If you’ve ever hired the witches then you already know how hard we can be on our clients. We don’t apologize for that. We care about each one so we care when they send us works with plots and/or character development that are nowhere near ready for betas.
Now, my first draft (and the second through the fifth) of my first book was terrible, but after I hired my two content editors my plot and characters became on point. Editors, good content editors, are a must. Beta readers are not editors and no professional confuses the two. Indie authors, though, often confuse the two, and we receive works that need editors not beta readers 99% of the time.
We recently got an email from a potential client about the editing process, so I decided to write a short post on editors vs beta readers.
Content editors read the first version of the story you’re willing to let anyone see. Content editors help you focus on the right aspects. Content editors help you develop your characters from ideas to breathing people. Content editors make the book worth reading. Content editors do cost. (Please don’t hire a $50 beta reader and expect that they’ll help your book be that breakout star of the year. They may help you get a few sales on Amazon, but mostly that’ll be from readers who will read anything cheap. If you want to earn a living then you must hire a real content editor.)
Often Indie authors confuse editors for grammar with content editors. You need both. The content editor does the above. Next, comes the beta readers, and then comes that last editor for grammar. Every single one of our clients, who has used a real editor before we get the book, hired a grammar editor and not a content editor. No real content editor would ever let their client send off the jumbled messes we get.
Mine was a jumbled mess too, but I hired content editors before I hired betas. So my book was coherent before I hired m beta readers.
You as the author have to understand that your first draft is not your best. It most likely won’t make you famous, and it’s most likely not the masterpiece it can be. There are exceptions, but it takes work to write a book. It takes real hard work and hours of dedication.
The number one problem we Beta Witches see in our clients’ novels is this, they don’t write the story that they say they’ve written. We ask a series of questions at the beginning to understand the book we are about to read, and most of the time the author hasn’t really thought out what the concept or point is before they write the book.
The authors may think they have, but generally what they say the book is about is typically not what the book is about. Hiring a quality content editor helps the author shape the story into the story they thought they were writing. I know about this firsthand, peeps, and trust me my content editor is my best tool in my writing life.
Once you’ve hired a quality content editor then hire all the betas you want. Finally, once the book starts to get universal positivity, and it will if you do the work, then hire that last grammar editor.
A short, sweet, slightly sour post and here’s the real simple steps again:
1. Write the book. 2. Hire a content editor. 3. Rewrite the book based on the edit. 4. Hire beta readers. 5. Use their notes, or not. 6. Feel a sense of great accomplishment. 7. Start all over again with a new concept.
Visit Betawitches.com to experience more of the magic!
Now, my first draft (and the second through the fifth) of my first book was terrible, but after I hired my two content editors my plot and characters became on point. Editors, good content editors, are a must. Beta readers are not editors and no professional confuses the two. Indie authors, though, often confuse the two, and we receive works that need editors not beta readers 99% of the time.
We recently got an email from a potential client about the editing process, so I decided to write a short post on editors vs beta readers.
Content editors read the first version of the story you’re willing to let anyone see. Content editors help you focus on the right aspects. Content editors help you develop your characters from ideas to breathing people. Content editors make the book worth reading. Content editors do cost.
(Please don’t hire a $50 beta reader and expect that they’ll help your book be that breakout star of the year. They may help you get a few sales on Amazon, but mostly that’ll be from readers who will read anything cheap. If you want to earn a living then you must hire a real content editor.)
Often Indie authors confuse editors for grammar with content editors. You need both. The content editor does the above. Next, comes the beta readers, and then comes that last editor for grammar. Every single one of our clients, who has used a real editor before we get the book, hired a grammar editor and not a content editor. No real content editor would ever let their client send off the jumbled messes we get.
Mine was a jumbled mess too, but I hired content editors before I hired betas. So my book was coherent before I hired m beta readers.
You as the author have to understand that your first draft is not your best. It most likely won’t make you famous, and it’s most likely not the masterpiece it can be. There are exceptions, but it takes work to write a book. It takes real hard work and hours of dedication.
The number one problem we Beta Witches see in our clients’ novels is this, they don’t write the story that they say they’ve written. We ask a series of questions at the beginning to understand the book we are about to read, and most of the time the author hasn’t really thought out what the concept or point is before they write the book.
The authors may think they have, but generally what they say the book is about is typically not what the book is about. Hiring a quality content editor helps the author shape the story into the story they thought they were writing. I know about this firsthand, peeps, and trust me my content editor is my best tool in my writing life.
Once you’ve hired a quality content editor then hire all the betas you want. Finally, once the book starts to get universal positivity, and it will if you do the work, then hire that last grammar editor.
A short, sweet, slightly sour post and here’s the real simple steps again:
1. Write the book.
2. Hire a content editor.
3. Rewrite the book based on the edit.
4. Hire beta readers.
5. Use their notes, or not.
6. Feel a sense of great accomplishment.
7. Start all over again with a new concept.
Visit Betawitches.com to experience more of the magic!