Sarah Alderson's Blog: Writing and all the bits in between - Posts Tagged "editing"
For all you procrastinating aspiring authors out there...
Procrastinating is an art form. I write super fast (completing a book every three months) but that's not to say I don't know how to procrastinate like a pro too. I've just learned to manage my procrastination with a few techniques...(though there's nothing like having no other income to get you over the hurdle of procrastination...if I don't write I starve...or I live off my husband - neither very appealing options).
The things I am often doing when I tell my husband I am extremely very busy writing and cannot be disturbed are: reading Lainey Gossip so I am in the loop about the latest happenings concerning Ashton & Demi, Tom & Kstie, Justin & errr whoever, sending emails to fans who want to know if Lila & Alex will be having sex in the sequel, checking Facebook, refreshing my Goodreads author page 60 times a minute, watching Sons of Anarchy (and freeze-framing Jax) / Breaking Bad / True Blood, Tweeting, ordering take-out, checking the fridge for hidden chocolate supplies, eating take-out and downloading music on Spotify.
Yours may be fairly similar. But without further ado, here are my tips to help you stop procrastinating. This list is not definitive and it may not even help. There are more ideas covered off in my previous blog post about how to write a book in 30 days.
1. Speech
Start with dialogue if you don’t know where or how to start. Even if you then cut it out it’s a useful way of getting to know what’s happening in your characters’ heads in that scene. I often find that writing a conversation down (forget the punctuation and speech marks for the moment) gets the ball rolling. Then I go back and fill in the ‘stage directions’.
2. Maria Von Trapp was Wrong
You don’t need to start at the very beginning. If it’s that first sentence that’s freaking you out. If the cursor is blinking at you causing you a mental meltdown, skip forward, release the pressure of the first line and first paragraph. Start on the second chapter or write just one scene. I wrote the kiss between Alex and Lila before I wrote the first chapter of Hunting Lila because that scene I could really visualize. Oh yeah.
3. Oprah
Imagine the finished book in your hand, glossy covered, embossed with a Richard & Judy Summer Reads sticker, in the hand of Oprah, on the 3 for 2 table next to Twilight.
Ain’t none of that gonna happen unless you write the damn thing.
4. I can't believe I'm about to say this...but...
Exercise is not procrastination.
Swim or go somewhere where you have to be alone and where there is no wifi and where through repetitious action your mind is cleared and you can drift into daydreams and do your plotting. But keep a notebook by the pool. Or a Dictaphone in your pocket if you’re running. I find that after a swim my head is teeming with ideas and I usually rush back to my computer and write for hours straight.
5. Seek help for your addiction
Turn off the internet – I still find myself flicking to Facebook whenever I reach a roadblock in a manuscript. It’s an automatic reaction and I can’t stop myself, like an alcoholic reaching for the whisky bottle. Facebook is my crack. I’m telling you to turn off the internet though I’ve not yet mastered this myself and have already checked it about a dozen times since I started writing this post. When I figure out how to really overcome this addiction I will let you know.
6. Music
Like surgeons listening to Vivaldi as they carry out triple heart bypasses...pressing the play button can set the scene and help you write better. I create playlists on Spotify (another procrastination?) and listen to them over and over when I’m writing the book. A specific song can put me right into the heart of a scene quicker than my imagination can take me there. If you feel like procrastinating for number 7 then you can check out my playlists on my website.
7. Ration
Allow yourself 5 minutes of procrastination only. Set the clock. And episodes of True Blood are 45 minutes to don’t think you can squeeze just the one in before you start writing.
8. Cheerleaders
I send every chapter I write to my two best mates. They’re my reading buddies. I write for them and because they’re always hungry for the next chapter it makes me write faster! If you’re too embarrassed to send your writing to friends or writing buddies then get over it quickly. Sharing your writing can only help you in the long term. Charles Dickens used to write his stories serial style…chapter by chapter...so I figure if it worked for him…
9. Editing
Pdf it and add it to your ipod or Kindle or iPad then read it as if it’s already a book. That way you can read and make notes as you’re on the bus, in the bath, in a boring work meeting…I used to take my ms on the train with me to work and would deliberately not bring a book so it was either edit it or sit there staring at the person opposite for half an hour. And as the person sitting opposite was never Alex Skarsgard I got a lot of editing done. Also I used to take pages of it into meetings with me and edit when I was supposed to be listening to my boss talk about very boring things. It's a good job I sold my books and moved to Bali as I think I'd have been fired by now otherwise.
