I hope I will always have this same sense of excitement when I release a manuscript to a group of beta readers. I am still in the process of learning the craft of creating a book worth reading. I am fortunate to have people in my life who have skills and perspectives that I don’t. Just as importantly I have an older sister that has been down this path many times and had great success. And of course that causes the shameless plug for her site nammynools.com.
The first step in producing a book, the actual writing, is the part that I enjoy the most. If I could sit in my office in a comfortable chair and just write all day I would find that to be very enjoyable. If you follow any other indie authors you know that like any small business we have to oversee every step of production. So we really can’t afford to sit around and just write. If we did then the books would simply sit on our hard drives and rot.
The second step in production is a rough edit. I love my editors. No really, I do. It isn’t hard, they are my sister and my wife. They are both incredibly talented and bring much different skills to the table. If I can get a sentence past both of them I am really confident that it makes sense. Trust me they are both very good at gently showing me where I have strayed from the English language. No matter how often I insist that grammar is just a set of suggestions or possibly guidelines to be followed if we are in the mood, they are both fairly insistent that others won’t see it that way.
The third step is to send the manuscript to four or five beta readers. I give my beta readers instructions to try to ignore small syntactical issues and focus on problems with plot, story continuity, loss of empathy with the main character and things that just seem irrelevant or absurd. I am an extremely visual person and just because I see something in my head doesn’t mean I get it onto paper in a way that makes sense. Beta readers are fabulous at pointing out these types of issues.
The fourth step is integrating the beta reader comments. It is a tricky line to walk. Beta readers have gone out of their way to show me issues with the story, I want to integrate their suggestions if at all possible. Most of the time the comments make very good sense, sometimes I have to leave some things behind. I always hope it isn’t insulting to their efforts and it concerns me.
The fifth step is final editing and read-through. By the time Fool Me Once is on your kindle I will have read through it fifteen to twenty times. Diane my sister will have hit it nearly that same number of times. My wife will have hit it half a dozen times and the beta readers will also have been through it at least once.
The final step is formatting for the kindle and creatspace if we will produce a paperback. Fool Me Once will probably not be produced in paperback as it is a novella.
As of this writing all of my beta readers except two have returned the manuscript with comments. The final two have until May 26th to return it. If they get done early we will push up the schedule, otherwise expect to see Fool Me Once – Privateer Tales #2, a novella in the kindle store by mid June.
Happy Reading!!
I hope people aren’t looking for a “perfect” book when they read self-published. By that, I mean that people who self-publish don’t get homogenized by a publishing company. It would be a shame if your book read like every other published book in the genre. Editing for understanding, while leaving your unique phrasing and rhythm alone, is the key. Your books have a flavor that I’ve missed in the “hurriedly published and bleached” books that were available previously. The last few years have really been fun to watch, as regular people with a story to tell CAN. Good stories are out there. Characters you can love are out there. Hopefully, self-publishing will bring nothing but good to an industry that’s gotten way too expensive, way too bland, way too money driven (via the “best seller” or “someone bought a ton of books to get on the list”) industry. Nothing bothers me more to have an author I love put out an uninspired book because they have to do one a year by contract. Let’s support a return to creativity and a love for a beautiful story!!!
Hi
You have introduced your next book as ‘Fool Me Once – Privateer Tales #2, a novella’. Is it not a full length novel? If so, do you have a tentative date for the next novel?
Loved your first book. Keep up the good work!
You are correct #2 is a novella and follows the pirate Celina Dontal. The next novel should be ready by fall 2014.