Charles Wiegand

How to Self-Edit Your Book: A Comprehensive Guide

2023/12/16

These past few years have seen a huge increase in the number of books written and submitted to publishers, to the point where traditional publishers rarely pick up a book from a first-time writer. In fact, of the roughly 4 million books published per year between half-million and one million are published by traditional publishers. The rest are self-published. The number of self-published books is difficult to determine due to many having not used a trackable ISBN. As of 2022, Kindle had some 12.25 million ebooks listed.

The traditional publisher Penguin-Random House publishes only 15,000 print books, yearly. They also publish around 70,000 ebooks yearly. HarperCollins publishes around 10,000 print books per year. The Hatchett Book Group published only 2100 titles in 2022 and that included both print and ebooks. Simon & Schuster publishes some 2000 books per year. As you can see, those numbers are tiny compared to 4 million books published annually. With such small numbers from traditional publishers, it's no wonder that first-time authors cannot get published by them. So, that leads us to self-publishing.

Here are a few more numbers to help put that 4 million published books per year into perspective: There is an average of 11,000 books are published per day; An average of 457 books are published per hour; that is eight new titles per minute. Within the US there are some 2,700 new titles published every day. Of course, all those numbers are approximate, so please don't think they are hard facts. Many books are published without an ISBN so they are not traceable.

I started with the dry statistics to show that it is one thing to write a manuscript, finish it up as a book, get it published, and actually sell more than a few copies to family and friends. Writing a book is an exhilarating journey, it is not easy by any stretch of the imagination, and it doesn't end with the last word typed. It is after you have that first draft finished that the real work begins—the editing phase.

Self-editing is a crucial step in refining your manuscript before seeking professional editing or publishing. It's the phase where your story transforms from good to exceptional. Editing is absolutely necessary if you have any hope of selling your book. No first draft is ready to publish, you must edit, revise, edit, and revise. How many times? That is up to you, the writer, but the more the better. And how long should it take? Weeks? Months? Years? Again, that depends on what you want your finished product to do—sit on virtual shelves or do you want to see real money coming in?

Let's clear up one thing before we delve into the nitty-gritty—the manuscript is not yet a book. You are writing a manuscript, a publisher publishes a book. Your first draft is going to be lousy no matter how good you think it is, just accept that and prepare yourself mentally for the arduous tasks of editing further drafts. Just for your information, some of the greatest authors put their manuscripts through multiple drafts. For example, Earnest Hemingway's book "The Old Man and the Sea" supposedly went through 200 drafts. J.K. Rowling reportedly did at least 15 drafts of her book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone." Stephen King is known for his meticulous revision process, supposedly his books go through at least three drafts before publishing. F. Scott Fitzgerald put "The Great Gatsby" through an estimated five to 10 drafts. So, how many should you do? Only you know the answer to that question, but rest assured, if you pay a professional editor, he or she will certainly tell you.

What is your first draft? It is your thoughts in roughly the order of the story you want to tell. Don't worry about editing it, just write everything, and get it all out, so you can later read through it and do a second draft: sort it, put it in the order you want, then after that worry about editing. Some people will write the first draft based on an outline which will need to be fleshed out over several drafts. Others will write "from the seat of their pants" and just throw words out there and let the story go where it will. Then fix it in later drafts. It doesn't matter which way you choose to work, just get the words out and written, then work with them. When writing your first draft try not to edit yourself, try not to criticize your work, those come in later drafts.

Your first draft does not need to be in the perfect order that you imagine the story in, have fun, and write whatever comes to mind. Putting it all in order comes in the drafting process. Your second draft is where you will work on major plot points and move chapters or paragraphs around in the document. Try something different in the timeline, experiment with characters and how they interact. This is where you identify the main plot and the subplots, make sure they work together, and look for any loose ends or plot points that you started but failed to close.

When you've gone through your manuscript and it seems to make sense to you, you should get a second set of eyes reading it. That person should not be a family member or other loved one, it should be a neutral party, someone who will be honest with you. This is where you will find out if the story is cohesive and makes sense. Listen to what they say about any problems, and take them to heart, consider them, and make changes as necessary.

Now you've had your masterpiece read by another person and you've made some changes, it's time to start fine-tuning, the nitty-gritty editing process.

