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Think successful authors have everything all figured out? That they don’t need help to create their novels or getting them publishing ready?
When speaking with author Saundra Mitchell, who won the Indiana Author Award for All the Things We Do in the Dark and was nominated for an Edgar Award for Shadowed Summer, she gave me the details of what her manuscripts go through before they are published.
1. She does multiple personal revisions.
2. Her agent developmentally edits her book.
3. She gets it back and edits based on her agent’s suggestions.
4. Once it’s sold, there are at least two more rounds of developmental editing with her publisher’s editor. With each round, she gets it back and edits her work as well.
5. Two rounds of copyediting from the publisher, which she gets back and edits herself again. (Sometimes two different copyeditors work on it at this stage.)
6. A third round of copyediting happens with the publisher. She does not get it back at this point.
7. There are at least three rounds of proofreading after the copyedits and possibly more than one proofreader works on it.
8. Typesetting.
As you can tell, there are at least 12 rounds of edits the manuscript goes through before publication!
That’s not all the people involved in publishing a novel.
According to Saundra, “There is a graphic designer, a book designer, printer, often an illustrator, a team of PR people, a team of public marketing, a team of school & library marketing & PR and then sales teams for booksellers, and sales teams for schools and libraries. Each book is easily touched by at least 20 people in the traditional publication track.”
Notice how many teams she mentions?
But Saundra isn’t the only one who goes through the stages above. Other successful authors do as well. I’ve spoken with many people about the process, and they all tell me similar tales.
All traditionally published authors have a team(s) of people who help them get their novels to publication status.
Check out this acknowledgements section of Jess Lowery’s book The Taken Ones.
“Big thanks to Jessica Tribble Wells at Thomas & Mercer, who is my literal partner in crime. She makes all my books better, but she straight up midwifed this one. Charlotte Herscher, thank you for your brilliant combination of guidance and support; please always be my developmental editor. Jon, my writer friends are jealous I have such a magnificent copyeditor, one who cheers when I (correctly) write Dr Pepper without a period.”
Jess’s acknowledgments continue with her thanking and praising her proofreader, agent, a forensic scientist, and her friends for supporting her, and her children.
It’s a long list, and it should be. Almost all authors have this much support to create fantastic novels.
(I met Jess Lowery at a writers’ workshop last year. She’s a wonderful person and very talented in my opinion. She’s a mid-list author who has won awards for her novels and written bestsellers. And she still uses a developmental editor for every one of her books. I know this, because we chatted about it.)
If you think big famous authors don’t, think again.
Dean Koontz’s acknowledgements for One Door Away from Heaven:
“To Tracy Devine, my editor, who never panics when, far past my deadline, I want to take yet more time to do draft number forty before turning in the script, whose editorial eye has twenty-ten vision, who is graciousness personified, who makes every phase of the work a delight …”
Jodi Picoult’s House Rules acknowledgments take up a page and a half!
The point is, you don’t have to, nor should you try to do everything on your own.
It’s not only okay to ask for help, it’s a must.
Only you can decide what kind of help you and your outline or manuscript needs.
If you choose to do some or all of this on your own, it takes a lot of time, and you may not have the skills necessary. So, you must weigh your time against your funds.
Do you want to spend all your free time on learning how to edit at the developmental stage, the copyediting stage, the proofreading stage, formatting, cover design, etc?
That’s time away from your family and friends. Consider how much you value that time and if you are willing to give it up for 6 months, 12 months, or more.
My advice, for what it’s worth to you, is to save money from the time you write the first word of your manuscript to the time you complete your self-editing rounds.
Only you know how much you can save per week, month, or year.
No matter what, you must invest in yourself and your book. Whether that investment is time or money is up to you.
All authors need support. Please don’t be scared of asking for help. Successful authors wouldn’t be successful without help from others in the field.
Writing a novel takes a lot of effort and time, and it takes a community to get one ready for publishing.
Need an experienced professional editor on your team? Contact me.
Need an extra set of hands to write or finish writing your novel? Reach out! I ghostwrite too!
Happy Writing and Revising!
Krisitn Noland - Speculative and Crime Fiction Ghostwriter and Editor
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