Book Update: Editing Done

In my last book update, I wrote about how I decided to self-publish my book and about my process of choosing a book editor. My editor and I began work on the book manuscript in mid-February and made it our goal to complete the book edit in six weeks. We completed it in five.

The edit was a wonderful yet exhausting process. My editor first asked me a series of questions to guide our work, and asked me to send her copies of any sources I quoted. Then we launched into the manuscript, with her sending edits to me and me sending back replies, as we moved chapter-by-chapter through the manuscript. Then we went back through the whole manuscipt a second time. By the time we reached our final review, the manuscript had been thoroughly combed through and cleaned up.

Working with a professional editor definitely brought a level of consistency and polish to the text that I wouldn’t have achieved on my own. But the most surprising and delightful thing was how fun the process was. My editor didn’t just focus on correcting the language; she focused on clarifying the message. Her enthusiastic feedback showed me that many parts were working well, some parts needed tweaking, and a few parts needed untangling. The message of the book is even more clear now.

So now the book edit is complete. What’s the next step?

Well, first I need a bit of a breather. These last five weeks, I’ve put in 10-20 hours per week on my part of the book edit in addition to what I’m writing each week here on the blog. To maintain that pace, I’ve had to shove aside some other important things–like getting back into running and working on some necessary home projects. The sacrifice has been worth it, but I’ll need at least a couple of weeks to work on restoring my balance before I look towards the next phase of book production. I’ll have some more updates soon.

Thanks for reading as I continue The Truly Good Book series and give more updates on the book! Subscribe via email below, or follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or WordPress.

_{Featured image by Nathan Riley on Unsplash}