This post was written in response to the Insecure Writer’s Support Group monthly (first Wednesday of every month) blog hop to where writers express thoughts, doubts and concerns about our profession.
Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG
The co-hosts for the August 1 posting of the IWSG are Erika Beebe,Sandra Hoover, Lee Lowery, and Susan Gourley!
August 1 question – What pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid on their publication journey?
The single best piece of advice I’d give an author, especially an author who is aiming to self-publish, is to find a good editor.
It seems obvious. I mean, everyone knows that, don’t they?
It also seems easy. I mean, there are plenty of editors out there, aren’t there?
Yes, to both, but authors can still make mistakes. I did.
When I finished my first novel, I found an editor via Goodreads. She was recommended by another editor an author I knew had hired, and she was reasonably priced.
I thought I’d got it right, until another editor, who saw my book, which had been accepted for review on Rosie’s Book Review Team, read my novel and pointed out some / too many errors in the first few chapters.
Most were punctuation, but not all. I’m useless at commas. I actually have nightmares with them, so I was relieved that an editor/proof reader had gone through my manuscript, but it hadn’t been done thoroughly.
I’ll forever be grateful to Alison Williams for pointing out these errors in my novel and for her patience and advice while editing the following two novels.
An author knows and expects that not every reader will enjoy their novel, for numerous reasons, style, characters, plot, etc. and that’s acceptable and to be expected, but what is unacceptable is to have editing errors.
All novels whether self-published or traditionally published should be professionally edited.
There are many editors available, and I’m really not an expert on finding the right one, I was just lucky I found her, or rather she was kind enough to find me, just a few a months after I published All Hallows at Eyre Hall, in May 2014.
I cringe when I think of those few months when my novel wasn’t in perfect condition. The good news is that amazon makes it really quick and easy to update your new version for both kindle and print.
Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to like and/or leave a comment 🙂
What about you, what pitfalls would you warn other writers to avoid before publication?
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Rereading Jane Eyre 
Excellent post, Luccia. I did the exact same thing as you and likewise cringe at the thought of people having read my initial efforts.
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Thanks for owning up to that, too! I’m sure there are many who’d prefer to forget it ever happened 🙂
I’ve learned so much over the last four years, since I published my first novel, and I’m still learning! But that was my first and biggest mistake, which wasn’t entirely my fault, and was relatively quickly put right.
It’s no consolation that I find slip ups in traditionally published novels, but readers tend to blame the publisher in that case, not the writer.
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Agreed! Especially since Alison is also my editor!
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Aren’t we lucky!
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Thank you so much for mentioning me 🙂 It’s been a pleasure to edit your work (yours too, Noelle!).
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You’re welcome! And thanks again for your patience and for being so professional😍
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Happy belated IWSG Day! Yes, finding a good editor is important, but it can be difficult. Still, it’s worth the time and research to find a good one or two.
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Definitely! Thank you for dropping by:)
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Great advice – it does seem obvious, but there are so many things to think about when you’re writing a book!
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