One of the toughest things independent writers face is knowing just when to hit ‘publish’. Without the production team of a publishing house to rely on, self-publishers must depend on their own judgement to determine if their novel is reader ready. And with the ability to reach the market directly, the temptation to rush the product through the door has never been stronger — or easier.
So how do you know when your book is good enough?
First and foremost, it’s important to remember that once your work is out there, it’s there forever. Every book is an opportunity to expand your readership, and releasing something sub-par is harmful in the long-term. When I feel myself getting lazy, I head to Amazon and read nasty reviews. Talk about a kick in the pants!
However, short of gorging on negativity, there are plenty of steps can you take to make your novel the best it can be.
- Read it backwards. By the time I reach the end of a draft, I can feel my motivation waning. Starting at the final scene ensures the ending gets the same care and attention as the beginning.
- Have your Kindle/ e-reader read it aloud. This helps you uncover awkward sentences and typos.
- Read it aloud yourself. I find this really helps cadence and sentence flow.
- Use beta readers familiar with your genre and whose feedback you trust. We all want to be told we’re the next great novelist, but that’s not helpful for making your work stronger.
- Use editing software like Autocrit.com to help you uncover clichés, reduce adverbs, and uncover other grammatical issues.
- Hire an editor. If a content editor costs too much, you might want to consider investing in a copy editor. Nothing says unprofessional like poor grammar and copious typos.
How do you make sure your work is good enough?
I find trying it in a different font and printing it out helps too. Also, leaving it aside for a couple of weeks, then reading it. And brutally honest editors : )
Hi Nicole! Yes, printing in different fonts definitely helps. And honest editors are worth their weight in gold. Thanks for the tip!
I think one problem many writers have is refusal to recognise their own blinders. Some people feel that “I can’t afford an editor or decent cover art.” or “This is my first book.” or “My book is at least better than Twilight” are legitimate excuses to not be professional. Honestly, will people consider such excuses when buying a book? No. Nobody but your mom and your best friend are going to buy your book just to be supportive of someone who’s struggling to make a living.
And then these excuse-making writers wonder why their book sells single digit copies per month.
Very, very true. We need to invest in our own products and give them the best chance possible at succeeding. Plus, it’s respecting the reader, too.
Wise words, Talli.
I use beta readers ruthlessly and have read every ms aloud (cue large packet of Strepsils). I do section reads, i.e. clumps of chapters, starting at the back, which really helps. And I have an eagle-eyed critique partner.
I tried using my Kindle, but it just made me laugh, especially when it read “C’mon” as “Come Monday”.
But I am about to commission an editor (gulps!) a member of the Society for Editing and Proofreading. After that I will be happy.
Now, anybody know any good cover designers?
Good luck with your professional editor! Having a trained set of eyes makes a big difference.
India Drummond – who commented above – does fantastic covers. If you go to her blog, you’ll see some examples on her site.
I do the same, Alison. I read into recording software a chapter or section at a time, then play it back. Good luck with your new editor!
Oh, for cover art, check out Claudia at Phat Puppy art http://phatpuppyart.com/. She’s not inexpensive, but her work is incredible.
Thanks for the cover art tip, Greg!
I hired a copy editor to go through my work and teach me what rubbish to leave out. Now when I write a sentence, I automatically shy away from certain ways of saying something. I also try to leave out cliches – editor told me to and she was right.
I also use Beta readers to tell me whether the story is flowing right – I have finally stopped putting backstory in Chapter 1. One of my beta readers gave out to me for doing that and so did my editor.
I also read it until I’m sick of looking at it, then I put it away and come back to it with fresh eyes. It really does work!
On a point one commenter made about brutally honest editors, if an editor isn’t brutally honest, don’t hire them. I don’t pay mine to sugar coat my mistakes. Advice – if anyone hires an editor, do it for the right reasons. i.e. you really want to improve your work and you will listen to everything an editor has to say and take on board the advice even if its not what you want to hear.
Well said, Eliza! I think the temptation to just ignore advice and say ‘they didn’t get it’ is very strong. But you’re right – if you hire someone to edit or ask someone to read, you need to take into account what they say, whether ultimately you decide to change it or not.
Great point about back-story in chapter one, Eliza. I read something in one of the 637,212 writing books I’ve read over the years that sums this up. I Think it was Orson Scott Card, but I’m not sure… Anyway, he said that he when was a new writer, he would delete the entire first chapter of his first draft because of his tendency to do load it up with history. I thought it was funny until I tried it with the novel I was writing at the time. It worked great without chapter one!
The last draft I read aloud to myself, and I can hear awkward moments and repitition. Then I send it to a copy editor, who then finds lots of things to change that I haven’t seen. I only hit publish when I feel that I have changed everything the editor has suggested and am happy with the final product.
