How to Edit Your Novel - My Tips and Tricks

Round 3 of editing is underway. Only 250 pages to go! :P

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Curious about my editing methods? Want to know how I plan my books? You can learn all about my process here.

Don't forget to check out my editing checklist while you're there. 

Is Self-Publishing for You?

Workshops, community groups, author advice, and every how-to book imaginable—all the things I utilized to craft the perfect query letter. When one wasn’t particularly effective, I modified it and kept track of the results. I checked my inbox obsessively, and when I saw that an agent responded, my heart would stop. “This is it!” I thought. “My book is finally going to be published!” But, the majority of the time, it was a generic rejection in the form of “This isn’t right for my list.” The whole process was not only overwhelming, but very discouraging. In fact, I almost quit writing as a result. Then, I received the crème de la crème of emails from an interested agent. She wanted a full manuscript exclusive!   

Within a week, the agent had read my book and gushed about it. She said it was highly marketable, but I just needed to “tweak some things.” These things turned out to be not so little. She was removing entire characters and changing the era. I unwittingly made the changes. She read it a second time and said the same thing. I was so close and wanted to be published so badly, so again, I made the changes. She read it a third time and suggested even more, and again I complied. The process took a year. The result? I absolutely hated my book! Everything had changed and my voice was completely buried. I didn’t know who I was writing for anymore…and it showed. I received a cold hard rejection after everything. The worst part? The book was so mangled that I abandoned it. 

This experience was the push I needed to self-publish my first novel, Strange Luck, a psychological YA fantasy about a world built on stolen memories. Self-publishing not only allowed me to see my dream to fruition, it allowed me to present the story I wanted to share with the world. Here’s why self-publishing worked for me and why it might work for you:

Every Decision is Yours: Self-publishing allows you complete control of your story, its characters, and even the description readers see on the back cover. If you choose to work with a professional editor (highly recommended), it’s still up to you to implement the changes. You also get to decide what your book cover looks like.

Publishing Is Quick: Since self-publishing is relatively instantaneous, you can see your book to market anytime you want. This is a great option if you have a particular release date in mind.

Creative Freedom: Unless you’re Stephen King, the majority of agented authors do all the marketing and promotions themselves. This includes booking and putting on author events. Since you’d most likely be doing it anyway, you can take the opportunity to be creative with your marketing efforts. Set up giveaways with a unique catch, create a You Tube channel and vlog about your book and what you’re reading, or even create your own Twitter hashtag. 

Full Ownership: You own all of the rights to your book so you can do whatever you want with it, including selling movie rights if you so choose.

More Money in Your Pocket: Not only do you get to choose the price for your print and/or ebook and where your book is sold, all royalties go to you. You’re also paid once a month vs. once a year. 

Springboard to Success: Some of the best-selling, highest grossing books of all time were self-published. The Joy of Cooking, 50 Shades of Gray, and The Tales of Peter Rabbit are among some notable success stories. The majority of best-selling self-published authors go on to sign with major publishing houses usually because their books and the market they created get too big for them to handle on their own. Self-publishing is actually a great opportunity to get published traditionally. If these authors hadn’t self-published their books to begin with, they might not have gained the attention needed to sign a major publishing deal. 

Whatever your journey, whatever the outcome, the important thing to remember is to NEVER EVER give up writing. Yes, rejection is painful, but it happens to everyone. Stephen King’s Carrie, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Madeline L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time, and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind were all repeatedly rejected by publishers, but it didn’t stop them. And, it shouldn't stop you! Rejection could actually be the driving force you need to take matters into your own hands.

Have you checked out my other posts on writing? You might enjoy these too:

How to Write A Novel, Part 1: Let The Journey Begin

How to Write a Novel, Part 2: Brainstorming, Drafting, and Getting Organized

How to Be a More Productive Writer

Comments? Questions? Marketing tips? Share below.

Planning Your Novel, Part 1: Let the Journey Begin

The writing world can be overwhelming and difficult to navigate, so it’s important to get your head straight first. There isn’t a single path or author playbook that you need to follow. It’s all about exploring the diversity of options out there and doing what works best for you. I hope that the below tips (based on author interviews, books about writing, and my own experiences) will help you on your writing journey. 

Finding Your Voice: Your voice, style, and ideas are your own. Set yourself apart by being yourself and owning it; otherwise, you’re just another name in a sea of names. Perhaps fantasy author Neil Gaiman said it best: “The urge, starting out, is to copy. And that’s not a bad thing. Most of us only find our own voices after we’ve sounded like a lot of other people. But the one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision.” Way to go, Neil!

Don't Follow Marketing Trends: It’s tempting. You think, well if so-and-so made a million dollars writing a book about a zombie who falls in love with a vampire, then so can I. The truth is that by the time your book is ready, the trend will likely have passed. Also, think of all the other writers who are thinking the same thing. Write the story you have to tell, not the story you think you should tell.

Panster vs. Plotter: You can really drive yourself crazy reading all of the different writing blogs and message boards weighing in on whether to outline, plot everything in advance, or just write and edit as you go. Remember, there is no single path to writing a book. Experiment and do what works best for you. When I first started writing, I thought I needed to be a plotter and followed tedious guidelines. Not only did I felt trapped, my creativity suffered. After more trial and error, I finally embraced my “pansterness,” and found a method that worked for me. 

Get Feedback: One of the most important things you can do is share your work with others. This can be in the form of talking about plot ideas over coffee, or simply giving a trusted friend your first chapter to read. Something might sound great in your head, but in reality it might not work. There is a fine line though of not letting others’ opinions influence you too much. Maintaining your own voice is key. Also, be prepared for feedback. No piece of literature is universally loved. Nearly every person, be it a friend, family member, editor, or agent, will have a different opinion of your work. It’s your job to recognize recurring issues and make changes if you believe they’re valid. There's also the possibility the everyone will only give you positive feedback. Although this certainly can boost your ego, it's more likely that your friends and family are just being nice and/or they don't have a critical editing eye. Branch out to beta readers, freelance editors, and online or local writing groups. Critical feedback is worth its weight in gold. 

