How to make your manuscript “Publishable”

Posted by on December 29, 2009 in Author Update, Featured, Writing Tips | 7 comments

Your book’s finished manuscript is before you in all its glory. Take a moment to celebrate what you have done, as you have achieved what 95% of writers never can. The question I asked myself at this point was, what now? The bad news is, you have a lot of work ahead of you.

Everybody has their own methods for making their manuscript publishable. What does “Publishable” mean? To me, a book is not publishable until it is as free from errors, grammatical errors, plot holes, inconsistencies, spelling mistakes, etc as possible.

I say “as possible”, as perfection in every possible way is a target which is unattainable. Throughout the process of turning my first draft of Legends of Marithia: Prophecies Awakening into its final version, I learned a lot. Most of this was from making mistakes, learning from others, and of course… having to make some sacrifices in order to make my book of the highest quality possible.

Now let’s get to the nuts and bolts of the process.

I will list this for you in steps of what I will do when I finish my manuscript of the second book in the Legends of Marithia series. By the end of this, you will look back at your first manuscript and you will literally cringe, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

1) Revise

I don’t mean to harp on about this, but you need to go over your work. Start being clinical and pedantic. Check every word, sentence, and paragraph of every page for:

• Spelling errors that your spell check will not pick up. This may surprise you but if a word spells correctly in the dictionary, but it is completely incorrect in the sentence, 9 times out of 10 it will not show up in spell check. Example: This line contains and hard to find error.
• Grammatical and punctuation errors. If you are serious about your writing, then this is mostly a cost-saving exercise before your proofreader gets their hands on your manuscript. Find as many as you can as your time invested is your money kept in your pocket.
• Dialog punctuation errors. The most common of all mistakes I see is incorrectly punctuated dialog, look up guidelines on this and do your best to follow them.
• Capitalization errors. Although this may be classed as a grey area, it is incredibly important. Be careful of what you capitalize and when.

2) Revise Again!

I can hear you all groaning, but revise your manuscript again as you missed corrections on your first run (trust me).

3) Read the book carefully (Put your readers’ hat on)

This time, you need to sit back and read your story. Think about the following:

• Are you stopping at certain points in the story, confused about what was written?
• Are you finding yourself wanting to change the way you described something? Change it!
• Are your characters being consistent with their personalities or the storyline?
• Do you find yourself getting excited by a part of your story, but then being abruptly taken to a new chapter? Elaborate your story
• Is something happening in your story that is conflicting with something you read earlier? Change it!

3) Revise Again!

After reading your story, I would be completely shocked beyond belief if you didn’t make changes or elaborate your story. So, revise all of your work again (Repeat steps 1-2). Am I beginning to sound like a drill sargeant? We have barely gotten started.

4) Give your book to someone else to a reader

This is a heart wrenching moment, but you have to do it. If your work is not good enough for you to choose your reader, you should not publish it to the general public.

Ask your reader if they are prepared to invest the time to provide you feedback chapter by chapter, positive and constructive.

IMPORTANT! Do not under any circumstances give your book to a family member or a close friend with the expectation of feedback or improving your book. The last thing you need is someone handing your book back and saying “Wow, that was amazing! Everything is perfect!” because they are not telling you the truth!

I prefer to ask readers to read my book who love the genre I am writing in. Someone who is willing to think of your book along with a long line of established and professional authors. Why? Because they will be tougher on your book than anyone else. If your book stinks, they will tell you. If something’s wrong in your story, they will tell you. If something’s great, they will really enjoy reading that.

If you’re feeling particularly game, give it to a few readers.

As you get your feedback, edit your book one chapter at a time. This should be brutal, so be prepared to put your ego aside and put your listening ears on. The aim of this is to better your story and your writing, remember that. I know how tough it was for me to read feedback on my own book, so I know the pain your will feel.

5) Revise, Again!

Don’t hate the rules, but you need to go through steps 1-2 all over again.

6) Now give it to a professional proofreader/line editor

You have invested a lot of time and effort into your book, and now it is time for you to put some of your money on the line for your book (if you haven’t already). Yes, this cost will hurt your pocket but it will take your book to a whole new level.

Find a good proofreader/line editor and hand over your manuscript.

7) Done!

You are only now ready to begin submitting your manuscript to traditional publishing houses or print-on-demand publishers (which is what I opted for, but that will also cost you money).

Be prepared, if you get your “Publishable” manuscript in the hands of a publishing house editor, then you will have even more work ahead of you, but if you get that far then you have achieved another success.

Traditional vs POD publishing is a much debated topic with divided opinions. However, traditional publishing houses only print a small number of books and they get an incredibly large amount of submissions. It is a case of time vs money.

I will leave that topic to another day, good luck to all fellow writers out there.

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