Just as writers sometimes make things harder on themselves by following grammar rules from when they were young, myths about how to approach the writing process and more can get in their way. Based on years of working with indie authors and with six publishers, here’s a recap of some of the common misconceptions about the editing process and other aspects of content development. Knowing some of these can make your writing path more efficient, by keeping you from heading down the wrong track.
Only Nonfiction Writers Need a Book Proposal
A proposal is a way for a writer to prove the case for their book to a traditional publisher. In some ways, then, it’s like asking for a small business loan, as the publisher is banking on the book’s successes by providing support for you during the work’s development. While proposals used to be expected primarily for nonfiction works, a fair number of memoirists and novelists in recent years have found success in landing a traditional book deal by developing one. I’ve even heard of a YA author developing one. That’s because publishing is costly, and a book proposal makes it easier for an agent and traditional publishers to quickly assess your writing chops, outreach capabilities, etc.
The good news is that developing a proposal is a great way to consider audience needs, to sharpen a work’s focus, and much more (as I cover in this post). That is, it’s a good step for most authors to think about doing. Better yet is to start earlier, by developing a Road Map first about a book idea, to be sure you have the focus well defined, which allows you to write the proposal more efficiently by having the content elements already mapped out.
All You Need to Do Is Get Words on The Page
If your goal is to improve your writings over time, and to step into being a working author, or your finances are tight, then you’ll likely be tackling both the craft and the business side of authorship. There are lots of ways to build up your business expertise over time, such as writing conferences that have marketing and other tracks. You can still seek someone else to handle specific things you don’t like too, such as social media, or choose to skip that and focus on other marketing approaches that include giving speeches. But, at some point after you’ve established a writing habit, learning about how to connect with readers off of the page in ways that are fulfilling to you will likely be important, as will developing a relationship with reliable sources of feedback, so that you’re not drafting content in a vacuum.
Polishing Your Work Just Means Receiving Sentence-level Feedback
This often goes hand in hand with the previous misconception. In terms of when to get input on your writings—particularly if you see writing as a career—the earlier you do so, often the better. Just as you wouldn’t want to move into a house whose foundation or frame had structural errors in it, the same is true of the value of getting early feedback on how sound your work is. Considering beta readers is one option, as covered here. But that’s why even writers who publish regularly in The New York Times and such seek book coaches, because steps such as developing a solid narrative arc, structuring chapters, and keeping readers engaged for hundreds of pages are no easy feat.
Among the possibilities a book coach, or the right developmental editor, can help you with are pivoting early on if it becomes clear from discussions and/or what’s on the page that a book’s concept really doesn’t match your goals for the story, or your career goals. Or an early-stage content guide may help you untangle a gnarly few chapters, or a fully drafted manuscript. That is, they provide a relatively objective take on what’s on the page, from having trained to provide input on what’s working and not. In addition, some coaches and editors guide on knowing when your work is polished enough to begin pitching to literary agents, and how to pursue these gatekeepers of traditional publishing, if you choose to go that route (I’ll share a separate post about myths around the publishing process that touches on agents more directly).
You Can Get a Good Service Provider Estimate Without Sharing Content
Chances are you wouldn’t pay an auto mechanic to fix your car’s engine that hadn’t poked around under the hood. But writers often accept bids for different book development stages without giving adequate access to the content so that service providers can give the best estimate. This isn't always true, but it’s possible you’ll be settling for a coach or editor who is less experienced as a result, or less passionate about the project from being in need of money.
If fear of having your work stolen by an unscrupulous person is behind the concern about sharing, I’ve written a post about avoiding author scams. Plus, there are several ways you can vet the legitimacy of book service providers before sharing content: you can check testimonials on their website, or ask for client references, and you can see if they will provide a sample edit (more established editors may say no because it’s asking an editor to lose money, as may developmental editors, because it’s hard to show the range of big picture suggestions this work involves). Another step is to check if a publishing service provider is a member of professional organizations (which can cost hundreds per year, suggesting they take what they do seriously).
In addition, a book coach may only ask for 10 to 50 pages. For developmental editing work when feedback is wanted all at once, one option is to share enough nonconsecutive chapters to give the editor a sense of how the content is structured, but allay fears of someone publishing what’s shared.
Your Kind of Story Has Already Been Told, So Why Bother
If you’re worried that your work won’t stand out, keep in mind that this fear hits many. The act of writing, in and of itself, often brings up concerns about whether someone has the right stuff to be a successful writer, and anything unique to say. The former is about perseverance to create stellar content, smart thinking, and market forces beyond anyone’s control, like whether a particular audience or publisher will connect with your work. Regarding developing unique manuscripts, the old adage that “there’s nothing new under the sun” is still around because there’s some truth to it, in that writers often work on the same underlying themes, like belonging and the meaning of truth.
The good news is, the universality of such themes is what attracts readers to them. And no one else has lived through your particular set of circumstances that will influence everything from the events that appear in your memoir, to the quirks of characters in a novel, to your particular point in take-home messages. A good coach or other guide can help you with refining your work so its uniqueness shines through, help you to be more market savvy about calling out those unique aspects, and help you to understand if you’re entering a subfield of a genre that already has some major players producing the type of writings your heart longs to cover, and how best to work around that.
Also keep in mind that, ultimately, whether others label you a success or not, getting out of your own way and putting your stories down can bring the reward of a greater understanding of yourself and some aspect of the world.
By Barbra A. Rodriguez
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