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Self published?

Meadow337

Meadow337

Former Moderator
So here is my little moan about self published books, but let me start by saying I think it is a fantastic way to go. Tons of great stuff will never see the publishing light of day because it isn't fashionable or 'sellable' (in the view of the publishers who after all are primarily in the business to make money) so on the whole I'm not knocking the concept HOWEVER and here comes the moan ... self-published does not mean you don't need an editor. And by editor I don't mean your family or best friend who haven't the heart to tell you 'this is junk' or 'this needs serious rewriting' or 'hey don't you think you over did the adjectives?' or 'this just doesn't make sense here'.

Pay some one if you have to - there are tons of people offering varying degrees of editorial help online - but get an editor. For the sake of your readers. Please!
 
a thesaurus is a wonderful tool but NOT every word needs an archaic and creative alternative - most often just plain grammatically correct English will more than suffice.
 
I agree, hire an editor. Especially since so many people want to use self publishing as a way into traditional publishing. If your only published work is riddled with spelling and grammar mistakes you aren't making a good impression.
 
I can't agree more about this subject. I have purchased more self-published books this year, there have been some good diamonds in the rough.
 
SFG75 said:
I can't agree more about this subject. I have purchased more self-published books this year, there have been some good diamonds in the rough.
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Yes I just want to be clear - I'm absolutely in favour of self-publishing and there are many great books amongst the self-published BUT the basic errors need to be fixed - spelling, grammar, typos, continuity, fact checking etc and that is what an editor / proof reader is for. With the best will in the world you can't spot all of your own errors.

If you are serious about writing and publishing your work be serious about it and do what's needed in terms of all the behind the scenes work. It isn't just write the book, put it in a readable format and publish. There is tons of work that goes into proof reading, rewriting etc that needs to be done regardless of whether or not it is you or a publisher who is doing it. Skipping those steps means that you are not giving your work the best face it can have and you are letting yourself and your work down in the process.
 
I’ve been saying this for I don’t know how long. I sell my short stories for a buck, and each one of them gets a pro-designed cover and a pro-edit. I pay for that stuff. By the time my self-published shorts hit the market, I’ve almost $100 into them. My last short, about 12k words, cost me $95 bucks before it ever hit Amazon. I refuse to put out self-edited crapola.
 
Lovecraftian said:
I’ve been saying this for I don’t know how long. I sell my short stories for a buck, and each one of them gets a pro-designed cover and a pro-edit. I pay for that stuff. By the time my self-published shorts hit the market, I’ve almost $100 into them. My last short, about 12k words, cost me $95 bucks before it ever hit Amazon. I refuse to put out self-edited crapola.
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Just checked out your website, absolutely love it! I also plunked down some change and purchased The Empty Chair. I love the book design covers btw, the one with the chick covered in blood definitely stood out, I will probably get that one too.
 
SFG75 said:
Just checked out your website, absolutely love it! I also plunked down some change and purchased The Empty Chair. I love the book design covers btw, the one with the chick covered in blood definitely stood out, I will probably get that one too.
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Hey, I sincerely appreciate that! Farah (the talented graphic designer I work with) did that entire site and does *all* my covers.



I just finished a 36k word novella the other day, in fact, and it’s coming out immediately when I get it back from my editor. Here’s a cover teaser:



ai164.photobucket.com_albums_u13_SkwerlyXJ_Amazon_Unearthing_zpsa2f69ed4.jpg



I’m considering changing the name--that was just the working title. I’ll wait to see what my beta reader says.



Anyhow, I truly thank you for buying my meager little work. :) I hope you like the stories and would love feedback if you’ve time. They are just fun little shorts, but I’m moving away from them and into the realm of novellas/novels because you can do so much more with 'em.



By the way, I told Farah your comment and she flipped her lid. :) Thanks for making her day!
 
I agree to. Hire an editor, get a beta testing audience and see where things go. There are so many good self published books. My friend & I hired an editor and they still missed a few spelling errors, but hey we all make mistakes.
Our beta testing was pretty good, we got a lot of feedback that helped us find mistakes, loopholes and stuff that at the time we thought was good and turned out not to be, lol.
 
My novella went through three betas and now I'll begin the self-edit, adding stuff and taking stuff out, etc, before it goes to my actual editor. Sigh... :D
 
Yeah you think writing it is the hard work part - it isn't :) writing is the fun part, the work starts when the writing is done :)
 
I need to download your other stuff Derek, just haven't had the time. I could do it now, but I'm typing. :rofl
 
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