5 Editing Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Nonfiction Book

Welcome to the Author Audience show, the podcast that helps you reach more people with your message. Create a book, connect with your audience, change lives. Here's your host, Shelly Hitz.

What editing mistakes should you avoid when writing a book? Hi, my name is Shelly Hitz. I'm an author coach and I'm on a mission to help you reach more people with your message. It's time to let your light shine, and in this training, I'm going to share with you 5 editing mistakes to avoid when writing your book. These are actually editing tips that I was reminded of from my editor, Deb hall, on my recent book project. So thank you, Deb, for the reminders. Editing is definitely not my favorite part of publishing, but it is so essential and when you have an editor, can really, really make sure that you don't miss anything. In fact, I don't recommend any of you publish a book without having it edited. So mistake number one that you want to avoid when you're writing a nonfiction book is to avoid using images that you don't have a reference for. I had a specific image, and it's very, very key and important to my book. And my editor, Deb, she's like, shelly, make sure to not forget that you need to have a reference for this image. And I was like, oh my goodness. Like, I don't know if I even remember where I got that image. And I had a couple because I'd actually gotten that image years and years and years and years ago for a PowerPoint. Oh my goodness. I was like, okay. And. And it's a specific image I really needed to use in the book to make the point. So I looked and looked on the sites that I thought it was from, could not find the image. All of a sudden, I believe God gave me the reminder is I could go onto a reverse image search. I used the website Tyneye T I n e y e.com I uploaded my image and voila. Sure enough, it was from the website I had thought and I do have permission to use in my book, so I can now properly reference my image. You always want to make sure that you're using images, first of all, that you have the ability to use, but second of all, that you reference any images you use on the interior of your book. So that is mistake number one. Mistake number two to avoid is using song lyrics without permission. So song lyrics is. It's something that within the copyright law, and I've included additional information on copyright in Author Audience Academy in the publish module. You'll find it there. I'VE included information on how to reference scriptures and song lyrics and different things, poems. But you really need to have permission. And I had used just one line from a song, and it was lyrics that my editor reminded me, shelly, do you have permission to use these lyrics? She said, you know, I would recommend that instead of quoting the lyrics, that you just talk about what was in the song or maybe see if you can rework this a little bit, just so you don't have to go through the hassle of getting the permission. So I realized the song was love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. And it's straight from scripture. The song lyrics are straight from scripture. So instead of quoting the song, I said we were singing a song based on this scripture, and then I could quote the scripture. So there is the fair use law, and you are able to use small quotes, you know, small things from copyrighted materials in your book. But be very careful. If possible, really try to avoid including quoted song lyrics in your book. So that was mistake number two. Mistake number three is having inconsistent formatting. So one thing that editors are really, really good at doing is being able to really make sure that there's consistency in the formatting. You want to use an editor that uses the Chicago Manual of Style. That's it. Chicago Manual of Style. You want to make sure they're using that reference. And the Chicago Manual style is a huge book. Editors will know all of the things that need to go into your book, the consistencies. And that's one reason you pay them so much, so you don't have to learn that huge book. And so they can take care of those things for you. But some of the consistencies that Deb hall is helping me, she's my editor with my book Broken Still Color. One thing she's helping me with the consistencies is how I quote scriptures, because I have a scripture, at least one scripture in every chapter. So making sure they're all consistent. Then I have a certain flow for every chapter where I have different headings, and then I have different things that I have in there. One section is a prayer. And so she noticed some inconsistencies with how I was formatting the prayers, how I was formatting certain headings. And she was just really, really good at catching some of those inconsistencies. Editors tend to use what's called a style sheet. So that's something that she puts together for me. And then she can keep track of what we've decided on for the different formatting, because sometimes it's just a matter of your preference and how you want to set things up. But the mistake you want to avoid is you want to avoid there being inconsistencies in how you format those same types of things throughout your book. So a style sheet is really important in Author Audience Academy. I have included downloads for you a style sheet from an