As a freelance picture book editor, my inbox is flooded daily with pleas from authors who need to know how to fix a mistake they made without spending a fortune. The truth is, not every mistake is easily fixable. But many of them are avoidable.
Below are the top 10 mistakes I see authors making—and how to avoid them!
1. NOT HIRING AN EDITOR (OR HIRING AN EDITOR AT THE WRONG TIME)
Picture books are short—usually fewer than 700 words—so it’s easy to see why new authors might believe they don’t need an editor. The reality of the situation, though, is that the slight word count makes hiring an editor even more important.
It’s not uncommon for a manuscript to change dramatically in the editing process. But in order illustrations begin.
