Holy Crud. This is not happening. I just found out why you DON’T want to have two works being published at exactly the same time… and even worse… by two different publishers.
I was stunned this morning when the first round edits for Connect the Dots came through. I thought I would have another week. I have two weeks to finish the ARC edit (the very last edit) of Last Winter Red AND finish the first round edit for Connect the Dots.
Okay. Breathe. It’s all good. This is a great problem to have. People are going to spit at you for having this problem. Take a deep breath. Chocolate helps. Good. Relax.
Okay. No problem. I can do this.
So… back to Last Winter Red. I started reading it on Kindle last night. I made a lot of highlights on the ARC with the handy Kindle Notes feature.
The reason for some of my notes is because my writing style has changed a lot in the last few months since I worked on Last Winter Red, and things don’t seem right to me anymore.
I did find a missing quotation mark at the end of a sentence. Easy fix (I hope).
What is odd, is every once in a while I stopped and said “Is that what he said?” or “Did I write that?” or “Wait. That makes absolutely no sense.”
I’m wondering if I even wrote some of these things, or if they were edited to the point of losing “something”. I want to go through the whole thing, make notes, and then go back to my original copy and see if I need to smack myself upside the head for past mistakes.
Maybe I do. At this point, I’m not sure what happened.
Either way, I think some more changes are in order.
What makes me cringe over this is that I could have made these changes months ago. I am tucking this away as a “lesson’s learned” though.
I did have a bad feeling about not reviewing the full version before it went to copy editing. You know that deep clawing pit-in-your-stomach feeling when you think you lost control of something?
To make sure this doesn’t happen again, I MADE SURE before I signed the contract with Still Moments Publishing for “Connect the Dots” that I WOULD have a chance to review a final before it went to final editing. Not only that, I will get to see a FULL VERSION as it stands through each round of the editing process.
For a control freak like me, this is a huge relief… because I know I will not be down to the wire and fixing errors I would have seen earlier.
This is not J.Taylor Publishing’s fault either. It is the way they work. All publishers are different, and as an author, I need to be ready for this.
What I need to do now is finish reading and marking. Then I want to go back again reading carefully for spelling/punctuation errors, and then I need to document and changes necessary on a spreadsheet.
I need to do this within one week, so I can devote the next week to Connect the Dots.
Once again, sleep may become optional.
Related articles
- My Book Is Ready for Publishing (muponisi.wordpress.com)
- Self-Editing (niaforrester.com)
- Self-Editing For Self-Published Fiction (advancedfictionwriting.com)
- So what does an editor do, exactly? (heydeadguy.typepad.com)
- effective editing: it’s not terminal or is it? (roxieh.wordpress.com)
Jennifer M Eaton 
I think you’re doing really well, though it sounds crazy stressful. I can only hope that one day I have the same sorts of stress to worry about.
Ha… wishing for stress, is that odd? o.O
I think that’s a stress thAt we all dread and look forward to at the same time
The best kind, I’d say. ^_^
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I haven’t read my novel since it was published a bit over a year ago for this very reason. (did I really write that?) Interestingly enough, I’ve just started a reread to just enjoy the story … even though I have to pull back from editing every now and then
it’s not the book I would write today, but that’s OK . I’m proud of the book I wrote yesterday.
That’s a really great way to look at it
Tea, chocolate and sleep. You can do it. OMG.
I’m tired already.
A lady who knows what I like! BUt alas, right now it’s a protien shake. It’s all I’m allowed after my workout. 😦
Whew! That’s rough, Jennifer. I don’t envy your time crunch, but hang in there. Wishing you all the best!
Thanks. Time management is important.
May the coffee flow freely and good luck.
🙂 it has to be tea though
your adrenaline will keep ya going till you get some sleep, LOL…congrats on both books…it’s worth it, right? 😉
Absolutely! It’s a lot, but at least it’s a lot of what I like to do.
This is definitely a “learn from others” moment. I will tuck this away for a future day. Meanwhile, take a deep breath and dive in.
Diving!
This may sound like heresy, but blogging can take a bit of a backseat with sleeping, too! 😉 We will all understand if you need to drop a posting day or two in order to devote enough time and effort to these two soon-to-be-published works!
You’re sweet. Thanks.
I have a few questions. First of all, I don’t remember what ARC is. Secondly, you mention “first round edits”. How many edit rounds are there usually? Is it always different? I can’t imagine there being too many changes that you need to make because you are a perfectionist and it must have been damn near perfect when you submitted it.
As crazy as this sounds, I am glad that I self publish. In the end I may never become a household name or make a fortune, but my blood pressure won’t be through the roof and I won’t be entirely grey by the time I’m 50. 🙂
Good luck with the edits crazy girl. Take a deep breath and say out loud, “I am Jennifer M. Eaton, and I can do ANYTHING!”
I’ve heard it called “Advance Reader Copy” or “Advance Review Copy” Either way, this is the final “proof” so to speak before the book goes to “print”. This is also the copy that goes out to people who do early reviews.
Yes, my stroy was dern well near perfect, but the editor, in this case made a lot of changes. In some places, I was not happy with the way it got “glued” back together. I didn’t see a final proof “all together” before it went to arc. If I had, yes, then it would have been dern well perfect.
I don’t like waiting until the last edit for final changes.
As far as edits go…
#1 I submitted
#2 I submitted “final polished copy”
#3 I received editor suggestions, and I revised sccordingly
#4 They sent back suggestions peice meal on several scenes — back and forth over about a weeks time on each scene. I’m not sure how many edits you would consider this to be
#5 I received the ARCS and needed to go over them one last time.
The other publisher’s process, so far, is quite different. I suppose everyone has different methods.
Yikes. I stick to my earlier comment about preferring to be self published. But I admire you for your work being good enough to catch a publisher’s eye. 🙂
Thanks.
Part of me agrees with you. But I also like the professional set of eyes to let me know where I’ve made mistakes or can improve.
You definitely have a point there. Mind you, I also have cruel-hearted, self-centered reviewers to let me know where I’ve gone wrong. 😛
Ha! The funny thing is I had my ten most ruthless betas read Last Winter Red. The editor still had her own opinions. (Most of which, I will admit, made the story stronger even though I hated making the cuts/ changes. )
I don’t mind making changes that improve the story as a whole. Yeah…ok, so I’m a little jealous. 😛
Nah
As long as you are happy with what you have there is no reason to be jealous 🙂
Good luck with your edits. I’m sure things will work out despite the time constraints. 🙂
All’s good!
Thanks for sharing what’s happening and letting us learn from what’s going on in your life. Always fun to read.
THanks Kristina
I think reviewing edits is the most frustrating part of the process. The fun part is coming.
Oh! It is… especially when yo any your editor need to find a happy medium
sometimes our problems are our best friends
Definitely keeping me on my toes
Jennifer–If only I had your problems. Congratulations, and keep it up.
Thanks. I know if you’re going to have a problem, it’s a good one.