Grammar School: When you’re so enraptured in your own work, it’s easy to miss something. Even the best, highest grossing books have typos. Be sure to turn on all of the spelling and grammar functions in Word and go through each flagged item carefully. Feeling rusty? Pick up a book on editing techniques or download an app to strengthen your skills. Printing out your work and going through it with a pen is another valuable technique because it gives you an opportunity to see the story in another way. Have others read your work. When you feel your book is completely polished, hand it over to a professional editor.

Remember The 3-Dimension People: It’s easy to sit too long at a desk and forget to get outside and be with the 3-dimension people. Giving your brain a chance to relax not only recharges you, but can also lead to unexpected creativity.

To Fix or Abandon: Sometimes, a story just doesn’t work. You can spend an ungodly amount of time trying to fix something that you end up destroying even more every time you touch it, or you can abandon it and start from scratch. This is one of the most difficult decisions a writer can make, but it’s better to have a well-written story that works, rather than a pieced together mess. I can definitely relate to this point after having an agent ask me to rework my first novel. It took me six months and I re-submitted with the changes. She said I was on the right track, but asked me to change major parts of the story (e.g. the era). Again, I rewrote and re-submitted. The result? I hated the changes because the story wasn’t even my story anymore. It was an abomination. I knew it, the agent knew it. So, after much anguish, I decided to abandon the project completely. The upside? That experience not only helped me find my voice in writing a new novel (Strange Luck), it allowed me to focus on the story I needed to tell.

And now I leave you with an inspirational quote from my favorite author, Henry David Thoreau: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams and live the life you imagined.” 

What are you waiting for? Get out there and write!

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Legit Book Awards & Contests for Self-Published Authors

You poured your blood, sweat, tears, and maybe a little vodka into your book. Now it’s time to showcase your efforts! I’ve put together some of the most notable and legit fiction book contests specifically for self-published authors to help you get out there and win some awards.

FREE Contests:

The Book Designer Monthly Ebook Cover Design Awards: This heavily trafficked site is definitely worthy of entering because there are no restrictions on publication date and it’s super easy to submit your cover. Restrictions: Your e-book must be published at the time of submission.

Library Journal SELF-e Book Awards:  Library Journal honors the best self-published e-books in the following genres: Romance, Mystery, Science Fiction, and Fantasy. There’s one winner and two honorable mentions in each genre. Each genre winner receives $1,000.00. Restrictions: Although submissions for 2015 have already closed, this is a good one to keep in mind for 2016. In the meantime, you can submit your book to SELF-e. If selected via Library Journal’s SELF-e curation process, your e-book will become part of a unique discovery platform for participating public libraries across the U.S. that enables patrons to read e-books on any device, at any time. This free service is available to all self-published authors, no matter which self-publishing service(s) you use.

The Guardian Legend Self-Published Book of the Month:  The Guardian is the first national newspaper to champion self-publishing on a regular basis. The prize has been created with Legend Times, an award-winning independent publishing group, with companies including traditional fiction publisher Legend Press and a self-publishing company New Generation Publishing." Restrictions: Open to UK Residents only.

The Bram Stoker Awards: Each year, the Horror Writer's Association presents the Bram Stoker Awards for Superior Achievement, named in honor of Bram Stoker, author of the seminal horror work, Dracula. The Bram Stoker Awards were instituted immediately after the organization's incorporation in 1987. Awards are annual. Restrictions: If you wish to submit your work for Jury consideration, you must follow the special guidelines based on the type of work you're submitting (e.g., YA novel, long fiction, etc.).

Contests That Charge a Fee:

Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards: Whether you’re a professional writer, a part-time freelancer or a self-starting student, here’s your chance to enter the premier self-published competition exclusively for self-published books. This self-published competition, co-sponsored by Book Marketing Works, LLC spotlights today’s self-published works and honors self-published authors. Restrictions: There are different fees and deadlines based on the type of contest you’re entering (e.g. poetry, self-published, popular fiction, etc.). Contests run throughout the year so there’s bound to be something that suites you and your book.

The IPPY Awards:  Book awards are open to independent authors worldwide. Winners get a ton of exposure, notably through Publisher’s Weekly publications and emails. New categories this year include Cover Design - Fiction and Cover Design - Non-Fiction.

Eric Hoffer Award for Independent Books: One of the largest international book awards for small and independent presses. The Hoffer Award recognizes excellence in publishing with a $2,000 grand prize and various category honors and press type distinctions, as well as Montaigne Medal, da Vinci Eye, and First Horizon awards.

Benjamin Franklin Awards:  Administered by the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), the Benjamin Franklin Awards are unique in that all entrants receive direct feedback on their entries. Indie publishers and self-published authors are invited to enter. The inclusive program includes fifty-five categories recognizing excellence in book editorial and design.

Readers’ Favorite:  They accept manuscripts, published and unpublished books, e-books, audio books, comic books, poetry books and short stories in 100+ genres. There is no publication date requirement or word count restriction. Entries are accepted worldwide.

You can also check out Published to Death and Creative Writing Contests With No Entry Fees for additional opportunities.

Want even more contests? Try researching writing contests specific to your state (and sometimes city), as well as your age,  writing genre, and first time author opportunities. If you do decide to enter a paid contest not on this list, be sure to do your research first and ensure its sponsor is worthy of putting on your resume. Good luck!