How to Self Edit Your Book

Want to save time and money on editing? And do you want to save time writing your book? If you do, and I'm not sure why you wouldn't, then this video on how to effectively self edit your book is absolutely for you. Hey there. I'm Julie the book broad from Book Launchers. We're your professional self publishing team helping you write, publish and promote a nonfiction book that will help you have a huge impact on your readers and and done right will help you grow your brand, build your business and make you money. The best part? You keep all rights and royalties. Are you one of those authors that over edits your book? Or maybe you're someone who just brain dumps all your thoughts onto a page and then hands it to some poor editor to rework. Whether you're on one extreme or the other or somewhere in the middle, understanding how to effectively self edit your book is is a great skill to have to save time while writing, time while editing, and money when hiring the pros. And yes, you still need professional editors even if you do a great self edit. So what I'm about to suggest is not in replace of professional editors. I feel like I need a warning beeping sign here. It is not in replace of professional editors. This is in addition to professional editors. So with that warning, let's break down my tips for self editing effectively and efficiently. Number one, do not, do not edit while you write. This is the biggest mistake I see most authors making. They spend more time editing what they have written than they do writing new material. Have a plan, Write it. And as you write, you may reread a paragraph here and there. But mostly your first and only goal once you start writing is to write. Write the darn book. Number two, when your draft is done, set it aside for at least seven days before you read it again. Pick it back up and read it from start to finish and ask yourself three simple questions. Is everything there? What can I cut? And finally, do I start the book off in a really compelling way from the reader's perspective? And then you might want to run through thoughts like can I cut that intro down, make chapter one more engaging, or can I deliver more value earlier in the book? Whatever you need to do to make the start of the book really great. Once you feel like you've got everything in there, now it's time for a developmental editor or content editor to get in there. The developmental editor is going to dig in and look at the structure of what you've written to make sure you've provided sourcing and storage Stories to back up what you're saying and ultimately address the big issues with your manuscript to strengthen the content so everything is there and is delivered in an engaging way. When your book comes back from the developmental editor, expect a lot of questions that need answering, material to be moved around, and more writing work to do. Tip one and two applies here. Don't edit while you write and just get that material down. Get that draft complete and then review it from start to finish after a break. When that's done edge, it's off to a copy editor who looks at sentence structure, grammar, word choice and the finer details you'd expect from an editor. And that's where I Recommend Tip number 3 for self editing, which is sentence by sentence editing. And you know what? It's as monotonous as it sounds. And I do this when it comes back from the copy edit and I use the copy editor as my guide for where I really need to slow down and spend more time. But what you need to do is question every sentence in your book. Okay, I get it. This part isn't fun. But think about this. There's a reason authors are given a very high level of credibility and writing a book forces you to think things through. This stuff is hard. I didn't promise you rainbows and gumdrops, my friend. I'm promising you a great book. So in order of priority and on a sentence by sentence basis, cut anything that's not necessary. Fluffy words, repetitive sentences. Then look at sentences that start with I, you know that one letter word and question it carefully. Catch. Can you put it in the reader's perspective and speak directly to them? Change passive to active, every single place you possibly can. Question the use of big words. Do you really need them or can you simplify? Are you using any industry jargon or common fluffy phrases? You know, saying this out of the box thinking is good, but let's circle back and touch base later to do a deep dive and create some action items so we can defeat this 800 pound gorilla. If you don't hate your book at this point, you're a special kind of individual. When copy editing is done and it's back from the proofreader, then the final little pieces here. Tip number four. Read it out loud. When you read that book out loud, you'll discover typos you don't see. When you read a book silently, you'll also find awkwardly worded sentences that you didn't notice before. It's also great prep if you're doing an audiobook and if you're someone who will lazily read it out loud. Record your book to give to friends or for podcast episodes or something else so that you're forced to read it like someone else is is listening. When you do this in combination with professional editors, your book will be solid. But please know that every single book is published with a mistake or two or three. You're not going to find them all. And the more you meddle with your book, trying to find all the mistakes and things that you want to change, the more mistakes you'll introduce. You do have to cut yourself off and stop editing at some point. If you find yourself constantly editing, ask yourself, are you making the book better or are you stalling? Your book is not going to help anyone when it's not published, so just get it out there, all right? Do you have self editing tips? Let's chat about it in the comments below. And on your way to comment, go ahead, smash that thumbs up button. Go ahead, try it. It feels so good. And when you comment the day a video is released, you'll be entered to win some sweet hashtag no boring book swag. We have new videos every Tuesday and Friday, so make sure you catch every one by subscribing to the channel and turning those notifications on. You're really fun. Do you want to keep hanging out? This video right here is all about book editor breakdowns in case you don't actually know what the role of a content editor versus A copy editor versus A proofreader is. And if you're feeling solid on that, then this one right here is the latest and greatest from the channel. Either way, it's a guaranteed good time or your money back. So go ahead and click on the one you want to watch and I'll put the coffee on and see you there.