t matter.

As for your specific examples, the first example is fine, but the second one has two periods and no comma before the attribution. It should be written this way:
“Yeah, such a storm we had,” Mark said sarcastically.

If the attribution were a stand-alone sentence, the example would be punctuated this way:
“Yeah, such a storm we had.” Mark spoke sarcastically.

Self-publishing Advice Guest Post: Ask the Book Doctor

Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com