Hey Supports, welcome to this week’s discussion about how to write a picture book. As you know I am also Blogging Through The Alphabet with Marcy @ BenandMe.com. This week I want to talk about good editing (yes, even picture books need to be edited) in honor of the letter “G”. All of my books go through at least three different editing steps.
First I self edit all my books. This is a little harder than it sounds because, like most people, I tend to read what is supposed to be on the paper and not what is really there. However, I have developed the following steps to help make this process easier.
-The first thing I do is allow time to pass. The more time that has passed since I last worked on a project, the more likely I am to read the actual words on the paper and not in my head.
-Once I come back to the project, I tend to start with reading backwards. I start at the end of the book and read one sentence at a time to work my way to the start of the book. I find that reading what I have written out of order allows me to cognitively separate what is in my head from what is on the paper.
-Finally, I use this computer software to read the story aloud to me. I know some people who just read what they wrote aloud but, for me, I feel I always need as much separation as possible between what is in my head and what is on paper.
The second step in my editing process is to hire a professional editor. Yes, I know there are computer programs (Grammarly, AutoCrit, Edit Your Novel , etc.) that claim to do a great job of editing; however, they do not catch most of the mistakes a human will catch. I actually did a little scientific research on this one day when I was looking to save money. Basically, I took an article that I had a human edit and ran it through several popular programs. The human won by a landslide. I started to write a blog post about but discovered this post already did the work. You can check it out here: http://www.writers-village.org/writing-award-blog/do-copy-editing-programs-work-
If you hire an editor, they may ask about the type of editing you are looking for. Here is a brief summary of different types of editing:
-Proofreading or copy editing. This type of editing is typos and grammatical errors.
-Line Editing is where the editor looks at the sentence structure, flow, and even the content to make sure it is complete and factual. Most picture books will not need this type of editing.
Finally, I have at least two people perform what I call beta reading. This is where regular people who are your target audience read your book.
In order to find a professional editor I recommend you ask for referrals. I am currently using Mr. Proof Reader. You can also use http://www.odesk.com
Please feel free to share your tips for editing or if you are and editor, please feel free to leave your contact/website in the comment section.
Well that is all for now, please continue to pray for me as I pray for you,