editor that gave me permission to share this information with you. I shared with you two blog posts on style sheets and just so you can understand them. And it's in the lesson in publish on self editing your book. So if you're interested in that, you can look in deeper. But to be honest, if you have a good editor, they will keep track of this style sheet. That's their job, that's what you're paying them for. And I'm just kind of letting you know what it is. I really like working with Deb. She's very good with just catching all of these things. Our publishing company has over 50 books. I've published over 40. These are rookie mistakes I should not be making. But when you're in the midst of an intense book project, when you're writing all these things and you're doing these things and you're meeting deadlines and like for me there's so many other details, it's really nice to know that there's an editor that is able to work with you. Okay, here's Deb Hall's website if you need an editor is theriteinsight.com and it's w r I t e theriteinsight.com so a couple other inconsistencies she found was just the way that I capitalize different things. For me, I tend to like to capitalize any references to God and yet sometimes I miss those things and then just like I said, how the scriptures are formatted. So it's just really nice to have that extra set of eyes to catch any inconsistencies that you may have missed. The fourth mistake that you want to avoid is having chapters that are lopsided in length. Now, it's not a hard and fast rule. You can do it if you want. It's something that is really a personal preference. But typically what editors are looking for and what you want to try to do when you're writing your book is to have consistent lengths for each chapter. So I had a chapter that was actually significantly shorter than my other chapters and Deb wrote me back and she said, shelley, what you might want to do is, you know, there are these concepts that you could actually elaborate on. It would Help your reader to understand this point, but also it makes make it to a length that's closer to your other chapters. Oh, you know, I know that, but I wasn't even thinking about it, you know, when I was writing. And so that's now something I'm keeping in mind as I finish the rest of my book. In my particular instance, I'm using a beta group, and I'm finishing one chapter every week, sending it to Deb, and then Deb sends it back, and then I accept the edits, make changes, and send it to my beta group. It's a little bit different than what normally happens, and so I'm just kind of working with the flow chapter by chapter. But that's something to think about as you're writing. Are your chapters basically the same length compared to each other? That's something you want to try to do if possible.

And then the fifth mistake that you want to avoid is just leaving out key information that will help with the flow of your book. So with nonfiction, typically, you're gonna have information. You're sharing, you're teaching, you're encouraging whatever it is. And for my particular book project right now, there's a basic theme. It's called Broken Crayons Still Color. And it's a theme of really just dealing with some of the hurts and pains in our lives, some of the regrets, the things that may have led us down a path we're not proud of, Just all sorts of different things along those lines. And there was a chapter that I just got back today from Deb, from my editor, and she was like, shelly, you know, it's a great chapter. I love the story you shared in it. She said, I do want you to consider maybe expanding a little more at the end of the chapter, how this relates to your overall theme. Oh, yeah. I mean, the chapter was on body image. And I just naturally, I've been ministering and teaching and talking about body image and how it relates to a lot of painful things, just like eating disorders and all these things. And I've been teaching that for years. I didn't even think to bring out that connection with body image and eating disorders and other things that can happen as a result of a distorted view of ourselves and our body image. And so I was like, oh, yeah. You know, so sometimes we just need to have an outside view, but also just to be reminded of, okay, this is the theme of our book. This is the general feel for what we're going, and this is what I want my reader to always be able to come back to this theme of broken crayons still color. No matter what has been done to you, no matter what you have done, God is able to take your mess and turn it into a masterpiece. That's my main theme of my book. And so I want to make sure that I remember to tie back in that theme as is appropriate. And then in my book, I have a section I always like, if possible, in nonfiction books. Not always, but when possible, to have application to your readers live. So it's not just about you. It's not just about the teaching. It's about them either applying what they're learning, if it's a teaching, or if it's like more of a Christian living, devotional type book or Bible study can actually give them application steps. And so I have some application steps and some reflection questions. I have a coloring page they can color while they're going through the reflection questions. And there was one chapter Deb sent back to me, and she was like, you know, it