(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)
All right, so where are we in this extended discussion of how I write my books? We just covered how I edit my wordspew and it’s time to talk editing.
After revising and revising and revising, my book is eventually “good enough” to be edited. By good enough I usually mean a mix of “this is good” and “oh god I’m sick of this, I’m gonna stop now.” The latter is usually more prominent than I’d like, but anyway I’m at least at a stopping point.
When I refer to as editing, there’s sort of two kinds I lump under “Editing” because they’re really intertwined.
- Pre-Readers – People who read the book for content.
- Editors – The person or person that goes through the book and makes sure it’s got proper grammar, spelling, etc. They also comment on content.
Before I go into how I do this, there are times I don’t do any editing beyond my own writing. At least in the past. Let’s take a look at that, if only for confessional purposes.
Let me repeat – this is when I don’t have others edit. I still edit the hell out of my own work, even if poorly.
When You Don’t Use Other People To Edit
So first of all, I don’t think you should avoid having your work edited. If at all possible, someone should at least pre-read it. However there’s a few cases I can see someone not editing, which I’ve done or at least think I did:
- The work is small, say a 99 cent ebook.
- No one’s available to edit/pre-read and you want to get something out.
- You’ve edited it really, really well.
- The document seems tolerable.
- You’ve got the kind of document (and knowledge) where the editing is easy. A small work that’s an organized guide that follows an easily checkable pattern, and one you’ve run spellcheck/grammar check on multiple times is a good instance.
I’ve done two published works this way (and hope to revise them with editors and pre-readers when I can). It can work.
But I don’t recommend it. But hey, I gave you an out, and you can always say “but Steve said.”
Now anyway, on with editing.
Pre-Reading
I didn’t always use pre-readers – originally I only did when a book had a lot of interviews and I used them as pre-readers. In time I found that pre-readers were invaluable for insights.
See, a pre-reader isn’t an editor in the traditional/specific sense and that’s good. A pre-reader is a reader. They are not there to edit a book for language and punctuation, even when they do because they can’t resist. They’re they’re for content and flow.
They’ll catch things an editor won’t because an editor, no matter how much they read, is still editing. You really do need both. Plus it takes a little pressure off your editor – “Can you edit my terrible abuses on language and tell me if this meticulous battle scene makes sense?”
Secondly, a good pre-reader thinking as a reader can give you feedback on your book to help it become a better book. They can tell you how it can be more consistent, better organized, and so on. In turn it won’t just be a better book – that will make the book a hell of a lot easier on an editor. A book that reads easy, even with flaws, allows an editor to go to town as opposed to being stopped by confusing twists or ill-explained concepts on top of Oxford comma arguments?
How do I handle pre-readers?
- I pretty much put out a call among people. I’ve started keeping a list of people to send things too now.
- I give them 1-3 months depending on the size of the work.
- I integrte feedback as it comes in more or less. For small works I may wait – for larger works i put in the feedback as soon as I get it.
Thats about it. Find, send, wait, integrate.
After the pre-reader feedback I usually do another pass through the book. then it’s off to the editor
The Editor
First of all when you get something edited to publish professionally, make sure they’re professional.
That may not mean they’re a professional editor. It means they have professional-quality skills relevant to what you’re doing. It could be from writing their own novels, it could be editing fanfic for ten years, it could be an experienced technical writer. Just get someone who can edit for what you’re doing.
I like to fansource, finding editors through fandom and geeky connections. They “get” me, I often get a break on price, they get their name on a book they like, I act as a reference, everyone wins.
I usually give an editor 1-3 months depending on the complexity of the work and their schedule. It also gives me a nice break, and sometimes while waiting I do extra formatting or setup for publishing. Or write another book.
When I get the edited document back, I don’t use that document to make the final book – I read through it, page by page, integrating comments and changes into a new copy master document. That forces me to read and pay attention, and makes sure I don’t end up with a book laden with things I forgot to address, remove, or change.
This part usually takes at least a month. My goal, when it’s done, is to have it done.
The Final Read
So once that editing run is done, I do one more spellcheck and grammar check, and read through the book (yes, again). If I find any errors, I fix them – and run that check again.
At this point, having done so much editing, I use that previous trick of reading parts out of order just to keep myself fresh.
My approach is to read it through. If anything changes in the small I fix it and re-read that chapter. If there’s any large change, I re-read the book from the start, or at least skim. I’m done when I do a pass through and didn’t change anything.
Then it’s one more spelling/grammar check. Then it’s done
Onward To Publishing
So with the book edited – pre-read and edited properly – and with my final read-through’s its done. Ready to go.
It’s time to publish.
– Steve