Learning From Mistakes
Back when I published my first book, The Librarian’s Ruse, I had practically no idea what I was doing, and because of my inexperience, I made quite a few mistakes leading up to its release in August, 2023.
But I learned a lot from all the mistakes I made that summer, so when I published A Traitor’s Vow the following year, I had a far better publishing experience thanks to all the changes that I implemented.
Don’t Make These Mistakes!
As a full-time author, editor, and proofreader, I’ve been on both sides of the editor’s desk.
I’ve seen some great ideas or successes when it comes to publishing books, and I’ve seen some absolute disasters…
So today, I want to share a few mistakes that I’ve seen my fellow writers make (or made myself) during or after the publication process.
Note: the majority of these mistakes feature self-published or independent authors, but some warnings may also apply to traditionally published authors.
#1 Trying to Do Everything Alone
One of the biggest mistakes you can make when publishing is trying to do everything by yourself.
Because if your goal is to publish a great story that people will enjoy, quality should not be an afterthought.
That’s not to say that you aren’t skilled enough to do everything on your own…
In fact, you might be a great editor, and maybe you’ve dabbled in art, and can design your own covers. You might even have a knack for interior book design, and creating eye-catching promotional graphics.
But just because you can do everything, doesn’t mean that you should.
Why?
Well, first of all, your time is valuable, and publishing a book becomes far more stressful when you have a million different things to do on top of marketing and preparing for your book’s launch.
Also, if you’ve spent the past few weeks, months, or even years writing your book, chances are that you know it extremely well—which makes it easier for you to miss errors and other glaring issues when it comes to editing or proofreading.
It’s always a better idea to outsource as many tasks as you can to people who you know will do quality work.
#2 Hiring Someone Just Because You Know Them
On that note, another mistake I’ve seen other writers (and myself) make, is hiring someone strictly because they’re family, a friend, or an acquaintance.
Your cousin may have a degree in English, but that doesn’t mean that he or she knows anything about The Chicago Manual of Style, or how to properly format a book.
And your friend’s brother might be a fantastic artist, but that doesn’t mean that he automatically has a talent for creating book covers.
On top of all that, working with family and friends runs the risk of straining relationships. It’s not uncommon for a family member to do their absolute best, only for their work to fall short of the mark.
From there, you have a few options:
- Say nothing and resign yourself to having poor quality work because you’re too afraid of hurting their feelings.
- Say nothing but secretly hire someone else (and hope that your family member/friend won’t get offended if they find out).
- Say something and be irritated that they didn’t do the thing right (which I’m sure will be very helpful in not destroying your relationship).
- Say something and let them try to fix it (which may have varying results).
- Say something and still hire someone else (this could result in hurt feelings, understanding, or both).
So, should you never hire anyone you know?
Not necessarily…
A good rule is, hire someone who knows what they’re doing on a professional level.
If it’s your sister, great! If it happens to be a random stranger who you found through doing a ton of research on the internet, that’s also great!
The goal is to find someone who will elevate and improve your manuscript, create an incredible book cover, or whatever it is that you need them to do.
That’s what’s really important.
#3 Knowing Nothing About Editing
This is a problem I’ve noticed from speaking to many different writers and editors, and now I completely understand why it is such an issue.
Not all heroes wear capes… Editors tend to wear cardigans.
But there are different types of editing. (You may hear about developmental editing, copyediting, line editing, and other various terms)
I’ve had potential clients reach out and tell me that their book needs copyediting. But when I asked them to describe the exact service that they were looking for, most of the time they described developmental editing, or line editing.
Know What To Expect
I wouldn’t put all the blame on the writers for not knowing the difference between copyediting and developmental editing since some editors use different terms for services like copyediting—or use similar terms for totally different services.
But I do believe that every writer should have a basic knowledge of all the services they’ll be using to prepare their book for publication.
Understanding the different types of editing and how they work can help you determine whether the editor you hired did a good job…or a terrible job.
Did your copyeditor miss the fact that a character who was written as having an accent, went an entire chapter without that accent?
Did your developmental editor only point out typos and errors instead of telling you that one of your characters was unnecessary to the plot, or that you need to inject more action and stakes into chapters five and seven?
You don’t have to be an expert, but if you understand what a specific editor is supposed to do, and how they’re supposed to do it, then you’ll be equipped with all the knowledge you need to ensure that you publish a fantastic story.
Stay Tuned For Part Two!
Since this article was well on its way to being well over 2,000 words, I decided to break it up into two parts…
Be sure to join my mailing list so you don’t miss part two once I post it!
Before You Go…
What mistakes have you made while preparing to publish your book?
Let me know down in the comments!
Click here to read last week’s article!