the red devil: No, not that one…editing

And we’re off. This past weekend has been taxing, pushing my limits as I took inventory of my rental property (or what was left of it!). I’ll never understand how some people can live like animals. I rented plenty of times over my life and always left it better than I found it. Maybe its just me, but I have a sense of pride and a reputation to uphold. Hell, at one point my apartment was used for the entire development’s bank inspections. Airborne!

At any rate, my house is a complete disaster and will take a lot of time, $$$, manhours, and a few insurance claims to get up and running and on the for sale market. Such is life. Somewhere in the middle of this mess I entered a conversation on Twitter discussing editing. I was appalled by so many new authors who feel they are the only set of eyes necessary to edit their books.

This is a recipe for failure- which is partly why the indie community is renown for publishing, well, garbage products. The story is there, but everything else is nowhere near it. Editing is a necessary evil- BY OTHER PEOPLE. No one is more connected to the story than the author. We are reluctant to cut parts, miss mistakes, and are biased on our work. When my editors get hold of my finished manuscript they hack and slash with the red pen. I despair getting my books back, but know it is needed and making me better.

Combine this with the need to re-edit ALL of my books as I transition to my own brand: Warfighter Books, I see the differences in editors. Some books are clean, others look like a 3rd grader did it. Regardless, they are all my fault for not scanning over them after I got them back.