Finished My First Draft, Now What?

• Take at least a week or two away from your novel.

  • Celebrate “The End”, step away, consume other media, come back with a fresh mind.

• Write down questions you have about your novel.

  • If you gave your novel to someone else, what concerns would you warn them about?

    • What might be the weaknesses?

    • Are you concerned about pacing or timeline?

    • Do you think there might be any plot holes?

    • Are you concerned about character development?

• Start reading your novel.

  • Ask yourself the 5W’s for each chapter.

    • Who, what, where, when, why, how?

    • Leave yourself comments in the document to double check things.

      • This helps keep you focused, but ensures you don't miss any details you're concerned about.

    • Once you finish the read through, answer your questions, go back through the comments, and revise sections.

• Hire an editor or do another round of revisions.

  • This could be a good time for critique partners, beta/alpha readers, or hiring a developmental editor.

  • If you're interested in a professional edit, but don't want to pay for a full service yet, consider a manuscript assessment or manuscript critique.

    • A manuscript assessment reviews your entire novel and comes with a wider scope developmental editing report. This is overall feedback on the novel. Points out some strengths and weakness, what could be added, could be taken away. Doesn't go into specific detail of where to add development, but can provide a good overview to spark inspiration. (Contact us for more information)

    • A manuscript critique is a developmental edit of up to 5 chapters. You'll receive an assessment highlighting your strengths and weaknesses, and intensive feedback on all 5 chapters.

Research Publishing Path

Self-Publishing: you have ultimate creative control over your manuscript and how your book is presented to the world

• You get to choose:

  • Your editor

  • Cover designer

  • Whether you sell direct or through a platform (ex. Amazon), or both!

  • Choose how you market your book, whether you do it yourself, hire a marketing manager or assistant, or a PR team.

• Can come with higher royalty rates

• Faster publication times

• You get to choose how much you do yourself versus what services are important to outsource for you.

Traditional Publishing: less creative control, but minimal cost to the author, as most services are provided.

• Can come with a higher credibility and marketing support, but can result result in lower royalty rates

• Requires compiling a list of agents you’d like to query

• Writing a query letter (or few) and emailing them to agents.

• While editing is covered, it is recommended to have a couple critique partners, beta readers, or alpha readers review your novel before sending to agents.

  • Or, hiring a developmental editor can help ensure your novel is in the best place to attract an agent’s attention.

Start Searching for Editors

It’s recommended to have your novel professionally edited (particularly for self-publishing) to help your novel stand out amongst the masses.

Editors can book up fast, so if you have a specific publishing deadline you’d like to reach, I recommend contacting editors as soon as you’re able.

1) Figure out what editing you might need:

• Developmental Editing - This thorough editing approach focuses on enhancing the narrative flow, character development, plot structure, and the overall effectiveness of the writing.

• Line Editing - A line edit focuses on the clarity and flow of your sentences, ensuring that your ideas are effectively conveyed to your readers.

• Proofreading - Proofreaders have a keen eye for detail and the expertise to identify and correct errors, ensuring that your manuscript is flawless.

2) Always ask for a sample from a few different editors

3) Review sample, cost, deadline, and analyze the communication with the editor, then choose the best fit.

If you’d like to self-publish, but find the process daunting or only want to be responsible for a certain amount of things in the publishing process, Represent Publishing offers customizable self-publishing packages.

Choose what you’d like to take care of, what you’d like to outsource, and collaborate with a team of people who have your best interests in mind.

With a range of editing services, formatting, cover design, promotional graphics, marketing managers, and self-publishing assistance, there’s plenty to choose from.

We offer payment plans that work with your budget, you keep 100% of the royalties, and the packages are offered at a discounted rate!

Self-Publishing Packages