i finished my book and have questions

[Rob]

My name is rob and I just finished my first book. I have looked up several sites on editors and proof reading. I stumbled on this site it sounds like a great start for me. I saw a couple of post on people eager to proof read others. My book is about 95000 words. It tracks a mans life though flashback. It mainly takes place between his age of 14 to 17. There are a couple of sex scenes but its not 50 shades of Grey I'd appreciate any advice. My email is camaro813@hotmail.com.

[Longhare]

Rob, could you be a little more specific about the kind of assistance you are looking for? For example, do you want some beta readers to give you some feedback on the story? Are you looking for a development editor? Here's a blog post that may help clarify for you the various kinds of editorial services.

[Michelle]

Have you edited it yourself yet? Next step would probably be an editor, then a beta-reader, then more editing for you, then a proof-reader (not necessarily in that order, but I think that's the most logical).

Did I read your word count right? 950,000?

[Ruth]

Michelle,

I think you have one too many zeroes : ). Rob writes that he has 95,000 words, which should come to about 380 pages.

Ruth

[Michelle]

Yes, noticed that after I posted, lol.

[Ruth]

I always notice my errors AFTER I post them too. I wonder why they show up so much more clearly then?

Ruth

[Lin]

Some variant on muphry's law, no doubt :)

[Amanda]

Longhare wrote: "Rob, could you be a little more specific about the kind of assistance you are looking for? For example, do you want some beta readers to give you some feedback on the story? Are you looking for a d..."



I just read the blog that you attached. I think it was pretty helpful. Especially when you are a new author and not sure where to turn for help. I am also in the process of finding an editor. It can be a bit overwhelming at times.

[Longhare]

Thanks, Amanda
There are lots of editors in this group, so if you have questions, this is a good place to get answers. I'd be happy to give you a quote and a sample edit. Feel free to contact me at longhare@inbox.com

[Amanda]

Longhare wrote: "Thanks, Amanda
There are lots of editors in this group, so if you have questions, this is a good place to get answers. I'd be happy to give you a quote and a sample edit. Feel free to contact me at..."

Thank you. We still have a few things to take care of before reaching out to editors, but at least we will know where to look when ready.

[Karen]

Longhare, that's a great blog post.

Rob (and others), here are a couple of blog posts from my fellow INDIE Books Gone Wild editor that might be helpful:
Editing Tips - This one discusses what authors should do to self-edit a manuscript before sending it off to an editor.
Editing vs. Proofreading - Discusses the difference between editing and proofreading and also provides a sample of an edit.
Kinds of Editors - Discusses the different kinds of editors and the stages of the process

Hope that helps!

[Erica]

Hi, Rob. If you have just finished the first draft of your book, I recommend putting it away for a little while to give yourself some distance from it, then going through it yourself again. First drafts can always benefit from self-editing and you will probably see things you didn't notice when you were writing it. After that, I recommend getting some beta readers to go through it. This is a good, usually inexpensive (oftentimes free!) way of getting some outside feedback on your plot, character development, etc. Once you have addressed the issues that your beta readers bring up, you are ready to hire a professional editor. You may still benefit from a developmental edit at this point, especially if you are new to writing. A developmental editor will do a lot of the same things as beta readers, but in more detail and with the benefit of training in story arc, plot pacing, character development, etc. If a developmental edit is not in your budget, make sure you have used several beta readers and have polished the book as much as you can before hiring a line editor/copy editor. These are the people who will help you clean up the actual writing on the page, making sure you are saying what you mean to say in the best way possible and helping to eliminate errors in spelling, punctuation, and grammar. After your book has been edited, a proofreader should go over it again to find the last of the errors. If you decide not to hire a proofreader, make sure you go through the book yourself at least one more time. No edit will catch every error.

I hope that helps! It's quite a process, but your book will get better at every step. Good luck with it!

Sincerely,

Erica Ellis
Ink Deep Editing (www.inkdeepediting.com)
"Editing so thorough, it's ink deep."