Save Money with Better Self-Editing

I have said it many times, but self-publishing is indeed a business. And like pretty much all businesses, there are a certain amount of start up costs involved in running a professional set up. Unfortunately, one of the most expensive—but absolutely necessary—parts of the self

-publishing process is editing. Depending on the condition of your manuscript, you can spend thousands of dollars from developmental editing to content editing to your final proofreading.

Most of us are on a tight budget when we’re just starting out—I get it! As we get things up and running, we usually don’t have much of a budget to work with. This can cause a lot of people to cut corners, resulting in a less than professional product. 

So what can a new author do when they want to produce the best product possible, but have limited resources? Well, one of the best things you can do is to become a better self-editor before your book goes to a professional.

Now, I am a huge fan of the messy first draft. I think the best way to simply get words on the page is to free write, letting your ideas flow with abandon onto the page. In fact, for most of my first drafts I use dictation. That way, I don’t see what I’m writing, and I’m not tempted to stop and edit every miss-spelling or punctuation error. I am simply getting the thoughts and ideas down. If you try to edit while writing, in my humble opinion, you can spend your entire working day trying to perfect a single paragraph. 

Now of course, after you’ve word-vomited your first draft, you have to begin the arduous process of fine-tuning it into something that resembles a book. This is where refined self-editing comes into play. I do this by making multiple editing passes looking for different things—such as content, themes, setting, consistency, etc.

My process might look something like this: 

1. The very first time I run through it I’m simply cleaning up my dictation mess. Restructuring any scenes that are out of place. Making sure I don’t want to just completely delete a scene. Catching glaring misspellings and typos along the way. I’m not so concerned with how every sentence sounds. If my sentences are all “telling” or boring at this point I just let it go. As long as it’s telling the story in the way I want it to be told and the scenes work, I move on.
2. The next thing I’ll do is do a pass for whether or not my chapters compel the reader forward. Does every scene end with a hook? Is there enough micro tension throughout the way? Does each scene need to be there to move the story along or can it be cut? 
3. The next pass I’ll do is for catching consistency. Is there the correct passage of time? Are people‘s eye color the same throughout? Did I spell her name the same? This is also a good place to look for patterns of things you know you normally do in error. Are there words you tend to over use? Do you consistently misspell the same thing? For example, I use the words “OK” and “well” in basically every dialogue sequence. My characters also tend to nod and shrug a lot in my first draft. (Quick tip, do a “Control + F” to find the mistakes you know that you commonly make.)
4. The next thing I’ll do is what I call my X-Factor pass. This is where I really drill down on making my prose sing. Injecting all the feels into my words. Tightening those sentences so they deliver a 1-2 bunch at every turn. I focus on setting, all five (six) senses, chiseling the dialogue and internal monologue. (Psst, for more on my X-Factor approach, catch my MasterClass at SFWC 2022)
5. And then finally, I do a pass for any typos, misspellings, and grammatical errors I can find. It is amazing that no matter how many times you go through your manuscript, you are going to continue to find mistakes. So don’t beat yourself up, it will happen. 

NOTE: Realistically I do more than five passes usually—by the time Isend it to my editor I’ve read it so many times I want to set it on fire. So I get how frustrating it can be. But it’s all part of the glorious process. You’ll be grateful you did it!

Lastly, if you’re able, I highly recommend partnering up with either a critique partner or finding some beta readers to read your work. They can really help catch things that you as the author are too close to notice. 

There are also a couple of great editing products on the market now that can really help you catch mistakes. Grammarly and ProWritingAid are two very affordable options that you can run your manuscript through that will catch all kinds of problems. From spelling errors to typos, grammatical issues, to stylistic issues, overused words, etc.  Now, please, these programs are definitely not a substitute for a real-live quality editor because while insanely intelligent, the programs can’t always take into account context or your particular style. But, it can be a fantastic way to add another layer in your self-editing process. 

If you follow these steps, your manuscript is going to be ten times cleaner when you finally send it off to a professional editor. Your editor is going to spend less time correcting grammar and choppy writing, and more time focusing on the meat of the story. The fewer rounds of editing you need, the less money you’ll spend. And saving money is good business! 

As always, if you have any questions about the business of self publishing, never hesitate to drop me a note at amandajclay@amandajclay.com. 

Happy Writing! 

Amanda J. Clay writes gripping domestic suspense and thrillers with complex, kick butt female leads designed to keep you up all night.  A Northern California native, she currently lives in Nashville, TN with her dashing, real-life hero of a husband who inspires her heroes and villains alike. During the pandemic they welcomed their first daughter who is doing her best to keep them on their toes.

amandajclay@amandajclay.com

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