I Wrote Another Book – Now What?
Okay, so you’ve written and a book. You’re sitting there with a manuscript in your hands and you’re finally thinking, this is done now! That’s like, the most demanding, most draining hard work you’ve ever done, probably, and now you’re finished! Congratulations. Pat yourself on the back and tell yourself well done, because honestly, you’ve earned it.
So what the hell do you do now?
I figured I would build on my last blog post about self-, traditional-, and indie publishing. Let’s talk about all the stuff that happens before that. Because even though writing the book seems like the hardest part, I’m unfortunately here to tell you that’s the easy part.
See, I wrote a book. Technically, I wrote it years ago, in 2021 I think, when I was stuck on an Arctic island, forced to take time off work, but with nowhere to go. There was this worldwide health concern thing going on (don’t know if you remember that weird period in history) so I figured I’d make the best out of my free time. Two weeks later, I had a full draft for a science-fiction thriller.
First things first: leave your manuscript somewhere and forget about it. This is a trick I picked up from Stephen King’s On Writing after realizing I kind of already was doing exactly that (because I’m always eager to get started on something new). I didn’t look at my science fiction thriller again until last fall. The point of this is to get some perspective. You don’t want to be in the same headspace as when you were writing the book, the next time you look at it. You want to see it as a reader.
Second: when you finally decide to pick it up again after 1, 3, 6 (or in my case, nearly 30 months), the first thing you do is to read through it. Just read it. If you notice things that don’t make sense along the way, note them down, but don’t change a single word. Just read. I was quite surprised with how well planned my book seemed, because having written it 2,5 years before, I hardly remembered any of it. I was happy to see that most of it weirdly made sense.
Third: get someone else involved. I have a few alpha readers on hand, and every time I get ready to read through a manuscript that’s been simmering in my cloud storage for a while, I send it off to them. I don’t want them to look at any of the small stuff at this stage (though many of them do), but I want the big, overarching things. The feel of the book. Does it make sense? Is it fun, exciting, thrilling? Do they like it? Turns out, in this case, they really loved my science-fiction thriller!
Fourth: after having gone through the book myself, taking some notes as I go, and hopefully having some feedback from my alpha readers, I start to revise. Change the big plot points that didn’t work. Add scenes that I need to connect things. Often I’ll end up deleting characters, because I realize their purpose can be tied into some other character, which at the same time giving them more screen time. I also often have to add description and scene setting, because I skip a lot of that while I’m drafting.
With this science-fiction thriller in particular, there were some sciency things that needed to change and be elaborated on, and there were some very vital details that tied the whole thing together that was missing.
Fifth: after an initial comb through with a large-toothed comb, I start again. Another pass, looking at increasingly smaller stuff. Details, the nitty gritty. It might be 3 passes for one type of book, or it might be 16. It depends on the story, how well it was drafted, and how much work it is to change things. It’s at this stage I’ll get beta readers involved. Some people call them critique partners, some say those and beta readers are two different things, but the point is to have someone give you feedback on your book. They might look at the whole book, or I’ll ask them to focus on certain sections. I’ll make sure to ask them specific questions if there’s something I’m worried about – does this part where the man realizes he’s his own twin work? Does the scene with the giraffe in the trench coat get the point across as an allegory to today’s political climate? Just normal things like that.
This part honestly takes however long you want it to. You’re never going to be able to please every reader, so consider the feedback you get. Over the years I’ve significantly decreased my number of beta readers, just because I got too much conflicting feedback. Some people loved the way I did certain things, and then that would end up being what others hated the most about my writing. Honestly, it’s exhausting and counter-productive.
Sixth: at this stage, you’re probably close to having a well-thought through and polished draft on your hands. You might want to get more critique partners involved, or you might want to start sending your book off to people to see if someone wants to publish it, like we talked about in my previous post. Depending on where you want your book to end up, you might have to query an agent, who’ll then try to sell it to a publisher, or you might be able to submit to a publisher directly. Check the submissions guidelines carefully! And good luck.
I’m at a point in my career where I have a couple of options. I don’t have to query agents (not because I am agented, just because I choose to go down a different path), but I also don’t have to stand at the back of the line in the novel submission trenches.
And this is where I am today: I’ve sent the book off to my contacts (still having written an official blurb, synopsis, and pitched it properly like I would to any publisher, of course), and now I’m waiting. In the meantime, I’ll be working on some short stories, and maybe start reading through another old draft that I have lying around. Who knows!
I hope this helped and I wish you the best of luck on your author journey! Which path have you taken as you try to get your art out into the world? Do you have any other questions for me? Let me know in the comments!
As always, I’d love it if you checked out my books. I have crime thrillers, psychological horror and short story science-fiction/fantasy and every reader and every ounce support helps a lot. Please consider reading an indie book.
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