10. If you're going to do it then do it properly
If you’re going to procrastinate at least do it for a good reason. Don’t do it to watch re-runs of Gossip Girl or to clean out the fridge. Procrastination which feeds your imagination (and not in a ‘Dan, Nate or Chuck?’ kind of way), inspires new thoughts, opens your eyes to new world or possibilities or energizes you (apparently exercise does that) is not procrastination – it’s utterly and completely necessary for a writer to procrastinate in these circumstances though never for too long.
11. Stop reading this and go write that book.
The things I am often doing when I tell my husband I am extremely very busy writing and cannot be disturbed are: reading Lainey Gossip so I am in the loop about the latest happenings concerning Ashton & Demi, Tom & Kstie, Justin & errr whoever, sending emails to fans who want to know if Lila & Alex will be having sex in the sequel, checking Facebook, refreshing my Goodreads author page 60 times a minute, watching Sons of Anarchy (and freeze-framing Jax) / Breaking Bad / True Blood, Tweeting, ordering take-out, checking the fridge for hidden chocolate supplies, eating take-out and downloading music on Spotify.
Yours may be fairly similar. But without further ado, here are my tips to help you stop procrastinating. This list is not definitive and it may not even help. There are more ideas covered off in my previous blog post about how to write a book in 30 days.
1. Speech
Start with dialogue if you don’t know where or how to start. Even if you then cut it out it’s a useful way of getting to know what’s happening in your characters’ heads in that scene. I often find that writing a conversation down (forget the punctuation and speech marks for the moment) gets the ball rolling. Then I go back and fill in the ‘stage directions’.
2. Maria Von Trapp was Wrong
You don’t need to start at the very beginning. If it’s that first sentence that’s freaking you out. If the cursor is blinking at you causing you a mental meltdown, skip forward, release the pressure of the first line and first paragraph. Start on the second chapter or write just one scene. I wrote the kiss between Alex and Lila before I wrote the first chapter of Hunting Lila because that scene I could really visualize. Oh yeah.
3. Oprah
Imagine the finished book in your hand, glossy covered, embossed with a Richard & Judy Summer Reads sticker, in the hand of Oprah, on the 3 for 2 table next to Twilight.
Ain’t none of that gonna happen unless you write the damn thing.
4. I can't believe I'm about to say this...but...
Exercise is not procrastination.
Swim or go somewhere where you have to be alone and where there is no wifi and where through repetitious action your mind is cleared and you can drift into daydreams and do your plotting. But keep a notebook by the pool. Or a Dictaphone in your pocket if you’re running. I find that after a swim my head is teeming with ideas and I usually rush back to my computer and write for hours straight.
5. Seek help for your addiction
Turn off the internet – I still find myself flicking to Facebook whenever I reach a roadblock in a manuscript. It’s an automatic reaction and I can’t stop myself, like an alcoholic reaching for the whisky bottle. Facebook is my crack. I’m telling you to turn off the internet though I’ve not yet mastered this myself and have already checked it about a dozen times since I started writing this post. When I figure out how to really overcome this addiction I will let you know.
6. Music
Like surgeons listening to Vivaldi as they carry out triple heart bypasses...pressing the play button can set the scene and help you write better. I create playlists on Spotify (another procrastination?) and listen to them over and over when I’m writing the book. A specific song can put me right into the heart of a scene quicker than my imagination can take me there. If you feel like procrastinating for number 7 then you can check out my playlists on my website.
7. Ration
Allow yourself 5 minutes of procrastination only. Set the clock. And episodes of True Blood are 45 minutes to don’t think you can squeeze just the one in before you start writing.
