On Editing
The ever-growing popularity of e-readers and related devices has opened the door to countless individuals longing to become published authors. It's never been easier to develop a work and self-publish, thereby bringing one's dream to fruition. Unfortunately, there's a problem that lurks within this wonderful realm of opportunity. The problem has to do with quality. Far too many books are being published before they should be, lacking thorough, quality editing.
I've been asked by a wonderful friend to post the following open letter to writers/authors. She is a voracious reader and has many friends who also devour books at an impressive rate. She has informed me that her thoughts are shared by a vast number of readers. I believe her and consider it to be a massive red flag. My intent is simple: to help bring about positive change in order to help authors and their works shine.
***
Her letter:
First, let me say I am not a writer. I am a reader. I am not, nor do I claim to be, an editor or an expert of any kind.
I have the greatest admiration and respect for all writers, be it Indie or otherwise. I read lots of Indie books and most are very good stories. However, far too often I get turned off by the books because of editing errors. Some are slight and some glaring. While I will continue to read the books with errors, I have friends that will not read Indie books for that very reason.
I am NOT trying to be mean; in fact it's just the opposite. I want each of you to become world class authors, but to do so you must do a better job of editing your books.
I do realize how difficult it is to see your own errors until it's too late. However, if you're going to publish a book on a worldwide site I urge you to do whatever it takes to ensure that your books are error free.
Please take this in the spirit it is intended as I truly have the greatest admiration for each and every one of you.
***
I'm very grateful for this letter, as it's a wake-up call to those of us who really care about our craft and wish to give our readers the best we have to offer. Please bear in mind that this is not the first time I've heard this message; insufficient editing is one of the greatest challenges adversely affecting our endeavors as successful authors. Further, I can speak to this topic with experience and conviction. The beginning of my journey as a writer found me as guilty of falling short of thorough editing as any other. I self-published prematurely, my work containing what I now realize was an unacceptable quantity of errors. The bottom line: you don't know 'til you know. As a result, I decided to take action.
I completely stopped promoting my own novel, In Memory of Greed, while receiving a vast amount of assistance from a number of experienced colleagues. As a result, during the time I was doing so, sales of my work all but disappeared. Yet, I have no regrets. I truly strive to offer my best work to readers and feel like I've finally done just that. A silver lining exists in the fact that I can now offer a paperback version of my novel with confidence and will do so in the next few weeks.
I've asked my colleague Steve Umstead to write a guest post on the topic of editing, which he has graciously done. Steve is an author I have a great deal of respect and admiration for. I believe you'll find the following post entertaining and informative.
I hope you'll give his Evan Gabriel sci-fi series a look. I've read his work. If you enjoy sci-fi, I know you'll find his writing to be top-shelf.
***
Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached to the phrase "self-published", and in the past it was well-founded. Self-publishing meant taking a first draft, using a vanity press, printing books for family and friends, maybe selling a handful at a trade show table. Today, self-publishing is incredibly easy…meaning that stigma is raising its ugly head again. Now it's as simple as taking that same first draft and uploading a file to Amazon. The stigma? Poor editing.
I'll preface this by saying I would never call my books error-free. I'll also preface (can one have two prefaces??) this by saying when I refer to editing, I'm referring to copy edits (spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc.), not editing for plot holes, inconsistencies, and so on. Why only copy edits? Because that's the first thing a reader will pick out. In the case of e-books, they are only potential buyers who download a sample – if the sample has spelling and punctuation errors, that's a lost sale even before they get to any possible plot holes.
I've got some mild form of OCD, I'm sure of it…spelling errors and the like simply jump off the page to me, like glowing red letters. If someone pinned me down on what I felt was my strongest asset as a writer, I'd probably say what I call the "mechanics" of writing (the copy editing I mentioned before). So I find myself pulled out of a story when I stumble across an error. Actually pulled out, like setting the book down and doing something else before (maybe) going back to it. And that's the stigma that self-published authors must avoid.
How? Never rely on only yourself to proofread. There is no possible way the author can read his or her own work and pick out errors. It's like the sign in a doctor's office that has the first and last letters of each word correct, but all the ones in the middle mixed up, yet your brain rearranges them on the fly and it becomes readable. The author's brain reads what he or she meant to write and moves on, skipping right over "it was better then he thought", or "he knew he woudln't run", or "the laser sites were misaligned", or "hit the gas peddle". (Did you catch those?)
Who? Not Mom or your aunt. They will read it and love it and praise you at the bridge club meeting that night. Not your best buddy, who will skim it and buy you a beer for being an author. Either (a) use a professional editor, and/or (b) use multiple beta readers that know what they're doing and will give you their full attention.
I'll admit, I have never used a professional editor. Honestly, I can't afford it – even a buck a page (a bargain!) would be a few hundred I didn't have when publishing my first book. And I'll admit again (don't tell anyone), the only person to edit my first book was me and my son. However, for my second, I enlisted a whole slew of incredible beta readers and received such amazing and useful feedback and corrections, I will always have future works go through a series of beta readers.
I've been in marketing most of my adult life, and the old saying of "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is 100% true. Don't skimp on editing, even with the best, most fascinating story ever written. Readers may never get past the first, poorly edited chapter.
Sincerely,
sumstead@gmail.com
Gabriel's Redemption - Book 1 of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy
Now available for Kindle, Nook, iPad, and more
Gabriel's Return - Book 2 of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy
Now available for Kindle & Nook
Visit http://www.SteveUmstead.com for details
***
I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and reading this post on editing. Please feel free to add your questions/comments. Together, let us show a world of readers the quality that indie/small press authors are capable of.
