Monsters Re-Release (Or, How I Owned Up To My Weaknesses And Learned To Love Editing)


Hello, Little Spartans, it's been a while hasn't it?

 I'm not going to sit here and give you the reasons I've not been around, but let's just say that I was taking a sabbatical and I wasn't at all kidnapped by aliens and experimented on. *WINK*

 But seriously, TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER!

 lol. No, just kidding. We can do that later.

First of all, I'd like to talk about my book - MONSTERS. Hold on, stop shaking your heads. I know you know I wrote this one a while ago. In fact, some of you have even bought it. 

 Best of all, everyone seemed to like it. I got great reviews and a terrific response from everyone who read the book.


"Doyle was a great character..." 


"...the story was well paced..." 


"...unique..."


"...a twisting thrill ride..."


However, a few of the negative comments all hit on the same thing: head-hopping (POV ping-ponging between characters during a scene instead of shifting at a natural point like a scene change.)

Before I self-published Monsters, I edited it. Yes. Me. I also got a good friend to take a couple of passes on it. But, if you learn only ONE thing from me, let it be this: there is no substitute for getting an actual EDITOR to edit your book.

It's as simple as that. 

Now, I completely understand why people don't want to do that. Editors cost money. Everyone's gotta make a living. Chances are you'll spend more producing your book than you'll make back. For a good while at least. So, is it worth it?

AYE!! Trust me.

I hired grammar-ninja, Gina Hylton, and she was able to help me weed out the problems with head-hopping and catch a few stray adverbs and rogue commas. I fixed the head-hopping scenes and it tightened up my writing immeasurably.

So, I am proud(er) to say, Monsters is back and better than before. The story is the same, but the writing is better. And, although I plan to publish the follow-up through a conventional publishing house, I will never again cut that editorial corner.

And if you want your self-published book to be treated seriously, you should definitely hire an editor.

Monsters is available on KINDLE


Gina Hylton (aka Regina West) is currently an Associate Editor and soon-to-be-published romance author with Pandamoon Publishing. You can follow her on Twitter (@GinaWestAuthor) and Facebook.


Now...TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER.



Comments

  1. dSavannahApril 22, 2014 at 2:39 AM

    YAY for editors! YAY for writers! YAY for editing! YAY for blogging!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 22, 2014 at 9:03 AM

    Hi Gareth!! Glad to have you back. Missed your posts. Totally understand needing a sabbatical, and I 100% agree that edits are important. I know from my own work that if I didn't have my editor...ruh roh...look out! lol Congrats on your re-release! :D

    ReplyDelete
  3. ScotsJamaicanApril 22, 2014 at 5:17 PM

    Big up! First time learning from your mistakes ! Ha! Seriously - good move and I'm sure Gina taught you a lot. I've been impressed with what I've seen of her work so far. Now, I thought the first published version was good, so this must be gooder? However, I am extremely impatient waiting for the follow up! Get on with it!

    ReplyDelete

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