So what is the process after you finish your first draft? Where do you go now? What are the Editing Steps you need to take?
Below is a quick guideline to show you what your next editing steps should be. But remember this is a guideline.
If you don't like something, don't want to do something, or if it doesn't fit within your budget, don't worry about it. Do what is best for your book and mental health.
1. Finish your First Draft.
You could start editing chapters before you finish the book, but you may take something out or add something that no longer works with the finished document.
2. Leave your First Draft alone
You want to put distance between you and the book, so when you go back to do self-edits, you have fresh eyes on it. I recommend sending it out to Alpha or Beta Readers, but spend at least 2 weeks not working or looking at your book if you don't.
Alpha/Beta Readers - Free or Paid
Alpha Readers are your very first readers. They get the rough draft and let you know what is working and not. Some even read as you write.
Once you get it back from the Alphas, go through and implement what you like and self edit. Then you can send it back to them or move on to Beta Readers or an editor.
Beta Readers get the book after you have made some self-edits and have a cleaner copy.
These are readers in your genre who are interested in your book. There are paid Beta Readers and there are people who are happy to do it for free. Either way you go, it's a good idea to get at least 3 readers.
I would ask some questions beforehand to weed out the people who just want a free book and won't leave feedback.
Give them a timeline of when you would like the book back.
Remember Alpha/Beta Readers give suggestions you do NOT have to keep or do anything with what they said.
How do you find ARC readers?
There are a lot of Facebook groups specifically designed for Alpha/Beta readers. But I also suggest posting in the Facebook reading groups your readers are in. And have a google form ready for them to fill out.
3. Now go in and read and self-edit the book.
If you gave it to Alpha/Beta Readers, look at what they said and change what you like.
You want your book to be as clean as possible before you send it to an editor. We can only do so much. So the cleaner the book is when we get it, the better the edits you will get.
4. Developmental and Line Edits - each can be $.01 - $.05 per word
You can do one of these or both.
Developmental:
This looks at the overall structure, plot, character development, pacing, tone, timeline, etc.
This edit won't address how you wrote, but what you wrote. It doesn't come with any sentence changing or punctuation fixes. There will be comments and questions, but your work won't be marked up.
We hunt for plot holes and things that don't make sense. We also may suggest moving things around if the timeline isn't working. Or suggest adding something or taking scenes out. If a scene feels to slow or rushed.
There may also be scenes we ask you to expand upon or cut. But there should always be explanations to why we made the cut or want more.
Some editors also give you a written critique.
Line Editing:
This is where we look at the words you use and the structure of each sentence.
Is the prose working with you? Could your sentences be stronger? Do you really need 'that' in your sentence?
Here is where the mark-ups come. We rearrange sentences and or sentence structure.
We tighten things up and maybe do minor re-wording if we think it needs it. But this is not a rewrite of your book.
We won't turn 'Jane is good' into 'Jane was the most amazing player on the team.'
We may suggest you elaborate more on how Jane is good, but changing her to being the best may not be accurate to the story you are telling, and it changes what you wrote.
A Combination
Some editors, like myself, offer a combination of Developmental and Line edits. Or they offer 2 rounds of edits. The first is the Developmental pass, and the second is the Line edit.
Most of my clients like the combination because they don't have to pay for 2 separate edits and wait the months it could take before they publish.
5. Another round of self-edits
Change or correct whatever you liked from the Developmental and/or Line Edits
If you are having separate edits done, you will need to self-edit in between the Developmental and Line Edits
6. Copy Editing: $0.1-.03 per word
This is where we look at the grammar and the style of your book.
Some editors, like myself, offer a combination of Line and Copy edits.
Not only do we want to make sure your punctuation is correct, but we want to make sure your details match up. Was there an action or step was missed?
Does your MC have brown hair in the beginning and blonde hair in Chapter 20? Does your character pick up the knife with their left hand then stab the person with their right hand? Was the MC pushed into a swimming pool, then answer the phone that was in their pocket in the next paragraph? Although these days some phones work when they are wet, so that might not be the best example.
Are all the words hyphenated the same, red-haired vs red haired? Are your numbers spelled out or do you use numerals? Did you capitalize Alpha here and keep it lowercase there, and which one do you want to keep?
We look to make sure things are consistent throughout the book.
This is where you will also get a Style Sheet from the editor.
It lists the special words you have used, capitalized, hyphenated, made up, or anything out of the ordinary you may have done.
Like deciding axe should have the e and not be spelled ax. Or that you don’t care that here in America we spell gray with an a. Cause it looks weird and you want it spelled grey. And really, no reader is going to care how you spelled grey or axe as long as you are consistent.
A Style Sheet is extremely helpful if you are creating a series. It keeps things consistent throughout your book. So even if you don't hire a copy editor, I suggest you make one for yourself.
Here is a Sample Style Sheet.
If you use Microsoft Word or have it, there are Macros you can install to get lists of the things we look for in a Style Sheet. It looks over your manuscript and pulls out words you have hyphenated, capitalized, mis-spelled, etc, and puts it in a new document..
And these are free.
Just google editing macros. You will get a long list of different types, and there are plenty of videos out there to show you how to install and run them.
I use a lot of Paul Beverley's Macros.
Should you get a Copy editor?
If you can afford one in addition to the Developmental and Line edits, yes. But if you can't, there are a lot of free options you can use that will check your grammar for you as well.
Just look at each suggested change. They are not always accurate.
7. Another round of self-edits
Change whatever suggestions from the Copy Edit you liked.
8. Proofreading: $.002 - $.01 per word
This stage can very depending on what file you send. And is your last line of defense before the book is published.
We are looking for any last bits of grammar or wording that may have not been finished or caught. Did you miss a period? Did you start a sentence and not finish it? Is the sentence
finished on a separate line like this?
If you give us the PDF form of your printed book, we will also look at the typesetting. Do your chapter headers work? Is there a single word left on one page? Is everything formatted correctly?
This is also something you can do as well. It isn't recommended because you are too close to your book, but if you wait a few weeks before doing this step, you should be ok.
You can also ask one of your Beta Readers to do this.
It does not matter who you have do this, things will be missed.
It happens to every author. The book goes through multiple rounds of edits only for a reader months later to see we all missed the period that was supposed to be a question mark. So try not to worry about that.
Formatting: not part of the editing process, but you will need to format around the same time you proofread.
If you are only formatting for eBooks, you can do so after the proofread.
If you are having your print book proofread, you will need to format before you proofread, then go back and make the corrections in the formatted book.
9. ARC readers - free or paid, but I haven't actually known anyone who has paid or been paid.
Here is where you give out a free copy of your book to your readers to generate buzz, excitement, and honest reviews.
I have seen some authors ask if the review is 3 stars or lower to wait 2 weeks after the book is launched, because Amazon doesn't like 3 star or lower reviews.
I like this approach. You don't want bad reviews for the launch, but you also want every reader to feel like it's ok to give their honest review.
Being transparent with the reader says, 'Hey, I know everyone likes what they like and this might not be a book for you, but please keep it from tanking the first few weeks, so Amazon doesn't bury it.'
How do you find ARC readers?
There are a lot of Facebook groups specifically designed for ARC readers. But I also suggest posting in the Facebook reading groups your readers are in. And have a google form ready for them to fill out.
I would say most authors use BookFunnel to send out ARCs, but I have had a few authors send the book straight to my Kindle.
Most authors hand out 50-100 ARC copies.
But please send them at least 4 weeks before the release date. I hate getting an ARC with only 1 week till the release date. Something always comes up and I don’t make the release date and have to email the author.
And remember these are guidelines. Take what you like and leave the rest!
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