8. Cheerleaders
I send every chapter I write to my two best mates. They’re my reading buddies. I write for them and because they’re always hungry for the next chapter it makes me write faster! If you’re too embarrassed to send your writing to friends or writing buddies then get over it quickly. Sharing your writing can only help you in the long term. Charles Dickens used to write his stories serial style…chapter by chapter...so I figure if it worked for him…
9. Editing
Pdf it and add it to your ipod or Kindle or iPad then read it as if it’s already a book. That way you can read and make notes as you’re on the bus, in the bath, in a boring work meeting…I used to take my ms on the train with me to work and would deliberately not bring a book so it was either edit it or sit there staring at the person opposite for half an hour. And as the person sitting opposite was never Alex Skarsgard I got a lot of editing done. Also I used to take pages of it into meetings with me and edit when I was supposed to be listening to my boss talk about very boring things. It's a good job I sold my books and moved to Bali as I think I'd have been fired by now otherwise.
10. If you're going to do it then do it properly
If you’re going to procrastinate at least do it for a good reason. Don’t do it to watch re-runs of Gossip Girl or to clean out the fridge. Procrastination which feeds your imagination (and not in a ‘Dan, Nate or Chuck?’ kind of way), inspires new thoughts, opens your eyes to new world or possibilities or energizes you (apparently exercise does that) is not procrastination – it’s utterly and completely necessary for a writer to procrastinate in these circumstances though never for too long.
11. Stop reading this and go write that book.
Editing Sucks Balls
I suck at editing. Thankfully I am lucky enough to have an editor AND a copy editor AND a proof reader. And I'm still having to blink in awe at that sentence.
I’m not a perfectionist so I really need all the help that I can get. I just finished a short story from Alex’s point of view, which is going in the back of Losing Lila and it took my agent to point out that I’d called one character by the wrong name for half the story.
My copy editor in particular picks up not so much the spelling and grammar errors but the continuity errors and repetitions. The places where I’ve said one thing on p.23 and then totally contradicted that on p.230. She also points out where references I’ve made to obscure 80s movies might go over the heads of teenagers today. Sigh.
I heard that Charlaine Harris’s publishers employ a full time fact checker and continuity person for her because with so many Sookie Stackhouse books it’s so hard to keep a grip on who’s who and what’s gone before. One day I can dream of such a thing.
So here are some of the things I do to help me edit.
Read it out loud
I find this the most useful way of editing. When you read out loud you pick up the cadence and rhythm of sentences, you notice where you’ve used the same word in the same paragraph twice. You realize where you’re missing words or where another word might be needed to give better flow and you realize where dialogue sounds stilted and wrong. If you read it in your head it’s not the same.
Kindle-it
Add the document to your Kindle or ereader. I find that reading my manuscripts off a Kindle makes it feel more like a book already and so I read it in a different way, more critically, and can add quick notes and bookmarks as I go.
Revise Revise Revise
Editing is a process. Losing Lila has been through about six revisions. And will probably go through two more (with my editor) before it’s even read by the copy editor where the final revisions will happen. I wrote it almost two years ago so I’ve had time to do this many revisions. I leave a few months in between and then return to it with fresh eyes. It’s true that the more revisions you do the better it gets. I’m now really happy with it. It’s tighter, funnier and better constructed and I’ve had the chance to take on board feedback from Hunting Lila and edit accordingly.
Continuity
If you plot as you go or have a convoluted plot that jumps from location to location and through time it can be easy to mess up the continuity. There’s a mistake in Hunting Lila which a reader spotted (it involves Lila’s birthday) and that was down to a continuity error on my part when I was editing (I wanted her to be a Sagittarius!) Solutions to managing continuity include having someone else read your book when you’re done to check for things like this (sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees), keeping notes on a separate spreadsheet or doc, creating a timeline of dates or a story arc as well as character notes on things like birthdates, physical description, background, first appearance in book etc
If you are writing a series of books this becomes even more crucial. I still wonder how on earth JK Rowling plotted seven books so intricately.
Language
Whilst I’ve spent a lot of time in the States and now live in Indonesia surrounded by North American and Australian ex-pats, I’m English and have a sort of south London slash transatlantic accent. Most of my main characters are American and my books are for the most part set in America.
