Deadline Euphoria!

Erica Vetsch here:

I'm throwing confetti. Lots of confetti! (Because I don't have to vacuum up cyber-confetti.)

Just before Thanksgiving, I finished the manuscript for The Accidental Earl, a Regency romance that releases a year from now. That seems like a long way in the future, but it will be here before I know it.

Technically, the manuscript isn't due until 12/1/18, so I have almost a week before I need to hit 'send.'

During that week, I will be done throwing confetti about the place and will settle in to the final read-through of the manuscript.

Some authors write a fast-draft, knocking out a ton of words in just a few weeks, and then spending the rest of the time until the book is due editing and polishing and filling out the story.

Others, like me, tend to write fairly clean copy at a steady pace. It's clean because I edit what I wrote the day before and then continue with new words. Also, and this is just my method, at somewhere between the one-half and two-thirds mark, I go back to the beginning and edit everything, making the changes I need to now that I know the characters and the story better.

So what sorts of things will I be looking for during this final read-through?


I have a small checklist:
1. Inconsistencies. Does the hero's middle name change halfway through the story? Does the heroine have the same color eyes from the first chapter to the last? 
2. Fact Check. Anything I'm not sure of, I double-check. Regency readers are particularly sharp on the period details, and they LOVE sinking into a story that hits the right historical notes.
3. Finish filling out my style sheet. I keep a style sheet as I write, listing characters with descriptions, a timeline, important historical dates, etc. Sometimes I write so quickly that I don't get everything listed in the style sheet, so as I read, this is my chance to complete what's missing. I turn in the style sheet with the manuscript to aid the editor in  fact-checking and searching for inconsistencies.

With the manuscript sitting at just under 100,000 words, I will need to edit at least 20,000 per day to finish by Friday. But the more I can read in one sitting, the better it is for staying in the flow of the story and being able to pick out things that are off. I usually do my final read-through in 2-3 days.
And when it's done, and I get to send it in to my fabulous new editor at Kregel, I will throw a bit more confetti!

What is your procedure when you type THE END on a manuscript? 


Best-selling, award-winning author Erica Vetsch loves Jesus, history, romance, and sports. She’s a transplanted Kansan now living in Minnesota, and she is married to her total opposite and soul mate! When she’s not writing fiction, she’s planning her next trip to a history museum and cheering on her Kansas Jayhawks and New Zealand All Blacks. You can connect with her at her website, www.ericavetsch.com where you can read about her books and sign up for her newsletter, and you can find her online at https://www.facebook.com/EricaVetschAuthor/ where she spends way too much time!