Editing Process

I just finished editing my book! Ok, let me clarify, I just finished the first edit. Wow, I had no idea how this worked.

So I sent it to an independant contractor, named Kimiko, who agreed to help me out. She edited chapter by chapter, sending comments and ideas for how to improve my book and my writing. Small things like spelling out the numbers (why does that matter? who knows) and larger things like scenes that weren't convincing and questions she had after reading it. And even larger things like changing the beginning AND the ending.

Then I would get the chapters back from her and implement the changes and ideas she had. I'd wondered how much of a book "belongs" to the auther and how much "belongs" to the editor. Now I know. I think my book has gone through some pretty significant revisions but what she did was give me suggestions. I still did the writing. Bottom line, I still feel good putting my name on it. It's still my work.

So now I send it all on to my editor at Cedar Fort, Heidi. She will edit it again. This one will be a quicker edit since it has to get to the publisher by the end of January. We'll see...

For now, I'm just thrilled to be done. What a Christmas. Now I'm going to go clean my house--yikes.