Two Year Novel Course: Set 8 (Final Edits/Submission and Publication)

By Lazette Gifford

This is the final book of the Two Year Novel Course covering weeks 78 through 104. The final sections cover both traditional and indie material when it comes to publication with many additions from the original versions over a decade ago.

Although originally listed as 9 books, the last two have been combined to make a reasonable length release.

• Language: English
• Publisher: A Conspiracy of Authors
• Release date: May 7, 2013
• ISBN: 9781936507351

Lazette Gifford

Lazette is an avid writer as well as the owner of Forward Motion for Writers and the owner/editor of Vision: A Resource for Writers.It's possible she spends too much time with writers.And cats.

Book preview

Two Year Novel Course: Set 8

Final Edits/ Submissions and Publication

By

Lazette Gifford

Copyright 2013 Lazette Gifford

An ACOA Publication

www.aconspiracyofauthors.com

ISBN: 978-1-936507-35-1

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Table of Contents

Notice about number of books and Indie Additions

Introduction: Final Edits

Week 78 -- Editing, Part One -- The Many Facets of Editing

Week 79 -- Editing, Part Two -- Style and Editing

Week 80 -- Editing, Part Three -- Passive Voice

Week 81 -- Editing, Part Four -- Semicolons, Colons, and the Attack of the Random Comma

Week 82 -- Editing, Part Five -- Who/Whom and Me/I; Parallel Structure; Brand Names

Week 83 -- Editing, Part Six -- Adverbs and Weasel Words

Week 84 -- Editing, Part Seven -- Senses, Changes, and When to Give Up

Week 85 -- Editing, Part Eight -- Book Doctors and Beta Readers

Week 86 -- Editing, Part Nine --Edits and Copyedits

Week 87 -- Editing, Part Ten -- Not Rewriting

Week 88 -- Editing, Part Eleven -- Polishing, and the Last Steps

Introduction: Submission and Publication

Week 89 -- Submission and Publication, Part One -- A Few First Notes

Week 90 -- Submission and Publication, Part Two -- A Look at Agents

Week 91 -- Submission and Publication, Part Three -- What is your market?

Week 92 -- Submission and Publication, Part Four -- Choices in Publishing

Week 93 -- Submission and Publication, Part Five -- Keeping Track of Things

Week 94 -- Submission and Publication, Part Six -- What Does It All Mean?

Week 95 -- Submission and Publication, Part Seven -- Query Letter

Week 96 -- Submission and Publication, Part Eight -- Synopsis, Part 1

Week 97 -- Submission and Publication, Part Nine -- Synopsis, Part 2

Week 98 -- Submission and Publication, Part Ten -- Cover Letters

Week 99 -- Submission and Publication, Part Eleven-- Sending Out the Package

Week 100 -- Submission and Publication, Part Twelve --Letting Go, Patience, and Accepting Rejection

Week 101 -- Submission and Publication, Part Thirteen -- Problems with Agents and Publishers

Week 102 -- Submission and Publication, Part Fourteen -- Learning to Live with Publication & Marketing

Week 103 -- Submission and Publication, Part Fifteen -- Adapting What You've Learned to New Manuscripts

Week 104 -- Submission and Publication, Part Sixteen -- The End

Bibliography

About the Author

About A Conspiracy of Authors

Notice about number of books and Indie Additions:

Originally there were going to be nine books in this set. I have combined numbers 8 and 9 because 8 was somewhat short.

I have also added considerable new material to bring the submissions and publications section into a world that includes indie (self-published) works as a viable choice. Although the chapter titles still reflect the traditional side, there is something for Indie authors in each of the publishing and submissions sections.

Introduction: Final Edits

Some of you may not have needed to do all the work in the Second Draft section (at least for this novel), but everyone has to learn to edit their work. Because of the limitations of a class and book of this type, I can't teach you everything you need to know about editing. However, I hope to point out some of the usual big problems and point you to other works which can help.

Don't fret over this part of the class. Editing is another part of writing. If you approach it with an open mind, you may even enjoy the work.

Week 78: Editing, Part One -- The Many Facets of Editing

Learning to edit is very much like learning to write; you will eventually find the way which works best for you. Checking out the different possibilities and the ways that other writers work can help you pick and choose the ones you find helpful.

There is one important thing to always remember:

You don't have to fear or hate editing.

This is another part of writing, and the sooner you get used to it, and accept it as part of the job, the easier it will be for you to work with publishers. You are going to have to edit at some point in your career. Even the book you thought was perfect is going to come back with notes from the publisher and copyeditor.

Many facets of editing

This is a quick overview of different types of editing. I will go into detail on many of them in the upcoming classes.

1. First Draft editing while you work

All of us edit as we write to some degree. A line we type isn't quite right so we delete it. A word isn't the one we're looking for, so we go hunt down a better one. Some people do more editing in the first draft than others.

I do not edit much during my creative writing process. I've found it stops the flow of the story and I get bogged down in little details and lose the feel of the scene and sometimes even the idea of where I wanted it to go.

So massive editing while I write is not a good idea for me.

Some people edit the material they wrote the day before and then start their day's writing as soon as they're done with it. This can help get you back into the swing of the story and help you catch some bad phrases. However, don't let yourself get stuck in the editing mode and not move on. It's a good way for a story to die because you don't feel the editing is going well.

Always remember: The only story you can't fix is the one you never write.

There is one other point to always keep in mind if you edit while you go. Don't believe, just because you reached 'The End' that you won't need to put the story aside and go over it again later. You are too close to the story when you 'edit as you go' and can miss even some obvious problems.

