FINISHING YOUR BOOK – is a fantastic achievement (even if that “novella” turns out to be a 92,000 word novel… oh well) but the hard work doesn’t stop there. The good news is, there’s a ton of fun stuff coming up.
In this video, I’ll talk about how my original idea changed into the book that I just finished (but not by much, thanks to some good planning) and what I’ll have to do between now and launch day to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Enjoy!
How did you do that so fast?
A blatant disregard for beard-growth and personal hygiene definitely helped.
Nick, I’m only a minute into the video and I am thinking only one thought: You need sleep! Don’t overdo it. Get some rest…..!
Wait…how are you going to get your 90k novella ready? Surely you didn’t just bang it out then send it off to a copy edit–I’m assuming you cut it down some first? How’d that go? I also wonder about how you manage getting it all edited then sending it out to your betas…if you incorporate new material, then you’ll have a draft that needs another edit, right? Then you’ll have to pay the copy editor again? Also, what are you doing to recruit your beta team? Is it working? I have some ideas for doing this myself but would love to hear how it’s going for you.
Also, seems like you discourage developmental editing, and I’d love to know more. Sometimes I use this, sometimes I don’t…it just depends on the complexity of the book. Do you have a system that dictates when you go this route or when you don’t? Thanks!
Remember it’s been planned out fairly meticulously, so there is very little room for “waffle”. I finished the first draft and then spent 2 days tweaking various parts I’d saved for later (in the draft I put a [REFERENCE] note where I come back after to fill in the gaps or tighten things up, so that stops me from losing my flow).
I actually changed very little during the two-day tweaking – mostly just tidying up language and removing the odd sentence or two that didn’t work on a re-read, fixing continuity errors, tone problems, etc. Minor stuff.
Then off to developmental + copy edits. I 100% think developmental edits are fantastic – but the ideal situation is to not make any developmental errors before you write it. I’ve been in the unfortunate situation of writing a full novel, realising the structure was totally wrong, and having to re-write half from scratch. So my recommendation is to do the developmental work BEFORE you write the manuscript!
So my manuscript is being looked at from a developmental point of view, because you might as well be sure, but the goal is to not have any issues there because I’ve done that part already (see the video with Joe N “Help! My Book Sucks!” for more on that).
When I get that back in a couple of weeks I’ll know how much work there is left to do! Hopefully not too much LOL.
When the book is ready to publish (so I’ve got it back from the editor, incorporated changes, re-written anything I don’t like any more, and then sent for proofing) I will start building a launch / review team. Those guys will also be Beta Readers and I’ll encourge feedback at that point, for final tweaks before release. Depending on how much changes it may or may not need to go back for another round of proofing.
A) Digging this real-time process posting. Thank you for sharing (and good luck!).
B) I’m feeling fairly lost in terms of the work done since the last post. In the previous post, you’re describing being happy with around 1,500 words/day in a 5-day work week. This post, which seems to be just a few days later (but obviously isn’t), you’re describing how your novella turned into a nearly 100K first draft (!).
I’m confused about the actual timing for your first draft. How long has all of this actually taken…?
Ha! I wish it had only taken a few days LOL – unfortunately there wasn’t really anything interesting to post about while I was just writing and writing and writing (and writing). Total writing days were 62, which averages out at around 1,500 per day. In reality, some days were lower and some much higher. And that’s not taking into account the Christmas break (I literally got nothing done for about 3 weeks with the kids off school and various trips) and days spent planning and outlining.
The second book is already outlined though – which took about 2 hours. And I can already tell this is going to be WAY faster. Will update on that soon!
Awesome, looking forward to learning about that!