After You Finish Writing, But Before You Publish

Sometimes I think that some readers of independently published books, as well as some writers of indie books (particularly those who may have met their goal on their first ever participation in NaNoWriMo) don't really understand the process of indie publishing. Since you can take your word-processing work the instant you first type "The End" and upload it onto KDP or Nook, Kobo, Smashwords, etc. with a family photograph or a standardized template as the cover and hit the publish button within minutes, some people think authors do, or, worse yet, should do, just that. But, there are a number of steps which better indie book authors take before they hit that publish button.

1. Set the manuscript aside for a bit. Remember that impulse purchase you made in the grocery line? That person you slept with based on your instant chemistry at the company holiday party? That extended warranty you got from the stranger who cold-called you? That wildly inappropriate joke you laughed so hard at you could never finish telling before you shot Diet Mountain Dew out your nose? That liver and banana quiche you ordered at the restaurant that just opened? That clever email you posted about your boss on social media from your work computer? Yeah, those all seemed like good ideas at the time, but didn't really look that way after a bit of sober reflection. You're quite reasonably excited about finishing the initial draft of your book. But, the first thing you must do is step away from the computer.

Celebrate, work on another project, catch up on your favorite television shows, read a book ... or three, take a walk or, better yet, take an extended vacation. Clear your mind, eat a piece of bland bread as a palate cleanser, focus your attention on something else, but do something to get some intellectual and emotional distance from what you've written. You can't see how others might react to what you've written if you don't look at it with a fresh mindset. You can't see your own errors when you are still in the afterglow of making them.

2. Reread, edit, rewrite, and repeat. It is vanishingly unlikely that your first draft is perfect. There are many who say all first drafts are crap. Some may be, but that certainly should never be your goal. You should make your first draft as compelling and readable and sensible and good as you can, but even when you do that, mistakes will creep in. Since your mind knows what you intended when you just wrote something, it won't process the errors that you made as errors--it will subconsciously cloak and correct those errors as you reread. There's less chance of this and, thus, a greater chance of fixing your own mistakes, when you give your writing some distance before you edit and/or rewrite. Repeat this process until you no longer find mistakes or you are just so sick of and familiar with the material you can't stand it any more.

3. Have others critique your work. You have no real hope of understanding how a reader will parse and react to your words unless you have some readers actually read and critique your work. This probably shouldn't be your mother, your spouse, or your best friend, unless those people are capable and willing to be brutally honest with you. There are plenty of critique services and writing groups available online and in your local neighborhood. Avail yourself of one or more of them. Or, ask some fans of your prior work to take a look at your most recent work with a view to improving it.

Critique services, writing groups, and beta readers can be hard on your ego. Try to find and stick with those who are constructive in their criticism and don't delight in making snide remarks. (Those interested in spoofs of the more toxic aspects of some who critique may be interested in my Frame Shop novella or my Christmas Carol Critique Collection.) Ask them to read your book and pass on any comments they have. Those can be anything from typos and grammar corrections, to indications of where the action gets confusing, they can't tell who's talking, or the pace slows to DMV line speed. Collect those comments. Go through them--I prefer to go through comments from multiple sources at the same time page by page, so I can see if the comments are consistent or if one commenter's suggestion fixes another commenter's issue, too.

If you find yourself getting angry or frustrated, walk away, cool off, get some distance from the experience, and try again later.

Then, make corrections, edits, and changes in light of the comments and suggestions you've gotten. Remember, you don't need to take every suggestion made. Some may be inappropriate or may represent individual preferences or viewpoints that are counter to your target reading demographic. Comments from various sources may even be contradictory. One of the skills an author needs to develop is to determine which comments to take and which to pass by.

4. Repeat step 2.

5. Hire a competent copy-editor and send your book to be copy-edited. A good copy-editor will find and suggest fixes for things which you and your writing group and/or beta readers won't find. They'll also find things no spell-check or grammar-check program will find. They'll find misspellings that are other words than you intended (my favorite is when I typed "soldier" when I meant "shoulder"), they'll know to let grammar comments slide because they appear in dialogue and that's just how the character talks. They'll notice when you use the same word too often or too close to another use of it. They'll notice when the syntax and cadence of one character is too close to that of another character. They'll notice when you use the word "that" or "very" or "began to" too much or whether you capitalized "Earth" on page 37 but not on page 216. And, they'll know that I should have written out thirty-seven and two hundred and sixteen.

Don't cheap out or use somebody who replies to a random query on social media. Good editors don't have to chase business; they have as much as they can handle. If you don't know how to find one, check the acknowledgements in an indie book you recently read that flowed well and didn't have noticeable editing flaws and see who their editor was. A quick Google search can usually locate the editor.

6. Get a decent cover made. I've made my own covers. I've used standard templates. I've bought pre-made covers. And, I've paid for professionals to make covers based on my suggestions for what I was looking for. Look at my wall of covers on my website at www.donaldjbingle.com. I think you'll be able to tell the difference. Invest a bit in your book--after all, you're asking readers to invest in your book and they don't even know you or whether your book will be any good.

7. Write a pitch to use in marketing your book. Whether you use it on the back cover or a press release or your website or the order page for your book for the various online stores, you want to pitch your book in just a paragraph in a way which draws the reader's interest, but does not spoil the story.

8. Seek out blurbs and reviews. Sure, your book will get reviews--hopefully honest reviews from real, independent readers--once it is out on the market. But, it's always helpful to get a few blurbs or reviews from others before you publish, so you can use them on your front and/or back cover, your press release, your crowdfunding pitch, or your pre-order and order pages. Famous, credible people provide the most marketing boost, especially if they are famous or credible because they know something about what the book is about. That can be because they're a famous author in the genre, they are an actual non-fiction expert in the field, or are known for their reviews of books of the type you've written.

While I've gotten incredibly lucky with a few cold-call email requests from some famous authors, I've also been helped by the fact that I've belonged to a number of formal and informal organizations of writers who have helped each other with writing tips, open call notices, convention presentations and readings, and marketing posts. These contacts have been great in helping out with blurbs or suggesting or introducing me to others who would be great people to approach. Also important, though, is to avoid asking people who you know get waaayyyy too many blurb requests, be polite and deferential in your requests, allow the potential reader and blurber to work on their own schedule if they seem inclined to acquiesce in your request, and to not pressure them in any way. Even if you don't get a blurb, you may make a new friend and that can be even better.