Sounds like you have a good process in place, Julie. Well done!
Very good points Talli.
I did all the things listed – but part of me still had doubts. I think that’s just in my nature. Eventually, I decided to just do it – and let the readers decide. Some people will like it, some people won’t and many won’t even know it’s there!
I believe that whether a book is “good enough” is, to a certain extent, subjective anyway. I’ve read books by big name authors that I haven’t been able to finish because, IMHO, they weren’t very good – and some had several errors/typos/cliches etc. One even had an entire paragraph duplicated – and that was in the paperback edition! At least on Amazon, you have the opportunity to take down your work and put right any issues.
I’m also sure that, despite having Beta readers, an editor, etc and reading it myself more times than I care to remember, something will have slipped through the net. I’m not going to beat myself up about it (anymore). I did the best that I could do – at the time, and I paid professionals to help me.
Best wishes,
Emily
Very true, Emily – it is such a subjective thing. I think, as Ruth says below, you need to follow your gut to see if it really is good enough for you (along with doing everything else possible, of course). I’ve read some bestsellers that have made me cringe, but others have raved about. All we as authors can do is take every step we can to give our books the best chance at success.
Great post, Talli, and thanks for keeping me grounded. I’m feeling the yearning to push that publish button right now… you’re so right; the temptation to rush the product is very strong! I’ve got beta readers and hire an editor, but before I send that manuscript on to them, I’ve got to get my writing as smooth polished as I can. That way, they can take that manuscript even further than I can myself.
It’s so hard not to rush, isn’t it? I’m the same as you: trying to get it all smoothed out before sending it along to my betas. It’s a slow process, but so necessary!
Talli, What a terrific post! I agree with printing it out as a good double check. I write on my desktop & finding reading it on my iPad really helps—I see mistakes I never saw before!!!
Bottom line, tho, knowing when it’s “good enough” is the writer’s job. There are a number of ways to get to that decision & a lot of them are listed here. How you do it doesn’t matter, it’s the result that counts.
The advantage of epub is that if awful-horrible-terrible reviews rain down, you can always unpublish & fix whatever’s wrong (or else decide it’s not fixable and get to work on the next book).
Yes, Ruth – I was going to put the last bullet point as ‘follow your gut’, but then I didn’t because my gut is always screaming ‘NOT GOOD ENOUGH!’ no matter how much work I put in!
But you’re right – instinctively, I can sense when something isn’t right. It’s very easy to gloss over that, and that’s where beta readers and editors are so important!
I always read my latest chapter out loud each day before writing the next one, this warms up my muses plus, like you said, let’s me work through and edit any awkward sentences.
I do this again – reading it out loud – before I send it off to The Edit Dude – and then again after I’ve fixed everything Edit Dude catches.
It’s totally this reading out loud that does the trick for me every time! And now that my books are being turned into Audio Books, I’m hearing ‘em again in a totally new way and see just why long, descriptive sentences just don’t work in my style of books.
Great post, Talli!
Reading aloud is so important, isn’t it? Time consuming, but important. It really allows you to pick up all the awkward phrasings and unnatural sentence structures!
Fantastic post, Talli (of course)! This gets to the crux of my biggest problem (with writing, that is). I never seem to get to the point where I can stop editing! It’s never good enough. There’s always one more word to change, or one more sentence to improve. Do I really need this entire scene? I’m looking for a program- a twelve step sort of thing, but I think I’m getting better…
I use all of the techniques you suggest, except for the software. If I had to choose only one, though, I think I get the most value out of reading aloud from a printed page. The process of reading aloud helps me find missing words, sentences that don’t sound right, and stiff dialogue. I also record myself reading (in free software called Audacity), and find even more stuff in the playback.
Fortunately, we don’t have to choose, and can torture beta readers and editors with our unwashed words, too.
Cheers!
Greg
I hear you, Greg – my gut always yells very loudly that what I’m doing is rubbish – I think that’s where the beta readers come into play; to both allay my worries and help confirm what might not be working. I’d never thought about reading into a software and playing it back – interesting!
I liked this idea too, Greg and Talli…goin’ to get out my old mini tape recorder…
Thanks bunches!!!
Excellent advice, as always. And thanks!! I didn’t know about Autocrit.com
Thanks, PJ! Autocrit lets you plug samples in to see how it works initially. It’s good for a first pass.
Excellent post, Talli!
I also find that having someone close to you read your work out loud to you can help. Even give different “parts” to different people…their interpretations of what you’ve written can be fascinating.
