Whether you choose to self-publish or pursue a traditional publisher, it has been shown countless times a best selling book can open the doors to personal and financial abundance. Yet, with all that is on the line, many authors often overlook the one element that can turn their book from mediocre to brilliant. This one element can transform a non-selling book to a best-selling book.
You’ve spent weeks, maybe months, maybe years writing your book. You’ve reviewed it over and over so many times you can practically recite it verbatim from memory. You’ve shown it to every college-educated friend and relative you have and they say its great. So now, it’s ready to be published, right?
Wrong. I am sorry; this is going to be tough for you to hear. I know because it was for me.
I had the manuscript for my first novel, A Christmas Present, formatted and the page layout was done. The cover design was finalized and everything was ready. All of my files were sent to my printer for the final setup. The finished product and the book I had envisioned was about to become a reality.
I had sent advance-reading copies of the book out to several book review magazines a few weeks earlier. I was hopeful I would obtain some good reviews to use for my marketing plans. I had been corresponding with the editor of one of the magazines and I dropped him an e-mail asking if they were planning to review my book. He responded no, they had decided not to review it.
Now I was a bit disappointed, but as I was new to publishing, I wrote him back to thank him for his time and I asked a simple question: What can I do to improve my chances for a review for my next book?
His response caused my heart to sink.
This editor took the first page of my book and tore it to shreds. He pointed out several examples of unnecessary words and poor, repetitive phrases and this was just in the first few paragraphs of my book! He ended his letter with the phrase, Shall I go on?
I was devastated.
I had spent months going over the manuscript with a fine-toothed comb. I had sent it through my word processor’s spell and grammar checker countless times. I had over twenty people read the manuscript, including an intermediate school principal. I was sure it was error free and the best it could be.
Now, I realized I was wrong. Dead wrong. Moreover, my finished book was on its way to the printer.
I took a few hours to compose myself and tried to assess the situation rationally. I realized even though it felt like this magazine editor was my worst enemy, he had done me a great favor. I had become so close to my book, I was unable to view it in the clear, clinical fashion of a real editor. And my friends weren’t trying to mislead me. They are all intelligent caring people. They simply weren’t trained to do what an editor does.
I made my decision. My book needed to be edited.
I contacted my printer and was able to have him put my job on hold. I then obtained a referral to an editor who did a truly magnificent job. He took my book, which was good, and made it a masterpiece.
He eliminated the unnecessary words I overlooked. He tightened up my sentence structure. He corrected the grammatical and spelling errors the word processing program missed. He made suggestions on how to heighten the emotional impact of my story in certain places and intensify the drama in others. He made my book the best it could be.
Was it an additional expense? Yes, but I regard it as an invaluable investment in a project that will be in existence long after I am gone. When we read a classic book like Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol or Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, we are being given a glimpse, an insight, into what transpired in the author’s mind decades ago.
In his book On Writing, Stephen King uses the analogy that writing is like telepathy. The writer takes an image from his mind and is able, through words on a page, to telepathically project the same image into the mind of the reader. This telepathy knows no limits of time or space. My book represents a piece of who I am, and that piece can be discovered by anyone at any time.
Your book is ultimately a reflection of you and who you are, what you stand for and what matters to you. If your book is non-fiction, the information you wish to convey to your readers can help change their lives. They look to you as the expert who can help solve their problems. If your book is full of misspellings, how does that affect your credibility in their eyes?
If you’ve written a novel, you will be competing for the limited time your reader has in his or her day set aside for entertainment. Like it or not, you are up against every other novelist, including the giants, as well as television and movies all vying for your customer’s precious attention. Your readers want to be transported away from their problems to the world you have created. They want an easy read. They do not want to suffer through needlessly long sentences or repetitive words. They want descriptive passages to paint a vivid picture in their minds. They want your telepathy to be crystal clear.
Please, please, please — give your readers what they want, what they deserve. Have your book edited by a professional editor. Many editors will allow you to submit the first few pages of your manuscript for a free sample edit. This is a great way to judge the quality of an editor’s work.
Yes editing is an additional expense, but please view it as investment. I know what it did for my book. I guarantee you will not be disappointed.
Bill O’Shea is the author of the best-selling novel A Christmas Present and founder of Pembroke Press, a provider of professional quality publishing services. To learn more about how Pembroke Press can help you create your own self-publishing success, visit: http://www.pembrokepress.com
