Sci-Fi, fantasy and speculative Indie Authors Review discussion
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Spirit + Stone
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Editing and removing decisions; (ouch)
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What kind of editing are you in need of? If the issues are with grammar, syntax, or just stray word/typo issues, I've discovered that using text to speech has caught more of that type of issue for me than any human. If you need something more indepth than that, well, the robots aren't that advanced.
Regarding taking the old version offline, if it's in distribution to a variety of outlets, then it takes six to eight weeks for changes or new editions to filter out through the channels.If your book is on one platform, depending on sales or reviews, you can probably wait a while unless the work's current state has elicited more than a few negatives.
Christina: Thank you, I will cross-post it there when I find how to get "there", so to speak. I feel Goodreads' navigation needs improvement. :/
R.F.G.: Also, thank you for that information. Truthfully, other than Amazon or Smashwords, it probably is not on any outlet anyway. I have not been at the self-publishing game for long.
Other: Christina, the kind of editing I need is to adjust the flow aka pacing of the work and just get it, you know, *boss*. I am as obsessive as hell about things like grammar, syntax, etc, but I also have a fairly unique way of using language. That way of using language in my writing is 99% consistent with itself, but it might need a little looking at, too.
Again, thanks for the responses.
R.F.G.: Also, thank you for that information. Truthfully, other than Amazon or Smashwords, it probably is not on any outlet anyway. I have not been at the self-publishing game for long.
Other: Christina, the kind of editing I need is to adjust the flow aka pacing of the work and just get it, you know, *boss*. I am as obsessive as hell about things like grammar, syntax, etc, but I also have a fairly unique way of using language. That way of using language in my writing is 99% consistent with itself, but it might need a little looking at, too.
Again, thanks for the responses.
When I was prepping my manuscript for self-publishing (I used CreateSpace), I looked into their editing service--it was something like $2K for a book my size. :o You could potentially hire the services of an editor from a university student looking to cut their teeth in the field. They tend to be a lot more affordable.
I hired friends to do my editing. We don't always feel comfortable exchanging money, so part of my fee often involved a service or a homemade good. (I'm a pretty avid crafter.) The one downside to having your friends do it (whether for a crocheted Groot or out of the goodness of their hearts) is that there's less of a guarantee that they'll have it done in the time you want it. Life gets in the way sometimes, but if it's not at the forefront of their attention, it's out of sight, out of mind. Friendship is a double-edged sword like that. I'm just as guilty--a friend of mine asked me to edit the first three chapters of his book. It's a delightful story--I definitely want to know how it ends! But I'm a crappy editor.
I don't know if any of this helps, but I hope you find what you need!
Yeah, even with someone who does paid editing and a proofreader things slip by that beta-readers or customers will spot.Definitely a good idea to keep a "typo" file once you have your finished version, because you don't want to do minor edits every time you turn around.
Totally...I see typos and omitted words and editing correction screw ups all the time in pro authors' books. They make me feel not so bad about any in mine.Just don't get complacent about it!
Micah wrote: "Totally...I see typos and omitted words and editing correction screw ups all the time in pro authors' books. They make me feel not so bad about any in mine.Just don't get complacent about it!"
Some of the Trad Houses have the typo files for corrections, but never quite seem to implement any changes for later printings.
As far as I have seen, for pro editors, the rates are about 0.5 cents/word for just proof reading, 1.0 cent/word for light editing (minor wording changes) and more (sometimes quite a bit more) for heavy editing or content editing, which deals with consistency, flow, pacing and (I suppose) story development issues. For proofing and light editing, I think pro editors can be quite beneficial. For pacing and such, that is more subjective, and a pro editor may not have a better grasp that anyone else.
The thing about pro editors editing content (from what I've seen) is that they tend to work in fairly well-defined, major genres and most of us don't. So I think interested beta readers can be just as good or better there.
Also, if you have distinct personal writing style, a pro editor may want to "correct" it to make it sound like it's "supposed to." (A good editor will not do that but it will take them time to get used to your style.)
As for taking the current version down, if the mechanics are good, keep in mind that no one knows what your edited version will be, so it is kind of hard to say whether readers will be turned off by this version. Maybe some will prefer it to the new version?
Maybe other people have a better grasp of these things (that would not surprise me in the slightest), but I've been wrong is just about every particular of reader's reactions to our work. So I quit worrying about it.
So if you really don't like the current version, take it down. if you are worried about what readers think about, and lack cogent feedback on that, I'd say leave it up.
To expand on what Owen said, there are some editors who won't charge an arm and a leg, then go for other body parts to edit, but you have to hunt for them.There was one in the Reader - Author group, retired, who would do edits for around $200 as a way of keeping busy.
I believe K.P. may know some people, so there are some reasonable people out there.
I have decided to take the advice I received most recently and subject my "child", Spirit + Stone, to some professional editing. But this brings with it some questions.
First of all, should I take the current edition offline pending such editing? This is the most difficult choice for me to make because whilst I do not want it "gone", I think I do not want to see people buying it and being turned off by the unedited version, so to speak. I am not sure I am phrasing that part correctly.
Another problem is that I am very poor. When you add up my disability pension and a "generous" "help" from people I will not nominate here, I barely have more than a thousand dollars every two weeks. The rent man gets 610 out of that, so yeah...
Does anyone know of a good editor who might take pity on me? *chortle*