Jeff Haws

Independent author

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editing

What does an editor do?

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Been a busy month or so. Spent two weeks wandering around Europe, and worked through the beta-reader edits on my next novel. Just sent it off to my professional editor yesterday, and that means we may see a final product around the beginning of August. You guys may get your hands on this book yet.

Just as I did shove my book out of its protective little nest, I ran across this terrific breakdown of how to pick an editor from the endlessly helpful Shayla from Curiouser Editing. It really goes into detail on what an author needs to be thinking about as he makes the fateful decision on who will be his manuscript’s bridge from being a crappy rough draft no one should have to read to being a publishable book that people might actually pay money for. [Read more…] about What does an editor do?

How to Write a Beta Reader Checklist

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Last weekend, I patted my next novel “Separation” on the butt and sent it out into a little slice of the world, letting my beta readers explore the town of Alessandra and its various characters. Hopefully, they’ll enjoy the read, and won’t ultimately tell me to toss my computer in a fire and start over from the beginning. [Read more…] about How to Write a Beta Reader Checklist

How do you find beta readers? (Hint: Not on Goodreads)

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I’ve talked on here about beta readers before, but the topic is rattling around my head again — and not only because my next novel should head off to that stage by this weekend. Last week, I ran across this article on SelfPublishingAdvice.org by author Michael La Ronn. It’s titled “Writing: How to Find Beta Readers,” but it’s really all about how to find beta readers on Goodreads. [Read more…] about How do you find beta readers? (Hint: Not on Goodreads)

3 Lessons From Editing My First Novel

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Lessons 2

Last week, I finally finished the chief revisions on “Killing the Immortals,” nearly four months after I wrote the last words of the rough draft. I have no idea if “Six weeks to write and four months for editing” will be a common occurrence for me (It is my first book, so my experience level is a tad low), but that’s how this one went. So, here we are now, getting near the end, and I’m sort of in reflecting mode on how it’s all gone.

I’ve learned a lot during the past four months about my own writing (I use the word “just” way too damn much) and what’s effective for me when it comes to evaluating what I wrote. It’s not easy to step back from a personal project of this sort of length (88K words), that you put so much work into, and evaluate it fairly, in a way that allows you to actually see the warts, recognize them, root them out, and smash them into a million pieces.

Here are the three biggest lessons I’ve taken away from going through the four-month editing gauntlet with this book: [Read more…] about 3 Lessons From Editing My First Novel

Editing Your Novel in 4 Steps

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Editing

Editing your novel is a pain, if you do it right. It just is. If you want to take your novel that next step to being a great book, there’s no real option but to pour your blood, sweat and tears into the editing process. It’s unlikely you can get away with much less.

Case in point: me. It took me six weeks from typing the first word to typing the last word of the first draft of my first novel. I finished it at the end of January. That means the editing process has now taken me almost three months, and the end is not especially near. My ballpark estimate is that it’ll be published sometime in July, but that’s a guess. It could be a bit later or sooner.

That is to say, it’s been three months, and it could easily be three more. Or even a bit more than that. The editing process could take me 5-6 times as long as the writing process did … and that’s not even unusual or a particularly long time for editing. Some people tinker with the damn thing for years.

So, let’s say you’ve gotten your draft back from your editor. It’s covered in red ink or comments on Track Changes. Maybe you also have a document with a summary of the editor’s thoughts. The edits number in the hundreds. It can seem overwhelming. How do you tackle all of this work? Here are four steps you can take to break it into pieces, and use it as a road map to go from a good story to a great book: [Read more…] about Editing Your Novel in 4 Steps

Why Shouldn’t I Hire an Editor for My Novel?

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Perfect-hire-editor

To figure out why you should hire a professional editor for your novel, perhaps we should first look at why you shouldn’t do so. That because, well, it’s not at all cut and dried. Not everybody needs to put forth the effort, legwork and cold, hard cash to hire an editor for their novel. There are good reasons not to, and you might fit that profile. [Read more…] about Why Shouldn’t I Hire an Editor for My Novel?