As a traditionally published author, the final editing for the manuscript was always a simple project: proofread the copy edited manuscript, see if there were any errors, and then send in whatever errors were found. That was it.
However, Non-Traditional POD publishing requires the YOU, the author, do the final editing, which comprises line editing, copy editing and proofreading. As most writers already know, rereading a manuscript for the umpteenth time doesn’t really work that well. Why, because whatever errors you missed – punctuation, typos, misplaced paragraphs, etc – you will usually miss again, because you are reading what you know so well you don’t usually see the errors.
My solution: Have 4 different people read the manuscript. Not just four people, but people who understand the language and are grammatically “in the know”. ) Finding anal retentive readers is also a plus.)
My choices were an accountant, a lawyer (two very anal retentive types) a friend who is an extremely avid read and my wife. My wife has always been my in-house editor, and for this final version of the manuscript, my wife used a trick we had been taught by one of my editors years ago – to read the manuscript backwards. Reading it backwards does not mean just starting on the last page, but starting with the last word and reading every word from back to front. Why?
The reason to read the manuscript in reverse is elemental. Every word sticks out. You are able to see every misspelling, every wrong spelling (to / too, is / are, new/knew, etc). This helps to make your manuscript more professional.
Once I received the four manuscripts back, I went over each of them, correcting my main manuscript and making sure everything was just the way it should be. Once that was done, all that was left was to set up the opening pages: dedication, acknowledgement, copyright and title pages. This wasn’t as simple as I’d thought.
In order to do the copyright page, I needed to have the novel copyrighted, and to get two ISBN numbers as well as a Library of Congress number (LCCN). BookSurge was there to help, and my publishing Representative explained fully what I needed to do, and what the costs would be. A few days later, I had the ISBN 10, ISBN 13 and my LCCN. My Rep had also explained how to go about getting the novel copyrighted, rather than just using a simple author’s copyright. Once again, following his instructions, I registered online with the U.S. Copyright office and set up my account. I was then able to register “Angels In Mourning” with their Electronic Copyright Office (ECO) System, and file a copy of my manuscript electronically, as opposed to having to send in either the manuscript or wait for a Galley to send them.
My next step was to set up my dedication and the acknowledgement page. Those were easy enough, but I assumed they would appear in a certain order and they did not. The acknowledgement page came first and then the dedication. For some reason, I had thought they would either be on their own page or the acknowledgements would come after the dedication. Assuming that, I’d written something into the acknowledgment that had the dedication, if read first, would have explained. Be that as it may, it was a small enough error that it really didn’t matter to anyone except me.
The title pages and my previous novels page were easily handled and once the manuscript was completed, and set up as the Publishing Representative and the BookSurge instructions called
for, I uploaded it and we were off to the races.
COVER ART
Every Author will tell you what they liked and disliked about every book cover gracing their novels. Very few author’s unless you are a damn good seller, gets to select his/her cover. Usually, the publisher chooses the cover that will best sell the book, according to the way they see the market. Very rarely does that book cover truly reflect the work contained in it. It’s also one of the major pet peeves of midlist authors.
After looking over the BookSurge template covers, and not finding anything I liked, I went over their costs for a custom crated cover, and winced. While their charges for setting up and printing a manuscript were very good, the artwork charges were a bit high (but from my research, I didn’t see anyone with any better art work rates, and quite a few that were higher).
I called a friend and graphic artist, Bonnie Brunt, who I had worked with before and asked her to do the cover. She agreed quickly, and I shipped out a manuscript for her to read. Her charges were much better than the publisher, and after she finished the book and sent me her first impression, I knew it was a winner - she had captured the real 'feel' of the story.
We went through a few revisions, but the artwork stayed the same: It was cover print (Title, author name) and back copy print and photo set up that had to be revised a few times. Once it was ready, and she and my Publishing representative talked specs, she finished the artwork and we sent it in. My book was ready for publishing!
While this was a ton more work then I would have had to do if I’d published traditionally, every minute spent was a good minute. There is something innately wonderful about handling even these tedious tasks when you know they are yours.
THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IT, BUT….
Needless to say, when my galley arrived, and I read through it, I found four more typos and one sentence that I’d thought I’d changed. Thankfully, proofreading works and I was able to make the last changes and we were finally ready.
My next blog: Have you ever lost an editor? With Non-Traditional Publishing, losing a Publishing Rep is the same thing… Oh boy!
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