My First Experience with Novel Editing 

I had heard horror stories from other authors of their experiences with editors, so I really didn't know what to expect when the publisher assigned my manuscript to an editor and told me I would be working with her for the the next few weeks. The first edit turned out to be easy, and I agreed with the few suggestions made. Brenda saw things that I hadn't, but she was right.

I knew from the beginning that I was just too close to the manuscript to assess how well it was written. In fact, I even had trouble proofing it, because I tended to read what I meant for it to say and missed the mistakes. This surprised me, because I review books all the time, and I'm often called on to proof and edit other people's writing. I still don't know how to rank how good Cleared for Planting is, but reader feedback will eventually help with this. 

The second rewrite was a little more extensive, but nothing too taxing. I knew Brenda, like me, wanted the book to be as strong as we could make it, and I appreciated her input and direction.

I asked for the third revision. I just wasn't satisfied with one section of Part Two, because too much of it seemed to be told rather than shown and pull the reader into the story. I rewrote it, and the section now holds more tension and seems more alive.

The fourth edit dealt with the conclusion. After putting the last pages into an epilogue, we decided to eliminate them altogether. This meant I needed to rework the ending just a little. After I got into it, this went quickly.

Finally, Brenda sent the final copy back for me to read. Even though I had been through the manuscript at least four times since it went to the editor, she had also gone through it several times, and she had run it through a few editing programs, I still caught sixteen mistakes. It's incredibly hard to catch all the errors in a 89,000 word novel.

I feel good about what we've done, however. I appreciate all the help Brenda gave me. I had worked with magazine editors before, but this was the first time for a book, and I must say I enjoyed the entire process. I think the next book will be even better from what I learned here.

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