My Worst Nightmare as a First-time Author!

The goal of book editing is to have a masterpiece that can stand out in the global market.?

When it involves editing, the author collaborates with the editor to ensure excellence.?

You must be detached from what you've written because you're not writing for yourself but for a global audience.?

Stop holding on to that aspect of your manuscript that you think makes sense to you but doesn't make sense to your editor, nor contribute to your book's goal.?

Your editor may see that as a dent in your brand.?

Or that it veers from your topic.?

But because you wanted to rain fire on him/her, s/he left that part of the manuscript for you.?

You must know that you need your editor's suggestions and recommendations.?

You trusted him/her to deliver, that was why you reached out in the first place.?

Allow an editor to do his/her job.?

That was how uncle Mike went online to advise people never to employ the services of professional editors.?

He said editors do more harm than good because he felt his editor removed a part of a manuscript that he felt attached to.?

He forgot he wasn't writing for himself.?

He made this statement years ago but this statement is still wreaking havoc.?

Amaka adopted that advice and refused to send her manuscript to an editor.?

She claimed that uncle Mike said in his post never to trust editors.?

That they're not professional in delivering as expected.?

Rather they're making tons of money from innocent writers who don't know they can edit their manuscripts themselves.?

Before I could say jack, Amaka's book is already published.?

She came to my DM singing the praises of how she was able to handle everything herself.?

From writing to editing, interior formatting, cover design, and digital publishing.?

A few months later she came back with a testimony of how her book had started selling.?

I neglected her messages.?

Moments later her messages flooded my phone.?

Wondering what the numerous messages could be, I opened her chat only to see the type of bad reviews that could cause a heart attack.?

The words her readers used to capture their experiences from the book were alarming.?

Amaka is caught up in a web because some of the readers said it was obvious that she was after the money and not the quality of what she put out.?

She exclaimed, "this is my worst nightmare as a first-time author. "

After I allowed her to express her pain and displeasure, I asked.?

Between you and the editors, who have made tons of money without delivery quality??

She remained silent.?

Then, I continued.?

You jeopardized your brand for selfish gain.?

How can you enjoy people's hard-earned money they thought they had exchanged for value??

If you know what's good for you, go and withdraw that book from wherever you published it and send it for professional editing.?

She agreed and acted accordingly.?

This time, she promised that after the manuscript has gone through thorough editing and it's professionally handled, she would send a free copy to every person who bought the former version.?

She added that she was going to add a note of apology through their emails since they submitted their email addresses when they bought the initial version of the book.?

Am I happy that things turned out the way they did??

Of course not.?

But all these could have been avoided by simply doing the needful.?

When you've completed your manuscript, please send it to a professional editor.?

If you have written nonfiction, reach out to a nonfiction editor.?

If it's fiction, reach out to a fiction editor.??

Whatever genre you've written, ensure that your editor is an authority in that genre.?

This might not make sense to you, but it saves you a lot.?

Don't go hire anybody to be your editor.?

Hire a professional in that field.?

You can decide to joke with anything, but not your book publishing journey.?

It's a journey that must be intentionally embarked on.?

I'll be available to help you refine your nonfiction manuscripts into publishable masterpieces.?

Have you completed that manuscript and it needs a professional editor to refine it??

Reach out let's talk.?

#bookwritingguru