Here are some tips to guide you on how to effectively self-edit your manuscript:

1. So, you've finished your first draft, great! Now it's time to take a breather: Completing your manuscript is a monumental achievement, but it's essential to give yourself some distance before diving into edits. Taking a break, whether for a few days or better yet—a few weeks, allows you to detach emotionally from your work. This mental separation is crucial for approaching the editing process with fresh and unbiased eyes.
2. When you start into what will be your second draft I suggest that you read your story aloud as you edit it: In this way, you engage your auditory senses by reading your manuscript aloud. This technique helps uncover various issues that might have been missed during silent readings. By hearing the words, you'll notice awkward phrasing, pacing problems, and dialogue inconsistencies more effectively. You will find those pesky looonnnggg sentences that need to be split into two or more sentences.
3. Begin the editing process with a high-level assessment of your manuscript. Look for overarching issues such as plot holes, inconsistencies, character arcs, and pacing. Ensure your story's structure flows logically and captivates the reader from the first page to the last. Tools like storyboards or outlines can aid in visualizing your narrative arc and ensuring coherence. You can use any of the various writing programs or use sticky notes at your desk, on your wall, or whatever is necessary to keep the storyline going in the correct direction without any unfinished subplots.
4. Refine Your Characters: Your characters are the beating heart of your story. Ensure each character is well-rounded and consistent and contributes meaningfully to the narrative. Dive into their backgrounds, motivations, and relationships. Creating detailed character profiles can help maintain consistency and authenticity throughout the story. You should have a character details sheet for all the main characters and a lesser detailed sheet for everyone else mentioned in the story.
5. Trim and Tighten: Trimming excessive words, redundant phrases, or unnecessary scenes is vital for maintaining a concise and engaging narrative. Streamline your storytelling by eliminating anything that doesn't serve the plot, character development, or thematic elements. Maintain focus on the core elements driving your story forward. Look for the words "just" and "that" in particular, you can remove almost all of them and it will not affect the sentence they are coming out of. This is where reading out loud really helps. Look for phrasal verbs that aren't necessary, for example: "stand up" and "sit down" are redundant unto themselves, use only "stand" or "sit." There are many examples of unnecessary words on the internet.
6. Look at your Language: Refine your writing style by emphasizing clarity, precision, and coherence in your sentences. Eliminate clichés, excessive adverbs, eliminate clichés, yes, I meant to emphasize that one, and change passive voice to active whenever possible. Pay attention to the rhythm and flow of your prose (your writing), ensuring it complements the tone and mood of your story. If your story has a character that only speaks with a formal tone don't use any more contractions than necessary and then only in dialog, for example, that character needs to maintain their formal tone from beginning to end.
7. Dialogue, the characters speaking to each other: Dialogue should feel natural and move the story forward. Ensure each conversation serves a purpose, whether it reveals character traits, advances the plot, or builds tension. Each character's speech should be distinct, reflecting their personality, background, and emotions. Do not add dialog for the sake of adding more words to your word count, never, never, never! The same goes for over-flowery (purple) prose—overly ornate prose text that may disrupt a narrative flow by drawing undesirable attention to its extravagant style.
8. Fact-Check and Research: For non-fiction or stories based on real events, factual accuracy is paramount. Double-check details, dates, locations, and any technical information presented in your manuscript. Consistency in facts is crucial for maintaining credibility and reader engagement. For non-fiction, if you are writing a story that includes writing about a job you know nothing about, research that job, learn the ins and outs of it, and what a person doing that job likes and dislikes about it. Writers probably spend more time researching than writing and often research some very esoteric and even risqué subjects.
9. Get Feedback: Seek input from beta readers or writing groups, as mentioned above, do not ask your husband/wife/mother/father/son/daughter to read your manuscript. They're more like to give you only positive feedback and nothing truly useful in revising your story. Constructive feedback from fresh eyes can provide valuable insights into areas that might need improvement. Consider questions like: Are there any parts that confused them? Did the pacing feel right? Did the characters resonate with them? Are there any sections that are irrelevant and do nothing to advance the plot?
10. Proofread: Meticulously proofread your manuscript for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. This is the hardest part because you are so intimately familiar with the text. Your eyes will start to skim over the text and you will miss punctuation and spelling errors. One thing I found useful is to start at the back of the manuscript and read each sentence, one at a time, from the back working toward the front. That takes you completely out of the story and you can concentrate on the individual words, punctuation, and sent structure. Seriously consider using editing software or hiring a professional editor for a final polish. Proofreading ensures that your manuscript is free from distracting errors that could hinder a reader's immersion in your story.
11. Remember, write, edit, repeat: Editing is an iterative process. Don't be afraid to go through multiple rounds of self-editing. Each pass allows you to delve deeper into the nuances of your story, refining it until it shines.

Conclusion: Self-editing is an art that requires time, dedication, and a critical eye. It's the transformative process that shapes your manuscript into a polished gem ready for the world to see. Embrace the journey, for in the end, your efforts will culminate in a masterpiece that readers won't be able to put down. Or, just throw your book out on the internet, call yourself an author, and forget about it. Many people do just that.

By following these steps and immersing yourself fully in the self-editing process, you're not just editing your manuscript; you're sculpting it into its best possible version, into a book that people will want to read.