All the best,
AB
I've been asked by a wonderful friend to post the following open letter to writers/authors. She is a voracious reader and has many friends who also devour books at an impressive rate. She has informed me that her thoughts are shared by a vast number of readers. I believe her and consider it to be a massive red flag. My intent is simple: to help bring about positive change in order to help authors and their works shine.
***
Her letter:
First, let me say I am not a writer. I am a reader. I am not, nor do I claim to be, an editor or an expert of any kind.
I have the greatest admiration and respect for all writers, be it Indie or otherwise. I read lots of Indie books and most are very good stories. However, far too often I get turned off by the books because of editing errors. Some are slight and some glaring. While I will continue to read the books with errors, I have friends that will not read Indie books for that very reason.
I am NOT trying to be mean; in fact it's just the opposite. I want each of you to become world class authors, but to do so you must do a better job of editing your books.
I do realize how difficult it is to see your own errors until it's too late. However, if you're going to publish a book on a worldwide site I urge you to do whatever it takes to ensure that your books are error free.
Please take this in the spirit it is intended as I truly have the greatest admiration for each and every one of you.
***
I'm very grateful for this letter, as it's a wake-up call to those of us who really care about our craft and wish to give our readers the best we have to offer. Please bear in mind that this is not the first time I've heard this message; insufficient editing is one of the greatest challenges adversely affecting our endeavors as successful authors. Further, I can speak to this topic with experience and conviction. The beginning of my journey as a writer found me as guilty of falling short of thorough editing as any other. I self-published prematurely, my work containing what I now realize was an unacceptable quantity of errors. The bottom line: you don't know 'til you know. As a result, I decided to take action.
I completely stopped promoting my own novel, In Memory of Greed, while receiving a vast amount of assistance from a number of experienced colleagues. As a result, during the time I was doing so, sales of my work all but disappeared. Yet, I have no regrets. I truly strive to offer my best work to readers and feel like I've finally done just that. A silver lining exists in the fact that I can now offer a paperback version of my novel with confidence and will do so in the next few weeks.
I've asked my colleague Steve Umstead to write a guest post on the topic of editing, which he has graciously done. Steve is an author I have a great deal of respect and admiration for. I believe you'll find the following post entertaining and informative.
I hope you'll give his Evan Gabriel sci-fi series a look. I've read his work. If you enjoy sci-fi, I know you'll find his writing to be top-shelf.
***
Unfortunately, there is a stigma attached to the phrase "self-published", and in the past it was well-founded. Self-publishing meant taking a first draft, using a vanity press, printing books for family and friends, maybe selling a handful at a trade show table. Today, self-publishing is incredibly easy…meaning that stigma is raising its ugly head again. Now it's as simple as taking that same first draft and uploading a file to Amazon. The stigma? Poor editing.
I'll preface this by saying I would never call my books error-free. I'll also preface (can one have two prefaces??) this by saying when I refer to editing, I'm referring to copy edits (spelling, punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc.), not editing for plot holes, inconsistencies, and so on. Why only copy edits? Because that's the first thing a reader will pick out. In the case of e-books, they are only potential buyers who download a sample – if the sample has spelling and punctuation errors, that's a lost sale even before they get to any possible plot holes.
I've got some mild form of OCD, I'm sure of it…spelling errors and the like simply jump off the page to me, like glowing red letters. If someone pinned me down on what I felt was my strongest asset as a writer, I'd probably say what I call the "mechanics" of writing (the copy editing I mentioned before). So I find myself pulled out of a story when I stumble across an error. Actually pulled out, like setting the book down and doing something else before (maybe) going back to it. And that's the stigma that self-published authors must avoid.
How? Never rely on only yourself to proofread. There is no possible way the author can read his or her own work and pick out errors. It's like the sign in a doctor's office that has the first and last letters of each word correct, but all the ones in the middle mixed up, yet your brain rearranges them on the fly and it becomes readable. The author's brain reads what he or she meant to write and moves on, skipping right over "it was better then he thought", or "he knew he woudln't run", or "the laser sites were misaligned", or "hit the gas peddle". (Did you catch those?)
Who? Not Mom or your aunt. They will read it and love it and praise you at the bridge club meeting that night. Not your best buddy, who will skim it and buy you a beer for being an author. Either (a) use a professional editor, and/or (b) use multiple beta readers that know what they're doing and will give you their full attention.
I'll admit, I have never used a professional editor. Honestly, I can't afford it – even a buck a page (a bargain!) would be a few hundred I didn't have when publishing my first book. And I'll admit again (don't tell anyone), the only person to edit my first book was me and my son. However, for my second, I enlisted a whole slew of incredible beta readers and received such amazing and useful feedback and corrections, I will always have future works go through a series of beta readers.
I've been in marketing most of my adult life, and the old saying of "you never get a second chance to make a first impression" is 100% true. Don't skimp on editing, even with the best, most fascinating story ever written. Readers may never get past the first, poorly edited chapter.
Sincerely,
Steve Umstead
sumstead@gmail.com
Gabriel's Redemption - Book 1 of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy
Now available for Kindle, Nook, iPad, and more
Gabriel's Return - Book 2 of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy
Now available for Kindle & Nook
Visit http://www.SteveUmstead.com for details
***
I want to thank you all for visiting my blog and reading this post on editing. Please feel free to add your questions/comments. Together, let us show a world of readers the quality that indie/small press authors are capable of.
All the best,
AB
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by
Quirina
(new)
Nov 27, 2011 09:51AM
Very interesting article, Al and very relevant. I think it is a good idea that a book has been trough the mill before it lands on the reader's lap. My to-read list is so long at the moment, I only add another book to this list if it has a great number of good critical reviews (by people who know what they are talking about).
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Hi, Quirina,Thank you for your kind words regarding the blog post. I think your criteria for adding books to your to-read list is a good one. I hope all is well with you.
All the best,
Al
