Hello! Dale Beaumont here, host of Get Published TV. Welcome to the only dedicated show on the internet to help you to write, publish and market your own bestselling book. Well, I’m excited about today’s video. We’re going to be talking about a very important process for both fiction and non-fiction writers and that is the editing process.
Now, in a previous episode of Get Published TV, I walked you through the different stages that a book needs to go through from the writing phase all the way through into actually being a physical product that you can hold in your hands. Now, I’m not going into too much detail but I will just give you a keep overview.
You have your book which is being written and then after that it goes through the next stage which is editing and then after that it goes through another stage which is called proofreading. After that, it goes through the stage called typesetting. That’s just a fancy name that they use to actually take your ideas that are normally just laid out in a word document and make it look like that, make it look really nice and pretty and adding all the graphic design.
And then, after you have your typesetting then, you’ll have your book printing. So, that’s pretty much the stages that each book goes through. But after you’ve actually finished your book would not be finished at that point but once you feel that you’ve taken it as far as you can go, then the next stage is the editing process or to work with an editor to then take your book to that next level.
Now, there are different types of editors that you can work with and it really depends on how skilled, how competent you are as an actual writer and how much you know about that particular topic if you are a non-fiction writer. If you’re a fiction writer, then it’s how well you can actually you’re going to tell the story, develop the characters, create the different transitions, build a story, etcetera, etcetera.
Now, I’m just going to for a moment assume that you are already a fairly competent writer or you’re able to create a good message and your product in the way the words that you’ve written are solid. If they’re not, then we’re going to talk about what to do and how to get feedback before you go to this step because you don’t want to be paying for editing until you know that your book is actually got potential and it’s actually got some good content.
Alright, so but let’s assume that you’ve done all of that. It’s a quality book and it’s got some great stuff in it and now you just say, “Okay.” Well, I need to now make sure it’s right so you can get into that next stage neither submit that manuscript to a publisher or alternatively, then you can go through the process of getting the typesetting and proofreading done so then you can actually self-publish.
Now, here’s my first big tip that I’m going to share with you and that is if you are submitting to a publisher, then pay an editor to have your book edited before you submit it. Very, very important tip because for most first time authors where they trip up is that they submit their book to a publisher and the publisher sees that there’s a whole lot of mistakes in it or there are sentences that haven’t been structured properly even words, there are spelling or grammar issues which is obviously a big no-no when you’re submitting to a publisher but there are things that as a first timer, there are certain mistakes which could’ve been picked up if you work with the professional editor. Now, it is true that if your book is picked by a publisher then they will actually pay for the editing.
But the only way your book will be picked up is if it’s a really good book to begin with and of course if you’ve got all the other things which I have been speaking about in previous episodes like building your author platform and having a list and having people you can market the book to and they able to do speak engagements, the media, etcetera, etcetera.
So, I’m not going to go down that path but what you need to do is in order to be picked up, you need to make sure you pay for some editing prior to submitting your book to a publisher. Okay, so I’m not going to really expand anymore on that but I will say that if you’re a first timer in my opinion you need to bite the bullet.
It’s going to cost you some money but it’s going to cost you a lot more in frustration and even rejection so do it up front, work it into your budget, find a way to make sure you pay for it so you can get a good quality editor. What I want to go through now with you is a couple of point on realizing that I’m probably going to go overtime here so I may give you one more main tip and then I’ll come back and do another video tomorrow or the next day and continue this conversation along.
The next big, big, big tip is -- was two parts there, there was a part I import part B. The first tip and it should be obvious but you’ll be surprised. There's this someone who once said to me, “Common sense, isn’t always that common,” which is very true. But here’s the thing, make sure you get engaged, an editor that actually specializes in books.
Now, you might say, “Isn’t that obvious?” Trust me, you’ll be surprised at the amount of people that have called me up saying, “My editor is an absolute disaster.” And I say why are they -- disaster for? Have they done any books before in the past? They say, “No, they were journalist and they used to editing articles and many erasing things and like, well, there’s the mistake.
You should never work with someone that doesn’t specialize in books. You want to work with the book editor not a journalist, not a copywriter, not someone who’s a film editor or ad specialist or anything else other than books. If you stick with books, then you’re going to get someone that actually should, not always true but should know what they’re actually doing.
That’s point number, I don’t know what it is but its part A. Part B is then make sure you find an editor that specializes in -- guess what, your style of book of course. You don’t want to be working with an editor if you’re writing a sports book and they are a science fiction editor or something like that.
You want to make sure you got an editor that specializes in books and ideally one that specializes in your type of book. So this is the start of my series that I’m going to create. I may do two videos on this or three videos. The editing step is really important as well. A lot of people fall down and make critical mistakes. That is the reason why their book doesn’t get picked up by a publisher or it’s the reason why they published their book and they lose a lot of credibility because their books are full of mistakes and errors and they get pulled apart by other industry professionals or the media, so make sure you get this right.
I’m going out of time on this video but I know I’ve shared with you some important tips. Make sure you take it on board and I will see you back again tomorrow for another episode of Get Published TV. This is Dale Beaumont. Thanks for watching. See you next time.
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