I send all my manuscripts to three American friends to read and check through for authenticity and idioms. In British editions some of the language stays British (mum for mom, vest for tank top, boot for trunk, pissed off instead of pissed) but at least I hope the characters sound how they are meant to sound for the most part.
Adjectives and adverbs
They just fill up space. Of course we need some descriptions and you can’t and shouldn’t strip out every adjective but try to SHOW- DON’T TELL as much as you can.
Instead of saying ‘He was arrogant’ – how can you show this instead of telling the reader it? Does he stand in a certain way? Speak in a certain way? Does he cock an eyebrow? Or curl his lip?
How can you show someone is nervous instead of telling us she is? Does her gaze falter, does she clasp and unclasp her hands, hop from foot to foot. If you read a lot you’ll see how other authors show and don’t tell.
Wordcount
Look into book length. As a debut author especially – an agent or publisher is unlikely to look kindly at a manuscript that is overlong.
An average YA novel is about 65,000-85,000. Hunting Lila and Fated both fall in at around 82,000 words (305pages roughly).
Adult novels at 100,000.
Whilst a 200,000 word tome is not necessarily going to be chucked on the reject pile (think Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations…) unless it’s truly a modern day classic stick with the genre averages. I’d say you have a better chance of your manuscript being read in its entirety.
If you stick to word count now you'll save hours and hours of editing time later!
Be Brutal
I cut 27,000 words from my first draft of Hunting Lila. At first I agonized over every sentence. And then I just got brutal. I chopped whole pages, even whole chapters. The rule of thumb – does it drive the story forward? Does it reveal something about the character? If not, take it out. Even characters – are they all absolutely necessary? If not take them out.
Then finally - at some point just say 'enough' - it might not be perfect but it never will be perfect. You just have to accept that.
My first draft of Lila got accepted by an agent and publisher and it was still pretty rough compared to the final cut. You could edit for forever but there isn't time for forever if you want to get your book out into the world.
I’m not a perfectionist so I really need all the help that I can get. I just finished a short story from Alex’s point of view, which is going in the back of Losing Lila and it took my agent to point out that I’d called one character by the wrong name for half the story.
My copy editor in particular picks up not so much the spelling and grammar errors but the continuity errors and repetitions. The places where I’ve said one thing on p.23 and then totally contradicted that on p.230. She also points out where references I’ve made to obscure 80s movies might go over the heads of teenagers today. Sigh.
I heard that Charlaine Harris’s publishers employ a full time fact checker and continuity person for her because with so many Sookie Stackhouse books it’s so hard to keep a grip on who’s who and what’s gone before. One day I can dream of such a thing.
So here are some of the things I do to help me edit.
Read it out loud
I find this the most useful way of editing. When you read out loud you pick up the cadence and rhythm of sentences, you notice where you’ve used the same word in the same paragraph twice. You realize where you’re missing words or where another word might be needed to give better flow and you realize where dialogue sounds stilted and wrong. If you read it in your head it’s not the same.
Kindle-it
Add the document to your Kindle or ereader. I find that reading my manuscripts off a Kindle makes it feel more like a book already and so I read it in a different way, more critically, and can add quick notes and bookmarks as I go.
Revise Revise Revise
Editing is a process. Losing Lila has been through about six revisions. And will probably go through two more (with my editor) before it’s even read by the copy editor where the final revisions will happen. I wrote it almost two years ago so I’ve had time to do this many revisions. I leave a few months in between and then return to it with fresh eyes. It’s true that the more revisions you do the better it gets. I’m now really happy with it. It’s tighter, funnier and better constructed and I’ve had the chance to take on board feedback from Hunting Lila and edit accordingly.
Continuity
If you plot as you go or have a convoluted plot that jumps from location to location and through time it can be easy to mess up the continuity. There’s a mistake in Hunting Lila which a reader spotted (it involves Lila’s birthday) and that was down to a continuity error on my part when I was editing (I wanted her to be a Sagittarius!) Solutions to managing continuity include having someone else read your book when you’re done to check for things like this (sometimes you can’t see the wood for the trees), keeping notes on a separate spreadsheet or doc, creating a timeline of dates or a story arc as well as character notes on things like birthdates, physical description, background, first appearance in book etc
If you are writing a series of books this becomes even more crucial. I still wonder how on earth JK Rowling plotted seven books so intricately.
