Editing and Self-Publishing

Is your manuscript ready for prime time?

In the world of traditional publishing, an editorial board considers the purchase of a manuscript. If the purchase takes place, the manuscript is assigned an editor, whose job is to do whatever it takes to prepare it for the marketplace. This can mean anything from a light buff to a complete overhaul. The author is part of the process, but in most cases the publisher has the final word.

My two favorite traditional publishing anecdotes about editors concern a large fish and the title of a book that quickly became a cliché. Doubleday editor Tom Congdon discussed the idea of shark specialist, non-fiction writer Peter Benchley authoring a novel. When the editor received Benchley's first hundred pages, he kept the first five, sent Benchley back to the keyboard and closely oversaw the creation of the rest of the page-turner we know as Jaws. The other: Catch-22. In a classic case of bad timing, Simon & Schuster found itself about to launch Joseph Heller's first novel, Catch-18, against what would become another World War II blockbuster, Mila 18. Alternate numbers were considered and rejected, but it was editor Robert Gottlieb who championed the substitution of a double-digit 22 to a reluctant Joseph Heller. The rest, as they say, is history.

As you contemplate becoming a self published author, you won't have the luxury of leaving the final polish – or the painful overhaul advice – to the staff of the publisher who's taken on your manuscript. It's up to you to ask yourself if your manuscript is the best it can be. Hopefully, you've had extra pairs of eyes go through it for you. Hopefully, among them was a pair with a professional knowledge of grammar and who took the time to read it carefully, red pencil in hand.

If not, you may want to consider our editorial services.