You’ve completed a manuscript! Congratulations! It’s honestly—no sarcasm—an impressive feat. Depending on which studies you trust, less than twenty percent of people who set out to write a book actually finish it. Pat yourself on the back, throw on the music of your youth, and have a little dance party.
You’ve earned it!
Screech. That’s the sound of your music stopping.
You’ve got a finished story, but now what? What are your next steps?
Your path forward depends on your goals.
You really have three-ish options.
- Do nothing. You’ve finished a manuscript. It’s something you’ve always wanted to do. Save your story, celebrate a little more, and tuck it away for the next time you want to remind yourself that you accomplished something impressive.
- Pursue self-publication. It’s a faster route to a finished product, which allows you more control, but it lacks the backing of a publishing house and makes it much harder to place your novel in brick-and-mortar bookstores.
- Pursue traditional publication. Sacrificing creative control means working with a team of professionals who will help edit, design, and market your book. Traditional publication means more access to bookstores and lower up-front costs.
We can delve into the pros and cons of self-publishing versus traditional publishing in another post. For now, I want to focus on where Option 2 and Option 3 merge.
If you want to publish a novel—independently or traditionally—you have to revise.
“But my story is brilliant,” you say. “There’s nothing else like it in the world!” It may be a high-concept, marketable manuscript with a twisty, inventive plot and characters every reader adores.
I pinky-promise your fabulous first draft will be better after a revision…or three.
Start with a self-guided revision.
Most authors have a gut sense when something is off in their writing. There are lots of options to work through a revision, but here are a few of my favorites:
- Read your novel OUT LOUD as quickly as you can. The all-caps was intentional. Hearing your own words will help you stay focused, look for places you trip or get lost, and identify plot holes. Avoid the compulsion to make changes, as it will slow down the read-through. Instead, make notes in the comments, on your phone, or in a handy dandy notebook. It will help you identify places where the story is weak and determine a path to fix those mistakes.
- Reverse outline. Many outlining guides are available online, ranging from the Save the Cat Beat Sheet to the tried-and-true Hero’s Journey Outline. Ask yourself if the story is moving through the typical story points with plenty of tension, action, and character development.
- Follow a seasoned author’s revision template. Susan Dennard’s Guide to Revision and Jessica Brody’s Organized Way to Revise are fabulous, free models for tightening your story.
As a (future) writing professional, you owe your readers—whether because they’ve paid to read your story or they’re doing you a favor—a clean, coherent manuscript.
Find beta readers or critique partners.
A beta reader is an impartial third party who is willing to read your manuscript and give specific feedback on where the story is strong and where it needs improvement.
Don’t ask your mom or any other family members to read your manuscript. Few families are great at constructive criticism. Instead, let your loved ones be your cheerleaders!
Many bookstores and public libraries have writing groups, where you may be able to find someone willing to exchange critiques. I found my critique partners at AbsoluteWrite, and we’ve been together for fourteen years!
The only downside of critique groups and beta readers is the timeline. Unless someone is already in the industry, they’re reading and writing as a hobby. Your manuscript won’t be important to many of beta readers, and you may end up waiting several weeks or months to get any feedback.
Hire an editor for a developmental edit.
A developmental edit is a close, critical review of a manuscript to identify plot holes, character weaknesses, world-building mistakes, pacing pitfalls, and more. It doesn’t focus on grammatical errors—except where they are annoying or make the story difficult to read.
Unlike a copy or line edit, a developmental edit examines the structure of a story. Many developmental editors will include in-document notes and a separate editorial letter to suggest revisions, best practices, and ways to make the manuscript more engaging and coherent.
I was very, very lucky when I found my beta readers. They have all been traditionally published—a true miracle in the industry—and all gave rich, helpful, informative direction. Their guidance helped me polish my novels and get an agent.
But nothing compares to a professional edit. I didn’t recognize the difference until I received my first editorial letter from Simon & Schuster. It was both overwhelming and impressive. A professional edit focuses on a deep analysis of a story’s bones, while a beta read concentrates on a personal experience and may or may not include solutions to fix mistakes.
Once your manuscript has been revised, you can move forward with the next stage in self-publishing—copyediting—or write a query to seek an agent.
More information on both of those subjects will be included in upcoming posts.
If you’re interested in a free sample edit, please reach out via the contact page. I’m always happy to give future clients a taste of what a professional edit would include.
