Mistake #2 (Re: Editors)

OR—HOW TO AVOID REWRITING AND REPUBLISHING YOUR BOOK

You’ve incorporated many of the changes suggested by your beta readers, and now it’s time for the professionals. The best assessors, developmental editors, copy editors, and proofreaders will lift your book to a much higher level.

What I learned the hard way: 

•  Accreditation is good but doesn’t guarantee thorough work
•  Rigid grammar (good for nonfiction) decimates the creative voice
•  Newbie and veteran editors alike can place onerous demands (i.e. the former asking for favours, or the latter requiring an extensive application)
•  An excellent editor who doesn’t like your genre won’t like your story
•  A good sample edit of a few pages might not translate into a good edit of hundreds of pages.

MY DUMB MISTAKE #1

I had confidence in a few editors and paid their remaining balance WITHOUT CHECKING THEIR FINAL WORK. Yes, more than once! (Twice, I got partial refunds. Three times, the work had to be redone by someone else.)

MY DUMB MISTAKE #2 THE BIG ONE

I did have two phenomenal editors and followed 85% of their input, which I thought was pretty good. And now I’m rewriting and republishing the book, incorporating much more of their advice and using up the money I’d saved for the sequel. I now expect to take about 95% of the advice of any editor I respect.

**Treat all your editors well, and the best ones with the utmost respect. Good editors are gold.