As the weeks move forward toward one of mom’s favorite holidays, St. Patrick’s Day, I find myself being haunted by a story I’ve helped edit. The rush to get the book out on the anniversary of a husband’s death at the end of February, may have played a part in a few last minute misses. Getting the text makes me wince because of all the long hours and hard work that went into reviewing every page.
In the last few rounds, we read back and forth out loud to catch any misses but there is one lingering spelling error. This means that I have another zoom meeting this week, and I have to remind myself not to be too hard on myself because there are teams of professional publishers that miss things too. Because we’re all human, we do miss some things.
On the bright side, self publishing allows flexibility. It takes the push of one button to upload a new version and no one new has a clue that there’s been an update. Large publishers don’t have this flexibility because they already printed hundreds of books. Online is print on demand, and it’s less likely that typos are going to be found by as many people. No matter how many rounds you do with an editor, there are always going to be more finds. That’s why you should be open to your actual publishing date.
Large publishing houses can take 2 years to complete their editing and proofing processes. They’ve spent years tweaking their own process, model your own plan after those who’ve done it for years. Take the time to review everything under a microscope and don’t rush to print. This will save you heartbreaking moments and cringes when you find an edit.
Looking back, the deadline was good because it pushed us to get to a good finishing point but we still needed another 3-4 rounds of proofing. I’ve said this before but whatever deadline you have in mind, add at least a few more months to that timeline because it’s more realistic.
Normally, I write raw and without edits but your prompt for today is to do another round of editing for one of your stories so that you’re a step ahead.
My posts are Monday through Friday.
Imagine Inspire Create: 52 Weeks of action and gratitude is available at: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09S6XCLFY/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_Q7MHM9CFBSASDG56YMJQ
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