Over the next few weeks, a free-lance editor from a pool of talent that edits manuscripts under contract to the publisher, will work through my manuscript. By the end of this week, my manuscript file will be somewhere on the hard drive of one of these contractors. In the old days, I might have said, “in their hot little hands”, but that was then and this is now. Even though this is just one more stage in the process of shaping a manuscript into a published work, there is a sense of finality in the air today.
After another conversation with the publishing consultant marshalling me through this stage of the process I committed to the developmental package proposed (more $$$$ on the table) by the publishing house. Remember that self publishing means self financing too, so shop carefully. Be prepared to lose your bankroll, based on the chance that sales of the final product will never cover your expenditures. Neither time nor money can ever be replaced, once spent. Writing a book will take your time, and financing the process will consume some of your money.
The reader may be puzzled at the phrase “a sense of finality in the air” being used to describe an ongoing process. While this may seem like an erroneous comparative descriptor, in my mind, it makes complete sense. Let me explain.
* First, when ever you put money on the table without knowing if you will ever see any of it again, images of a croupier racking in the chips comes to mind, and a sense of finality enters your soul.
* Second, I invested some more time in applying changes to my manuscript suggested by way of a copy-edit, done by a friend at no cost to me. This enabled me to forward a revised manuscript to the editorial office with some important correction already made to the text. Every time a writer completes an edit of their work, there is a sense of finality that comes with completing anything.
* Third, I received an email from the editorial office that my manuscript had been launched on the first stage of the editing process that would take a few weeks to complete, so for a while, what happened to my manuscript was in the hands of others and out of my control. There is a sense of finality that comes when we say goodbye to the product of many hours of work, even if it only for a short while.
My publishing consultant left me with some sage advice at the end of yesterdays conversation. He advised, that once I submitted my manuscript to the first stage of the process, I should put my work away for the time being. He advised, that responding to the results of the first stage of editing would be much easier if I distanced myself from the text for a while. The goal of this creativity abstinence regimen is to free my mind from the content of my work. At the same time, I could free up my creativity, so I could be my most productive self during the next phase of the manuscript development process. I have done exactly as he has suggested.
While I await completion of the first stage of the process that started today, I intend to write about the struggle to get outside oneself in order to be objective about your own writing. It should be interesting to see if I can develop the ability to be intimately involved with my work and remain remotely objective at the same time. Until the next post………..
Related articles
- Manuscript Editing (manuscriptreader.wordpress.com)
- What Makes a Manuscript Stand Out? (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
- Professional Editorial Services for Authors (local.answers.com)
- Copy Editing for the Beginner (english.answers.com)
- 3 Key Points Successful Self-Publishing Authors Embrace (projecteve.com)
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Sorry for my complete lack of manners re: my apparent non-reply. I just discovered the message button on my WP-admin page. I continued my series on e-publishing as work has progressed and I hope it has been informative. Once my book is released I plan to discussed costs and cost effectiveness of services.