was just kind of an abrupt ending from your story into then the application to their lives. And it was a pretty deep topic. And in that particular chapter, I think it was the chapter I talked about the sexual abuse that happened to me when I was in middle school. And so I thought, oh, yeah, you know, the flow wasn't really there as far as, like, from my story and my testimony, what God has done in my life, then flowing into that application part. Now it's time for them to really, you know, apply it. And so I was able to update that and add more information and have it flow, flow better. So as a recap, the five editing mistakes that you want to avoid for nonfiction books are. Number one, you want to make sure you always have a reference for any image that you use inside your book. Just like on your book cover, you know, you want to be able to make sure you have permission to use those images and that you reference them. I tend to use endnotes, so I have the references at the end of my book. You can use footnotes, whatever works best for you. Now, in a Kindle version, there are no footnotes. So those would just be at the back of the chapter or the back of the book. Number two is song lyrics. If at all possible, avoid using song lyrics because of copyright issues. You do have some fair use options, but if you're able to work around it, make sure you have permission, especially if you're going to quote long parts of a poem or song lyrics or something like that. Number three is to avoid inconsistencies in your formatting. So to make sure like your scriptures are formatted the similar way, if you're going to italicize them or indent them, that the flow of each chapter is similar, that your formatting is consistent. Number four is to avoid making the mistake of having chapters that are really inconsistent in length. If you can have about the same length for each chapter, that's the best. And then five is just the flow of your book, making sure that it just flows really well. Now, earlier this year I went to speak at a Christian editing conference and I thought, this is interesting. These are editors. I'm used to speaking with authors, but it was really insightful. I went to some of the sessions. I learned a lot and I actually was given permission by one of the editors to include her Nonfiction Editing Channel checklist in Author Audience Academy. So if you're an Author Audience Academy member, you go into the Publish module. Inside the Publish module you'll see a lesson. It's four steps for self editing your book. And in that lesson you can download the Nonfiction Editing checklist as well as the style sheet. I have links to blog posts and tutorials about how to use a style sheet and more information for you there. So that information is for you. If you're not yet a member. You can find out more@authoraudienceacademy.com the biggest takeaway I want you to take from this training is to invest in an editor. Do what you need to to save and skimp and to invest in a really good editor for your book. It will make the world of difference. It will just help your manuscript to shine. They're going to catch so many things that you may just slip past you or other proofreaders. I love having proofreaders. I have a ton of beta readers, but they're even not going to catch certain things that an editor will. So definitely check out Deb hall if you're interested and her website is therightinsight.com or you can also see my recommendations over at my website trainingauthors.com There is a Resources drop down at the top and just click. Click on Recommended outsourcers and there's other editing resources there for you. I'm gonna have to hop off. We're having actually a salsa tasting night with some friends. My husband and I love Mexican food and love salsa and chips and so instead of having like a wine tasting or a cheese tasting or something like that, we're having a salsa tasting night. We're gonna bring in all these different kinds of Salsas. You know, we have some of our favorites. They're gonna bring some of theirs and, and we're just going to have a good time, so. And if you found this helpful, please share it with other authors so they can also know how to make their manuscript shine. You can just share this video with them. If you're listening to the podcast, you can share this podcast. Or if you're on my blog or YouTube channel, you can also share that with them. These trainings get transcribed, so in usually five to seven days, you, you know, my team will transcribe the audio, they'll clean it up. The edited version will end up on my podcast, my YouTube channel, and then the transcript will be posted on my blog, shellyhits.com so if you prefer to read, if you want to do that, you know, usually anywhere from five to seven days after I'm live, you'll be able to find this with the transcript on my blog. So just another little tip for you and a reminder. Well, you guys have a great rest of your night and I will see you next time. Bye. Bye.

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Author Audience Show. Connect with us online@authoraudience.com where you'll find all the resources mentioned in today's episode. While you're there, grab Shelley's free video training on how to write and publish your book using her Six Step Ascent method. Join us again next week to learn how to reach your audience with your message.