Editing in Self-Publishing
You’ve written the book, it’s taken a huge chunk of time and effort. You’re exceedingly pleased how it’s turned out and can’t wait to publish, so you start to look for editors. Wait, an editor? They cost how much?
For many Indie Authors, they proofread their work and miss many mistakes. This is detrimental to their book. All their hard work and possibly brilliant ideas go down the drain because their work needs editing. There’s nothing worse.
If you’re lucky enough to get an agent or publishing house then they’ll provide editing, but for the thousands of authors who don’t, what do they do? If you’re in a position to pay for an editor, fantastic! If you’re not, don’t panic!
There’s many programmes out there that can help an Indie author, so many it’s highly confusing. They range from free programmes to ones with a reasonable charge. The two best programmes I’ve come across and use are below. I hope they help an Indie Author out!
Grammarly! This wonderful programme is free with an option to upgrade to unlock better features. The free version picks up critical errors and highlights them in your work. The programme downloads to your word and it easy to use. No need to copy and paste to a web document. If you unlock the upgraded version it not only shows critical errors but other mistakes in your writing.
Grammarly shows monotonous passages and punctuation errors but also offers to omit useless words in your writing. It has several other features which are incredibly helpful in your writing. If you can unlock the upgraded version, I would recommend it.
Pro-writing-aid overs twenty reports that can be vital in editing your book. The free version offers basic reports to help with grammar, spelling, readability. The upgraded version has reports that are wonderful to use. Overused word reports, diction errors, sentence structures, sticky sentences and many more. In editing your work pro-writing-aid covers a variety of reports, even allowing you to make your own combo and house reports.
The tool can be used in a couple of ways, download to word or use online by uploading a document. It is easy to use and friendly.
So don’t panic you can’t afford an editor, many Indie writers when starting out can’t. But there are tools that can help. Once edited, send to a proofreader. This doesn’t have to be professional, a family member or a friend can proofread your book and give feedback. My proofreader tends to note the page and error and contacts me with the corrections.
NO editing, is foolproof, using a programme or professional doesn’t mean every error will be picked up. A professional is human after all! But no matter how you edit, you MUST edit!
