Steps to Take Before Sending Your Manuscript to Your Editor
Congratulations! You have finished your manuscript. Writing “The End” is a momentous occasion, and you should celebrate. Now the bad news, you aren’t done yet. I know, I know, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but fortunately for you, I have some information on the next steps to take.
Take a break. You read that right. The very first step after writing “The End” is to take a break. Step away from your manuscript for at least a week, preferably. Don’t touch it, don’t look at it, just sit back, relax, and celebrate.
After your break, and I cannot emphasize how important this break is, you can begin self-edits. Read through your manuscript and fix every error you can find. Read it aloud or listen to it. This will help you catch easily overlooked errors.
Once you complete your self-edits, start looking around for editors. The process of hiring an editor can be costly, but this is a step you should never skip out on. Hiring an editor could be the difference between a bestseller and a flop. Many editors will request a sample of your work; others will list examples of theirs. I ask for a sample of your writing, usually the first ten pages, as this gives me an idea about the kind of work involved in your edit and gives you the chance to get an understanding of what working with me will entail. After receiving answers from the editors, pick the one you like the best and is in your price range, and set a date at least three to four weeks out.
I highly recommend you send your manuscript to beta readers at this point. Pick a few of your peers that you trust. These can be friends, family, or fellow authors, just make sure that they are people you trust to give you honest feedback, as well as readers of your genre. When sending the manuscript, ask your betas specific questions that get you helpful answers. Don’t just ask for feedback, because this will almost always lead to fruitless answers that don’t help fix your story at all.
Once you have received your feedback from your betas, decide if the responses you got from each of them are issues with your story, especially if you have conflicting responses to the same question. If they are, incorporate them into your manuscript.
Then, it’s time to send your manuscript to the editor. The steps once you have sent it varies between editors. We each have our own way of doing things. If you hire me, I will send you a document detailing the steps of my process.
At this time, I don’t have the steps on what to do after you finish with your editor. However, I do plan on researching this sometime soon and will add another document after I have done that. Happy editing!