Language
Whilst I’ve spent a lot of time in the States and now live in Indonesia surrounded by North American and Australian ex-pats, I’m English and have a sort of south London slash transatlantic accent. Most of my main characters are American and my books are for the most part set in America.
I send all my manuscripts to three American friends to read and check through for authenticity and idioms. In British editions some of the language stays British (mum for mom, vest for tank top, boot for trunk, pissed off instead of pissed) but at least I hope the characters sound how they are meant to sound for the most part.
Adjectives and adverbs
They just fill up space. Of course we need some descriptions and you can’t and shouldn’t strip out every adjective but try to SHOW- DON’T TELL as much as you can.
Instead of saying ‘He was arrogant’ – how can you show this instead of telling the reader it? Does he stand in a certain way? Speak in a certain way? Does he cock an eyebrow? Or curl his lip?
How can you show someone is nervous instead of telling us she is? Does her gaze falter, does she clasp and unclasp her hands, hop from foot to foot. If you read a lot you’ll see how other authors show and don’t tell.
Wordcount
Look into book length. As a debut author especially – an agent or publisher is unlikely to look kindly at a manuscript that is overlong.
An average YA novel is about 65,000-85,000. Hunting Lila and Fated both fall in at around 82,000 words (305pages roughly).
Adult novels at 100,000.
Whilst a 200,000 word tome is not necessarily going to be chucked on the reject pile (think Gone with the Wind, Great Expectations…) unless it’s truly a modern day classic stick with the genre averages. I’d say you have a better chance of your manuscript being read in its entirety.
If you stick to word count now you'll save hours and hours of editing time later!
Be Brutal
I cut 27,000 words from my first draft of Hunting Lila. At first I agonized over every sentence. And then I just got brutal. I chopped whole pages, even whole chapters. The rule of thumb – does it drive the story forward? Does it reveal something about the character? If not, take it out. Even characters – are they all absolutely necessary? If not take them out.
Then finally - at some point just say 'enough' - it might not be perfect but it never will be perfect. You just have to accept that.
My first draft of Lila got accepted by an agent and publisher and it was still pretty rough compared to the final cut. You could edit for forever but there isn't time for forever if you want to get your book out into the world.
Self publishing vs traditional publishing
The future of publishing and books is a hot topic these days. Will e-books eventually take over and send paperbacks into the annals of history along with papyrus scrolls and horse drawn carriages? Will our kids look at them as strange antiques before trying to swipe onto the next page and highlight text with their fingers?
And what of self-publishing? It’s already opening the doors and democratizing publishing. Anyone can publish these days, and while we hear stories of self-published authors taking the industry by storm and commanding six or seven figure deals, these are very VERY rare. I think the average self-published book sells fewer than 100 copies, and most of these to friends or family.
I’m hugely fortunate to be with one of the biggest publishers in the world – Simon & Schuster. I’ve published three books with them over the last 15 months, and have another two slated for release.
But I’m now going the self-publishing route too for the sequels to my second novel, Fated. I feel privileged to be able to experience both routes, and it’s putting me in a fairly unique position, allowing me to reflect on the publishing process for both traditional publishing and self-publishing.
The key things about traditional publishing:
Firstly, I believe publishers do a great job of curating the market place. Generally speaking, most novels that come through a publishing house will be polished and of a guaranteed standard which, as an avid reader, I’m exceedingly grateful for.
For authors a publisher brings kudos, distribution channels and the power of their marketing, editing and sales departments. If a publisher really gets behind you, like S&S have done with me, your career can be kickstarted. But if you do fail to sell then equally your ‘career’ as a traditionally published author might be over just as it begins. Unless of course you can take the self-publishing world by storm.
I love having the support of a publishing team where I am surrounded and nurtured by skilled professionals. I have someone to edit, someone to copy-edit, someone to proof, someone to manage my overseas sales, someone to manage my PR and blog tours, someone to design my cover, someone else to make sure Waterstones etc are stocking my books. I mean, all I have to worry about is actually writing. I’m very well taken care of.
