I’ve done very little promotion, but I already make a sale to Great Britain.  I thought that was neat.

I have plans to post twice a week for three weeks here.  The posts will be on the subject of self publishing.  I will be going over each of the avenues I used, discussing pros and cons, formatting and ease of use.  I will have links to how to’s for each type of formatting.

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1. More On Self-Publishing Works In Progress is now up on smashwords and is...

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This is very exciting, but I am mentally exhausted.  I plan to pass on what I’ve learned about formatting and put links to guides up, as soon as I have a free moment to put together a well thought out post about the process.  It’s easier than you would think to do it for yourself.

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Here is what the cover looks like without the spine and back cover.

And then there is the thumbnail version that people will see on smashwords and the other ebook sites.

What do you think?  Is the title readable?  Do you think the cover looks good?

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I order the proof copy and found a few things wrong with the cover.  I also spelled my best friend’s name wrong in the dedication.  *sigh*  She’s the greatest crit-partner and proofreader.  She found the error.  So, I resent the interior and cover files with corrections made.  It’s been approved and I just have to order another proof copy.

When I have more time to sit an actually come up with an intelligent post, I will discuss the process I went through to get the book’s interior to look professional.  I have links to articles and free ebooks on proper formatting that really helped.  After all that I went through to learn how to format, I could probably have a little business on the side and offer my formatting services.  The process was actually enjoyable to a crazy person like myself.  I enjoy creating books covers even more, and I have thought about offering my book cover making services as well.

I will also keep everyone informed on how well or not my book does, once it’s up for sale.  Hopefully, I’ll get a little smarter and start promoting effectively.  Time. . .   I have no spare time.

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Here is the cover:

Click on the picture to get an undistorted view of the cover.

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The final inspection in diamond editing involves cleaning the diamond in acids and examining it to make sure it meets quality standards for that manufacturer.  When we edit our manuscript, this final process cleans up our words, fixes errors and makes sure that it meets publishing standards.

This proofreading stage will vary according to your strengths and weaknesses, but I have a few tips that you might find useful.

1. Spell-check.  Make sure it is turned on.
2. Grammar check.  If you have this option on your word processor, use it, but don’t always rely on it to be 100% accurate.
3. Change the font type and size when editing.
4. Read your story backwards, one sentence at a time.
5. Read it aloud.
6. Print out a copy and work in a different environment.

At this stage in editing, I am on high alert for all of my bad habits.  I will often use the find function in MSWord to catch a few of these, but many of them have to be caught while carefully proofreading.  When I search with the find function, I view each word in context and decide if I need to fix the word or leave it in.

Words I mix up:  woman/women; think/thing.

Unnecessary words:  that; and then; seems; felt; just.

Words that can be replaced by better words:  walked; looked; smiled.

I look for other weaknesses as I read each sentence carefully for spelling, grammar, punctuation or formatting errors.

1. Missing apostrophes for possessive nouns.  Water off a ducks back, should be water off a duck’s back.
2. Too many adverbs or –ly words.
3. Weird comma placement.
4. Misspelled words that are actually other words, such as tale/tail; me/my; or sweet/sweat.
5. Repeated words in the same sentence or even in the same paragraph.

To avoid getting overwhelmed by this process, work with one chapter or one page at a time and take plenty of breaks.  And when you are through, reward yourself for a job well done and rest in the knowledge that you now have a manuscript that will stand out from the crowd, in a slush pile or on an agent or editors desk.

I suggest that you line up a few test/beta readers who would be willing to proofread the manuscript and give you their honest opinion on the story content at this point.  A friend, a peer that you admire, and crit-partners that you have met online, are all good candidates.

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The last few days have been spent pouring over my manuscript while working on a query letter.  Yesterday, I sent out my first query.  I’m excited to be one step closer to my dream.  Many more queries will have to be sent out.  I know I will have to endure rejection after rejection, but I’m ready for it, if it means I’m moving forward.

Here’s hoping I’ll be able to start posting regularly again, with news–good or bad–on my queries and with posts about the art and craft of writing.

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In part one of my gems series on editing, we discussed macro edit which can be compare to cleaving, the first process that a diamond goes through after it is mined.  Blocking, faceting and polishing are the next steps.  The cut determines the brilliance and sparkle that the diamond has as light reflects off the edges.

Here is where you get down to the real shape of your manuscript.  I recommend reading the story through again, but one chapter at a time, just like the diamond cutter works on one edge at a time.  A 100,000 words seems like a daunting and impossible task, but you can tackle 2,000 to 5,000 words at a time.  Read the chapter and have a list of things you can do to improve it.  Your own list may be longer or shorter depending on your own natural writing ability and how long you have been writing.  Below is my list.

1. Rewrite awkward sentences and check for sentence variety while cutting out double adjectives and most of the adverbs.
2. Sharpen the dialogue.  Make sure it sounds natural, and evaluate the use of speech tags.
3. Look for scenes where you can use imagery to show instead of tell.  Also watch for any sentences with watched, hear, saw, felt, was and were.  All passive voice that tells the reader instead of shows them what is going on.
4. Reread the chapter to evaluate for flow and any plot holes that need fixing.

