Editing and Publishing

Editing 

It seems to be a constant procedure. How many times can one go through a novel and still find errors? I say many. Just when you think you have it perfect, it's not. Look again. But I agree with many others, trying to edit your own work is endless. Seems you never can win.
Okay, just imagine you have all these eyes. You keep them in a case. You open it in the evening and you take out a fresh set. Plop them in your head. (You put the old tired set in the case which has "refreshing abilities")

Now you get to the editing. Hey you just found errors that never seemed to pop up before. So you get about five chapters done and you close off for the night. Next day you plop in another fresh set of eyes. You skim over those five chapters edited yesterday. Hey a couple more errors pop up. What is it with fresh eyes? Anyway so much for dreaming. Alas we only have one set of eyes so better to not edit when one is tired or has been at the editing for too long. Put it away and go back to it another day when your eyes are again "fresh".

Publishing

Things have really changed in the publishing world over the last decade or so. The world is a morphing creature and we are along for the ride. I love the aspect of e publication. And I didn't always. I was a die-hard print book believer. I vowed I would never take the e book route. Look at me now? I've got four novels and a number of short stories in e books, and I love it.
I love having a place for my work. Smashwords.com Thanks Mark. I love having a reason to write once again. After writing for many years one feels like it is a useless procedure if one cannot publish what one writes. Everything has changed now and sure there's crap out there, also mediocre stuff and great stuff, everyone gets their chance to have their say.

Here are a few things I think work well:

Don't be in a hurry to publish your first work. Make sure it's quality before you press the publish button. (I was in a hurry and just recently went through my first two published novels and found errors that mortified me)

Take the time to check your novels after publishing. If you are not happy with the formatting or the editing, fix it and upload a new version. (Both Amazon and Smashwords give you that option)

Look at your novels in an e book form. Go through it and I guarantee you if there are any errors they will pop out at you. (It is hard to detect errors on your manuscript) For publishing kdp Amazon, I change my word document to HTML (webpage filtered) then upload on the Mobipocket Creator. The Creator changes my HTML into a PRC which I am able to view on the Kindle Previewer or on my Kindle for PC.

If in doubt check with the  Kindle Boards or Smashwords Forum.  Both are excellent and have many friendly people there who are always willing to help out. (Thanks to all who have helped me over my hurdles)

Don't be afraid to venture into the e-publishing word. (I love print books, love to hold them, smell them when they are new,etc) but this is the age of e publishing, the time when everyone who wants it gets to have a turn at showing their work. Keep e publishing fresh and keep it top grade by sending off your best work, just like you would to a print publisher or an agent. No one wants to see your drafts, let alone pay money for them.

Bring on the future... and the future is e-publishing. Happy Writing Everyone! Stay positive now.

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Copyright 2011 by Carol Marlene Smith

Carol Marlene Smith is an author and artist living in Nova Scotia, Canada. She has four published novels and a number of short stories. She loves to write about the positive power of writing! carolstewart60@hotmail.com

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