For me it feels a bit like getting married and having a team of top-notch stylists, wedding planners and photographers pulling out all the stops to make you look beautiful and ensure you have a perfect day.
The benefits of self-publishing:
Going the self-publishing route is more like doing your own make-up, writing your own vows and getting a friend to take your photos.
When I got married though, I actually opted for this second route and I relished the freedom of that decision. And from what I’ve seen so far, self-publishing has a lot to offer, if not the perks of a traditional publisher, then freedom, higher royalties (though no advance) and my own editorial decision making power (finally I have a sex scene in Severed!).
Self-publishing has been an interesting journey so far and I’m not even yet fully embarked on it. I’m also not self-publishing in the same manner as most writers. I’m publishing via Amazon’s white glove programme, which certainly makes things a lot easier.
Amazon are now working directly with agents to broker deals with authors. With white glove I get dedicated support, personalized cover design, support around conversion (and checking for errors) and hopefully (though not promised) access to specific marketing programmes. It’s like the VIP channel for Ryanair. It’s not like flying First class but it makes the journey more pleasant. Or it has so far.
My agent takes a cut of the royalties, but I’m happy with that for a number of reasons. 1) I love my agent and she’s worth it. 2) My agent helped me edit the book so again she deserves it 3) I think that the marketing support will hopefully ensure I make back the agent cut on extra sales anyway.
Also, Amazon offer a much MUCH better royalty than a publisher ever could (this is why they have the monopoly.)
So what would my advice be to aspiring authors or those already published?
I honestly believe that if you can get a good book deal from a traditional publisher then TAKE IT! Are you kidding me?
Top tips for self-publishing:
1. Editing
The key thing that self-publishing can’t do, that publishers can and do so well, is editing. I used to think I was pretty good at line by line edits (structural I can manage by myself). I’m pretty good at grammar and a stickler for spelling. But deciding to pay an editor for a line by line and continuity check was the smartest move I’ve ever made. It revealed several hundred errors in a manuscript I’d checked and re-checked at least a dozen times. Something to be said for not seeing the wood for the trees.
I cannot overstate the importance of editing your work before you decide to self-publish. Having said that, the cost of an edit will probably not make it worthwhile for most people who are self-publishing. I’m fairly sure, given my sales figures for my previous books, that it’s a wise move for me and that I will make the money back but if I didn’t have an existing readership I probably wouldn’t take the risk.
2. PR / Marketing for self-published authors
Most big publishers will no longer plan much if any PR to debut or even existing authors. They just don’t have the resources to do this for every author. So even with Simon & Schuster I am responsible for marketing myself most of the time; for connecting with bloggers, Facebooking and tweeting etc.
For self-publishing it’s even more important to put in the time to promote yourself because there’s no big house doing it for you.
Whether my books are published the traditional route or self-published I do the same amount of ‘selling’ and I’m equally as creative about it. I guest blog, I tweet, I use amazon’s author programme and goodreads. I do competitions and I connect at every opportunity with readers, via email, newsletters, Twitter and Facebook.
We’re still at the conversion phase and Severed won’t be released for a couple more weeks (November 12th) so I shall do a couple more posts in the coming weeks about the self-publishing process and what I’ve learned.
And what of self-publishing? It’s already opening the doors and democratizing publishing. Anyone can publish these days, and while we hear stories of self-published authors taking the industry by storm and commanding six or seven figure deals, these are very VERY rare. I think the average self-published book sells fewer than 100 copies, and most of these to friends or family.
I’m hugely fortunate to be with one of the biggest publishers in the world – Simon & Schuster. I’ve published three books with them over the last 15 months, and have another two slated for release.
But I’m now going the self-publishing route too for the sequels to my second novel, Fated. I feel privileged to be able to experience both routes, and it’s putting me in a fairly unique position, allowing me to reflect on the publishing process for both traditional publishing and self-publishing.
The key things about traditional publishing:
Firstly, I believe publishers do a great job of curating the market place. Generally speaking, most novels that come through a publishing house will be polished and of a guaranteed standard which, as an avid reader, I’m exceedingly grateful for.