Editing while you write is not an excuse to avoid going over the story again, no matter how good your first drafts appear to be.

2. Rewriting

This is the most drastic editing you will ever have to do, and it's what I covered in the last book. This is not something every manuscript will need. However, there are times when you look at a story (quite often an older one) and love the idea, the characters, maybe even the plot but you realized the story itself is lacks some vital spark. No amount of line editing is going to fix it. This will require a complete rewrite from scratch.

This can be a surprisingly liberating experience. If done with an older manuscript, it can also show you how much progress you've made in your writing skills.

This also means that no story you write is ever wasted. Go ahead and write the stories you want to, even if you don't think your skills are quite up to it yet. Writing what you love will keep you interested in writing -- and the more you write the better you become. So don't be afraid to write your story!

3. First pass editing

First pass editing is often the most annoying part of the writing/editing process. This is where you are going to find all kinds of little problems which need to be fixed, from spelling to unexpected name changes. It's where you are looking for plot holes and flawed logic.

This editing is best done after a cool off period for the story. The closer you are to the original, the harder it is going to be for you to see the mistakes. This is also the edit you want to do before you pass the story on to anyone else. In a novel, this can be a long process... but there's no reason to rush. Doing a novel right is better than doing it quickly.

4. Editing from a critique

Many writers use critique groups or beta readers to help them find the errors in their stories. It's very helpful, especially if you find yourself working within a timeframe where you can't take a long break before you do serious edits.

There are, as always, problems associated with this type of editing. You must always remember to keep track of your vision of the story. Just because someone you think is a good writer says you have the wrong POV and the story should be a fantasy rather than an sf novel doesn't mean you have to change the story to suit them. This is your novel: you get to decide what works and what doesn't. Read the critiques and study them, then decide what will help the story without changing it into something different.

If you get help from several people don't try to incorporate everything everyone says. The best thing to do, either for a single reader or a group, is to look for a pattern of problems and see if you can't improve the story by reworking that area.

Avoid getting critiques from people who are not writers or from writers who are not working in your genre.

A reader's critique may be helpful later, when you really think you have everything covered, but at an early stage they can be more destructive than useful. Non-writers may sense things wrong, but not be able to give a clear-cut idea of what it is, and will not be able to give you a clear idea of how to fix it. People writing in other genres may not 'get it' and offer you fixes which won't work within the constraints of your material. Anyone can offer grammar fixes, however.

5. Line edits

Line edits are the 'fix the prose' edits. Some people do them on paper and others on the computer. Wording, punctuation and grammar get their final checks at this time. Usually many of these changes are incorporated into an early draft, but it is always wise to go over the story, line-by-line, one more time before you send it out.

Read it aloud. Really. The voices we hear in our heads (Oh yes, I know about those voices!) do not have the same 'sound' as when you read aloud. You cannot trust those voices to show you the problems in your prose.

Reading aloud can be embarrassing at first, but if you get used to it you're probably going to find a real improvement in your writing. Read to yourself. Don't rely on someone else listening to you for a couple reasons. First, if you do so, you are then tied to when this other person is available, and second, you know what you are trying to say and they don't. Read into a tape recorder if it helps.

Having page count goals for line edits will help you get through them, even when you want to pull your hair out or tear the manuscript into tiny little pieces.

6. Publishers Requests for changes

This is the first of the 'out of your hands' changes and edits which can occur. It's rare for any novel to go through the publishing process without some requests for changes. Sometimes the things the publishers ask for are drastic, and at other times they can be simple additions or deletions. If you have made it this far with the novel, don't let yourself go crazy over it at this point. Discuss changes with your publisher if you're not sure what it is they really want, or if you really think a change impacts the story in ways they might not have considered. Do not have fits over the small stuff. Save your 'good writer points' for the big problems.

7. Copyeditor's edits

Copyeditors go through and mark all the changes needed to be made in the manuscript. These may be changes to conform to the publisher's house style, or grammar and punctuation mistakes you missed. However, never count on the copyeditor to fix your mistakes. It's unlikely the story will ever get that far if you aren't diligent enough to make most of your own corrections.

Copyeditors are also on the lookout for continuity problems -- those odd changes in eye color which occur for no reason in stories, for instance.

Copyeditors sometimes are wrong. That's why you have to read through all the manuscript and check every change. In most cases you'll accept the change, but in some you'll STET the spot, which means to 'let it stand' in the original form.

Sometimes copyeditors take it upon themselves to improve your prose and do odd things like change aqua to azure and gently inclined slopes to rolling hills. Sometimes there is no reason for it, and if you get a case where the copyeditor has rewritten the novel to suit their tastes, then you need to talk to the publisher and find out what your choices are.

However....

If you are going to argue over changes, make certain it's over something important. Don't waste your good will with the publisher on little things. Step back and look at the problem and make certain it's worth the trouble you are going to go through. Yes, this is your precious novel and every word is gold... but always keep the wider picture in view. You want to be published, and you don't want to gain a reputation as someone who argues over stupid little things. Make sure your disagreements are over things that will make a difference in the story.

8. Galley copy

This is the final version you're going to see before the publication, at least in print runs. Not all publishers send out galley copies, though. These are bound versions of the book as they will appear in the final product, except they often don't have the covers completed.

The author reads through the pages looking for any typographical errors which may have slipped in during the set up of the templates. There can be no large scale changes at this point -- so if you suddenly realize your character cannot have scaled Mount Everest and still been in time for tea, then keep it to yourself.

Below are a few links to various web pages on editing.

Holly Lisle's One Pass Editing:

http://hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/one-pass-revision.html

This is a popular way to edit. I can't do it because I get