In the digital world, though, I’d question this:
“First and foremost, it’s important to remember that once your work is out there, it’s there forever”
Unlike a paperbook, it’s easy to do new editions of a book. If someone comments in the bookstream (the live chat inside every book on the Kindle Fire) about an error (and you agree that it should be changed), you can fix the error and re-upload.
The Kindle Touch now even has a specific menu option to report a content error, although I’m not sure where that goes.
Absolutely, someone who encountered a book with a number of errors might reject that author, so you should do what you can to present a polished product. However, even with traditionally published books with professional editors, I find it rare that I read something with zero errors. There is some point where you push it out of the nest…but with digital, you can fix it in flight.
You’re absolutely right, Bufo, and Ruth touched on that, too. Thanks for bringing up an important point!
I suppose I was thinking that a badly edited or rushed novel can damage your reputation forever, as opposed to being available to buy unchanged forever. Speaking as a reader, it only takes one bad novel to put me off a writer. Why risk it?
Traditionally published or independent, writers need to do everything possible to ensure their work is of the highest quality.
I outline, so I carefully inspect my plot before I pen. But for someone who pants-it, try outlining your story AFTER you write it. Then you can identify your 3-4 main crisis moments, make sure the action stays up, and make sure all of your subplots reach a conclusion. Any holes you can patch on the second draft or rewrite.
As far as when is it good enough, that’s so hard, and for it comes and goes. I have days of feeling like “I suck” and days where I feel like “I rock.”
I guess I just publish on a day when I feel like “I rock.” 
Though for my first book, I really just jumped off the cliff, and uploaded the wrong document in my haste, because I knew if I didn’t just “rip the bandage” off so to speak, I’d chicken out.
Thanks, Elizabeth!
I always plot and I *think* I know what the book is about. Then it all changes while I write it! I think everyone has days when they feel they’re not quite good enough, but as long as we do everything possible to ensure a quality product for our readers, that’s all we can do.
Great post, Talli! It’s hard to add to what everyone else has already said.
I have 3 great beta readers that I continually remind to give me their brutal honesty, because their being nice or afraid to hurt my feelings does not help me at all. I also have enlisted the help of a real life police detective/author, that I know in my town, to go through my current WIP and make sure it works from his perspective. Then the manuscript is off to my brilliant editor to do her magic.
I agree with Bufo and Ruth, though. No matter how many eyes see your manuscript, a typo or two can slip through. So you can always fix it and re-upload.
Oh, typos are SO pesky, aren’t they? The really make me tear out my hair. It’s amazing how they can slip through so many pairs of eyes.
Thank goodness for the ability to re-upload.
Yes. To be good enough or not to be good enough. That is the rub. Our inner editors have their say up to a point. But getting “outside” opinions really helps. I’ve been getting some good feedback from some readers on authonomy.com. Many don’t give constructive criticism, but some do, thankfully. I haven’t enlisted The Edit Dude yet, since I’m still working on the last couple of chapters. But that time will be coming.
Great post, Talli.
Dean
Thanks, Dean! I did try Authonomy a while back, but the constant pressure of reading others’ MSs wore me out. Maybe it’s changed now. I tend to be a bit more focused on eliciting feedback now, but writing communities can be helpful.
Thanks Talli! I’d never heard of autocrit before. And thanks to Greg for the Audacity suggestion. I do read my work out loud. I think it helps me find errors, problems with sentence structure and pacing, and it helps me find word echoes. I’m always finding things to improve. I’m not sure it’s ever “good enough”. LOL But one day soon, I’m going to have to just say enough is enough. Great suggestions!
Hi Rhonda,
Reading aloud definitely is a winner – and it seems that technique is used by most of us here. Knowing when to send your MS out into the world is the tough thing…
Thanks, Talli.
Sounds like some good advice.
Great tips, Talli! I’ve been reading mine aloud and that really helps to pick out the awkward sentences. I like the idea of having my kindle read it aloud, too. And I have to check into Autocrit. Thanks for the suggestions!
Very helpful tips!!!
These are excellent tips! I never occurred in my mind to read backwards but it’s worth a try. If I like what I wrote after reviewing it after a few days again when my mind is refreshed and if I am confident enough to show it to the world, then it is good enough for me.
I have a wonderful beta reader / editor – not only does she point out scenes that don’t work, characters that don’t work, etc, she also points out sentences and commonly used words and stuff. It’s been very helpful in editing.
I also just read over and over again. Because I do that with ordinary books, I’m used to reading the same sentences again, so it doesn’t make me lazy. Instead it allows me to pick up on things I might not otherwise – like phrasing that I tend to ‘re-use’. Finally, I read it and pretend I’m listening to my sister reading it. She is VERY critical of everything, so it stops me getting cocky.
Of course, I’m yet to put anything ‘out there’…