For authors a publisher brings kudos, distribution channels and the power of their marketing, editing and sales departments. If a publisher really gets behind you, like S&S have done with me, your career can be kickstarted. But if you do fail to sell then equally your ‘career’ as a traditionally published author might be over just as it begins. Unless of course you can take the self-publishing world by storm.
I love having the support of a publishing team where I am surrounded and nurtured by skilled professionals. I have someone to edit, someone to copy-edit, someone to proof, someone to manage my overseas sales, someone to manage my PR and blog tours, someone to design my cover, someone else to make sure Waterstones etc are stocking my books. I mean, all I have to worry about is actually writing. I’m very well taken care of.
For me it feels a bit like getting married and having a team of top-notch stylists, wedding planners and photographers pulling out all the stops to make you look beautiful and ensure you have a perfect day.
The benefits of self-publishing:
Going the self-publishing route is more like doing your own make-up, writing your own vows and getting a friend to take your photos.
When I got married though, I actually opted for this second route and I relished the freedom of that decision. And from what I’ve seen so far, self-publishing has a lot to offer, if not the perks of a traditional publisher, then freedom, higher royalties (though no advance) and my own editorial decision making power (finally I have a sex scene in Severed!).
Self-publishing has been an interesting journey so far and I’m not even yet fully embarked on it. I’m also not self-publishing in the same manner as most writers. I’m publishing via Amazon’s white glove programme, which certainly makes things a lot easier.
Amazon are now working directly with agents to broker deals with authors. With white glove I get dedicated support, personalized cover design, support around conversion (and checking for errors) and hopefully (though not promised) access to specific marketing programmes. It’s like the VIP channel for Ryanair. It’s not like flying First class but it makes the journey more pleasant. Or it has so far.
My agent takes a cut of the royalties, but I’m happy with that for a number of reasons. 1) I love my agent and she’s worth it. 2) My agent helped me edit the book so again she deserves it 3) I think that the marketing support will hopefully ensure I make back the agent cut on extra sales anyway.
Also, Amazon offer a much MUCH better royalty than a publisher ever could (this is why they have the monopoly.)
So what would my advice be to aspiring authors or those already published?
I honestly believe that if you can get a good book deal from a traditional publisher then TAKE IT! Are you kidding me?
Top tips for self-publishing:
1. Editing
The key thing that self-publishing can’t do, that publishers can and do so well, is editing. I used to think I was pretty good at line by line edits (structural I can manage by myself). I’m pretty good at grammar and a stickler for spelling. But deciding to pay an editor for a line by line and continuity check was the smartest move I’ve ever made. It revealed several hundred errors in a manuscript I’d checked and re-checked at least a dozen times. Something to be said for not seeing the wood for the trees.
I cannot overstate the importance of editing your work before you decide to self-publish. Having said that, the cost of an edit will probably not make it worthwhile for most people who are self-publishing. I’m fairly sure, given my sales figures for my previous books, that it’s a wise move for me and that I will make the money back but if I didn’t have an existing readership I probably wouldn’t take the risk.
2. PR / Marketing for self-published authors
Most big publishers will no longer plan much if any PR to debut or even existing authors. They just don’t have the resources to do this for every author. So even with Simon & Schuster I am responsible for marketing myself most of the time; for connecting with bloggers, Facebooking and tweeting etc.
For self-publishing it’s even more important to put in the time to promote yourself because there’s no big house doing it for you.
Whether my books are published the traditional route or self-published I do the same amount of ‘selling’ and I’m equally as creative about it. I guest blog, I tweet, I use amazon’s author programme and goodreads. I do competitions and I connect at every opportunity with readers, via email, newsletters, Twitter and Facebook.
We’re still at the conversion phase and Severed won’t be released for a couple more weeks (November 12th) so I shall do a couple more posts in the coming weeks about the self-publishing process and what I’ve learned.
Writing and all the bits in between
I have a blog at www.canwelivehere.com which documents my life living in Bali, writing, drinking coconuts, dancing ecstatically and meeting crazy people.
I have a website at www.sarahalderson.com where ...more
I have a website at www.sarahalderson.com where ...more
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