Diamond Editing

I repeat these steps for each chapter.  If I happen to catch homophones, spelling errors that spell check misses or grammatical errors, I will fix them, but my focus at this stage in the editing process is to make the story more readable or more entertaining.  Usually, I try to do two chapters a day or more.

What are some of the things you look out for and change during this type of editing?  Here is a great forum thread on what other writers look for when editing.

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I liken editing to the process of cleaving, cutting and polishing a diamond. Diamonds take a long time to form, and when they are mined from the earth, they are rough but still beautiful. Each stage in the process is important and essential to getting the most potential out of the tough gem.

Cleaving is the part of editing that can be started right after you have typed ‘the end’. This is where you step back and take a look at the large picture. Macro editing. Do you feel satisfied with your ending at that very moment? Do you have scenes that you will need to insert to make more sense out of your ending? Do you have a character that you need to develop more or one that you need to get rid of all together?

I recommend not actually making any of those changes right away. The diamond cleaver turns the rough gem in his hand and makes observations, then he sets the diamond in a type of cement and walks away from it, letting it cool. I suggest writing your observations and to do list down in notes, backup your draft one final time and then put it away for a minimum of thirty days.

During that waiting period, I take the time to celebrate, but I also start work on a new project. I will work on rough notes or an outline for a new novel or if I do not have an idea for the next book, I will find writing prompts and exercises to do that will usually give me some ideas. A week before I start editing, I will spend some time reading advice from others on the editing process.

When you come back to the manuscript read it all the way through. You will have a fresh perspective on it, and you can start working on those notes that you made earlier with confidence and precision. Tweak your ending, adjust your beginning, remove those characters or scenes that don’t further the plot and add the small foreshadowing details that add depth to the story and give more meaning to the ending. When you are done, put the manuscript away again. For a day, a week or longer if you need to.

For more ideas on macro editing you might find this .pdf file by Robin L. Perini helpful.

And a great book I recommend is:

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print

Coming up in Part II of Editing, we will go over the cutting process, where the dust flies and the sparkle begins to come through as clean edges are crafted.

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We have explored tense, point of view and imagery. In this article, we will discuss good sentences and how to make them work together to create narration that flows. While you are writing your rough draft, I suggest that you do not concern yourself with sentence structure, but with getting the story down as you see it happening in your mind. The ideas discussed in this article will be more useful during the editing process to help you polish the story.

For some of us, it would help to go back to the basics. If words like simple, compound and complex are not familiar to you, then I suggest reading this short article on The Structure of a Sentence.

Sentence variety can really freshen up your prose. It can be tedious reading if an author starts every sentence off with a pronoun or litters them with adverbs and too many adjectives. Sentences can be made stronger by cutting out repeated words and by including active verbs that show the reader what is going on instead of telling them.

Adverbs modify a verb or an adjective. They often weaken a sentence and should be used sparingly.

Example of an adverb modifying an adjective: The very slow turtle crossed the road.

An improvement would be: The turtle took his time crossing the road.

Example of an adverb modifying a verb: Paul walked slowly across the lawn, admiring the flowering garden.

An improvement would be: Paul strolled across the lawn, admiring the flowering garden.

This leads me to my next point. People don’t always walk. Sometimes they shuffle, stroll, jog, stumble, etc. Your character might look at something or someone, but sometimes they glare, stare, gaze, etc. Sometimes they smile, but often they will have a lopsided grin or their mouth might turn up slightly or they might bite their lip. And most people don’t go around sighing all day long.

When you edit your work, be aware of how you start your sentences. If every sentence or paragraph starts with I, he, they or a proper name, rewrites might be in order.

Compare the two sentences below. The first is full of the issues are mentioned above and the second is the same scene, but with active verbs, less adverbs and good sentence variety.

Ralph opened the refrigerator and frowned disgustedly. He gagged when the odor of spoiled milk and rotten eggs reached him. He slammed the door shut and turned to look at the kitchen that was filthy. Ralph had only been gone for a week, and he couldn’t understand how his roommate could let the place get so filthy that quickly.

Ralph opened the refrigerator and scrunched his nose in disgust. The rancid smell of spoiled milk and rotten eggs hit him like a battering ram. With speed he didn’t think he had anymore, he slammed the door shut and turned to glare at the filthy kitchen. Ralph had only been gone for a week. Where was his roommate, and how could he let things get so bad?

Another great article on sentences can be found here: edittorrent

Can you think of other ways to improve sentences? Do you have a pet peeve when reading that I did not include here? Or, was this article a help to you at all? I want to hear from you. Please leave a comment and let me know.

In my next post of fiction writing tips, I will be starting a three part series on editing, comparing the process to the cleaving, cutting and polishing of rough diamonds.

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