Posted: May 14, 2024
The process is a little different for everyone, but the basics are the same. You go from the first draft to the published work. But what’s the best order to work? What is the most efficient process?
This is the first word bomb. Things may not make sense, and there may be entire chunks missing from the text. There may be scenes that say “this happened, then this happened, and so on” or notes about “research deadly poisons” in the middle of your page.
In all, this draft is for your eyes only, and helps you get your bearings about how the story is going to go. This will NOT be perfect. And you’ll have to get over that.
This is where you begin writing for real. You may even start with this one, not acknowledging the mess above as a draft at all. Either way, your first draft will still be far from perfect, but at least it will be complete. All your preliminary research has been completed, your characters have names and personalities, and your plot runs from step 1 to step whatever. Good job!
At this point, you may want to send it out to beta readers, or you may want to keep it to yourself for one more round. It’s up to you. My recommendation, if you think it’s good enough to start sending it out: start with free beta readers. While there is no guarantee that they’ll read it in its entirety, or even get back to you if they do, there area lot of them out there who will read for free and are happy to do so. For those that do get back to you, their feedback helps refine your work that much more.
Personally, I would Save a Copy of my first draft (draft one), and label it “draft one marked up”, then make my changes with Track Changes on so I can see where I’ve made suggestions. After all my edits are done, I can then Save a Copy again and go through my edits, accepting or rejecting my own changes as I go. Then the draft is clean again and ready to be sent out to another round (or my first round) of beta readers.
At this point, if it’s your second round, you can look around for a paid beta if you’d like. There’s something nice about the certainty of getting feedback, even at a small fee. It’s also often the case that paid betas will provide more insightful feedback than free betas (but be warned that this isn’t always the case). Remember that if you’re paying anyone for their services, make sure you’re certain of them beforehand. Check other jobs they’ve done or have them recommended by other authors. It’s smart to be cautious even for as small a cost as beta readers.
Some authors think that paid beta readers shouldn’t be a thing, that it’s a scam or that they’ll sugarcoat all their feedback because they’re being paid, but I believe differently. While yes, there are a lot of people out there with little to no training in the craft charging for their services, beta readers do deserve compensation for their work. Whether that means they’re volunteering their time to help you out, they’re another author looking to do a swap, or even someone willing to help with the process in order to get a free copy of the finished work when it’s published. In my opinion, paid beta readers should have extra training, whether that means experience in editing, in psychology, or in something specific to the works they read (experts in horsemanship able to correct things for writers of Fantasy who include horses, etc.). With this extra experience, they can include more than the simple “I liked this part” and/or “This didn’t make sense to me. Why don’t you try this instead?” kind of feedback. And that’s what you should get.
From that feedback, I would Save a Copy again “draft two marked up” and make my edits from the suggestions. That way, I can see the changes I’m making, and if two different readers have conflicting advice, I can choose the best course of action.
Before getting to this stage, you may send multiple drafts to different free or paid betas. It’s up to you. You may get to draft seven before reaching this stage, or you may skip this stage altogether. It’s up to your personal process.
That being said, a developmental editor, if you don’t already know, is a professional who will help you directly with the story of your novel. They will ensure that your plot makes sense; that your characters are full, realistic, and relatable; that your worldbuilding doesn’t contain glaring errors or inconsistencies; and that the structure of your novel delivers the story in the most efficient way. They may also help cut out flowery or unnecessary language (though this is a job shared by your line editor), “trim the fat” so to speak.
Unfortunately, since developmental editing is so intensive, it’s the most expensive of the five standard types of editing. If you’re unable or unwilling to commit to such a high price, you can instead opt for a light version of this in the form of a manuscript assessment, which is a more affordable version of developmental editing, though with less insight.
Even if you choose to forego developmental editing from a professional and stick with your beta readers only, I still highly recommend getting a manuscript assessment by a professional editor to make sure you’ve covered all your bases. Be sure to vet them ahead of time!
If you’ve chosen to trust a developmental editor with your manuscript, you’ve made changes based on their suggestions. From here, you can send out the latest draft to betas again so they can assess the difference. (Try different betas if you’re going through a lot of drafts. You probably shouldn’t send more than two drafts to the same person – if they’re even willing for multiple rounds.) After beta reader feedback, you can decide to send an updated draft to the developmental editor, and after that, you’re likely ready to move on to technical editing.
Here’s another step that a lot of authors tend to skip. Line editing is all about language and word choice. Are you using the most effective language for your reader, for your book, for each scene? If that’s not as important to you as the story itself, dedicate yourself more to that. To those who want to nail it just right, line editing is for you.
A line editor will also ensure that your voice is consistent, and that the voices of the characters are consistent. They’ll assess pacing, overused words, awkward phrasing, and style, and they will help you make adjustments to heighten the readability and flow of your manuscript.
Here is a step that NO ONE can skip. While you can use one draft to self-edit (check out my self-editing article below), you should always, always hire a copyeditor.
[Related Article: How to Get the Most Out of Self Editing]
Some authors out there think that they can trust themselves and their beta readers to catch everything for them, but that’s not true. Sure, they may be able to catch spelling mistakes or the occasional punctuation or grammar mistake, but the English language is hard, and it’s almost a guarantee that they won’t catch the more refined errors – tricky homonyms, regional dialects, consistency, accurate usage, and the like.
That being said, this is also the area that contains the most scammers, aside from promotional scammers. There are people out there looking to make a quick buck, and they’ll offer copyediting and proofreading for a cheap price, but they won’t actually edit. They’ll run your work through an AI grammar checker and call it done. While AI checkers are helpful for writers and even some editors, they can miss things, and they can make mistakes. They will flag things that are correct, and they will make suggestions that introduce errors into your work.
So, when hiring a copyeditor, ensure that they are qualified and trustworthy, even if their fees are higher than those other tempting offers out there. You get what you pay for.
You may be confused. Proofreading? Didn’t we just do that? It’s the same as copyediting, isn’t it?
Not quite.
Proofreading, as opposed to copyediting, comes after your book has been sent to a designer/typesetter for formatting. They catch typos, grammar errors, spelling errors, and incorrect punctuation, yes, but they are also responsible for making sure the design features are correct as well. This includes:
If there are some terms above that you don’t know, I strongly advise that you don’t try to do this yourself, but instead to find a reputable proofreader. Even traditionally published books can get some of these things wrong, and if you don’t know what to look for, even proper research may not be enough.
However, if you are intent on saving some money and doing it yourself, make sure to do as much research as you can. I highly recommend ordering a proof copy from your chosen distributor (Amazon KDP is the most popular) and mark it up with a red pen—as is the intended purpose of a proof copy. Go through page by page and make sure everything is to your liking.
At the end of the whole process, your book is ready for its release and publication. Congratulations! You’ve put in a lot of work, so now it’s time to reap the rewards. Make sure you’ve also done the correct research and investment into marketing, and your book will have a proper fighting chance at success.
That being said, a lot of authors go through the different steps of this process many times before moving on. Sometimes they skip ahead. Sometimes they go back. The thing to remember is to find the process that works the best for you, and to follow it. You book is your baby, and as such, it deserves your whole attention, love, and care.
Should You Use One Editor or Multiple?
Working with an Editor Part 1: Content
Working with an Editor Part 2: Technical
Alpha, Beta, Editing, & ARC: The Difference
Self Editing—And Why You Should Do It
How to Get the Most Out of Self Editing
Tigerpetal Press is a small book press dedicated to publishing local authors and poets.