I made a decision a couple of weeks ago about editing, and sorry to say, I found more evidence supporting its need this week. And that discovery was after soliciting the feedback of two alpha readers, two beta readers, and a professional proof reader! Plus, I tested Vellum — with results that, frankly, astonished me. Before talking about those points, let’s look at my key performance indicators.
Last Week’s Progress By the Numbers
I still haven’t started writing the next book, but I made progress on other fronts.
My focus this week has been on reading The Sword of Sirius aloud as a final editing step before publishing. But I still made time for thinking about Dreams of Deucalion Book 2: Bait and Blood. My hope is this series will really shake up the fictional universe, and I’m busily coming up with ideas. Put another way, I’m trying to let the characters tell me what’s going on so I can accurate relate it.
If all goes well, which is to say, if I don’t run into multiple Real Life Family Events (RLFEs) this week, I should have the time to dive into plotting. That’s not a given. There’s a lot going on in my family right now, and I anticipate at least one RLFE this week. We’ll see!
Reading Aloud Catches Errors
I finished the read-aloud for The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone. I was a little disappointed in the number of errors I found. On average, I found two material errors per chapter. Prior to this read through, I put all of my manuscripts through my own read-aloud (right after writing) plus ProWritingAid, and I also paid a professional proofreader. I had hoped that would be enough. Apparently, though, I need to plan for that final read-aloud.
Worse, from my perspective, was a continuity error. I didn’t catch it when I wrote the firsts draft or conducted the first read through. Neither did two alpha readers or two beta readers. On reflection, that’s totally on me. I should not expect an alpha or beta reader to catch errors like that. That might sound odd, but alpha and beta readers are supposed to give me insights into how readers will react. If I want editorial support for continuity, I need to hire a developmental editor or maybe a copy editor.
Or conduct a final read-aloud. Which is less expensive and (I hope!) as effective.
The situation with The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak is trending in the same direction. I’m halfway through, and I’m averaging two grammar errors per chapter. I also had a plot error (terminology) that I fixed. This extra read-aloud costs a little more than a week per manuscript. But based on what I’m seeing, either I fork over the cash for more professional editing (and it’s the most expensive sort of editing), or I invest the time. So, time it is!
Vellum, Ebooks, and Paperbacks
I mentioned last week that I purchased Vellum. Before Vellum, here’s how I’d go from my original manuscript in Scrivener to publication on Amazon:
- Setup the format in Scrivener
- Run a Compile, which produces a DOCX file
- Import the DOCX into Kindle Create
- Fiddle with the front matter
- Fiddle more with the end notes (like references to the newsletter or additional books); dislike the result and fiddle some more; curse the limitations in the tool
- Export to the results to upload to Amazon
- Start with the Amazon Word template for 6×9 paperbacks
- Spend at least four hours hammering the text into the template; even after six books, I wasn’t able to get it any faster (and I’ve worked with word processors since Display Write III and PFS:Write)
- Upload the DOCX file to Amazon and review the format with their editor
Total time per manuscript is about five hours.
I brought The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning into Vellum. Here’s the process I tested:
- Setup the format in Scrivener
- Run a Compile, which produces a DOCX file
- Import the DOCX into Vellum
- Select the template
- Add the front matter and back matter elements; use the built-in editor to add what I wanted
- Compile all output formats (including Amazon’s ebook and paperback)
- Upload to Amazon for ebook
- Upload to Amazon for paperback
Total time per manuscript was about thirty minutes. It completely eliminated the four hours of wrestling with Word and its 6×9 Amazon template. It’s much faster creating the front and back matter. Vellum’s “elements” makes adding various kinds of front and back matter, like copyright screens or “other books” pages, a breeze.
I uploaded the output in both formats to Amazon. The ebook looks good. I ordered proof copies of the paperback, and I got them yesterday. They look fantastic. Not only that, but the ebook’s format more closely matches the paperback’s, and vice versa. I could not be more pleased with Vellum’s output.
Progress against Last Week’s Goals
Here’s how I did against last week’s goals:
- Finish the final draft of The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone: Done!
- Start the final draft of The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak: Done! I’ve finished half the chapters so far.
- Produce the ebook and paperback versions of The Sword of Sirius Book 1: Red Flag Warning and upload to Amazon. Review the ebook format; order proof copies of the paperback. Done!
- Flesh out Jadwiga Janczak’s plan for her war against the Fourth Reich and the Investment Houses (stretch objectives): Started! I think I have a working model for her plan, as well as the Investment House’s counter.
Goals for the Week in Progress Report 2024 Week 38
Here’s what I hope to finish this week:
- Finish the read-aloud for The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak
- Create the ebook and paperback for The Sword of Sirius Book 2: Collapse Zone and verify proofs
- Create the ebook and paperback for The Sword of Sirius Book 3: Firebreak and verify proofs
- Flesh out Jadwiga Janczak’s plan for her war against the Fourth Reich and the Investment Houses
- Begin plotting Dream of Deucalion
What Do You Think?
How many times do you go through your drafts? Do you mix silent reading and reading aloud? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments!
It’s been a while since I did some serious editing, but this was the process.
1. Read through, making notes on things to fix.
2. Go through implementing fixes and reading through silently.
3. Run the document through a spreadsheet that would highlight word repetition and sentence length.
4. Fix those issues while reading through again.
5. Have my computer read the text to me a paragraph at a time. Fix issues.
6. Read the document on my phone. The different font size and format makes it easier to spot stuff that slipped by before. It’s crazy, but you have to trick the brain into thinking it’s never seen it before, otherwise it reads what you thought you put and not what is actually there.
Then, I’m done. I find that I could loop through the process over and over again and the document would end up like the original version as I change things back without realising. It’s hard, but there has to be a point when enough is enough.
I will add reading it aloud myself going forward, but I never had time before, especially with the computer voice readthrough.
Hearing it read aloud, or just reading it in a different form factor (like your phone), really makes a difference, doesn’t it?
I also agree with you that we could edit forever — to both diminishing returns and in an eventual loss of voice. Dean Wesley Smith talked about that, too!