I had been told of Track and Change, but I didn't realise how effective it was ... until I got my manuscript back from the publishers. Lulu could have made it easier to follow their instructions, but a couple of emails sorted it out. Their editor had been through my whole story, every word, every sentence and I was staggered at the number of (minor) changes she recommended. The skill and professionalism of the editor came through. For those who don't know, the Track Changes required me to look at each suggested change to approve or reject. It took me nearly three weeks to do that and return it to the publisher. I asked for the editor to keep to the British way of writing (called Oxford style) and Monica has done a fine job. Most of the corrections were to punctuation, a surprise to me as I thought I was hot stuff on punctuation! That has been a huge learning curve for me. Sometimes Monica changed a word which sounded better, or moved a sentence around to make it flow better. She pointed out a few inconsistencies to the story, which I corrected. On a couple of occasions she noted when a scene detail would not be acceptable to most readers (one scene was full sex without a condom) ... but I was happy to take her advice and I changed it. If you read the book, can you spot the scene?!! The detail of the editor's suggestions were hugely impressive. And I've become a better writer as a result.
The changes have been sent back to Lulu Publishers. Note, I am not altering the manuscript myself. Lulu do it. I have merely approved the changes. Saves me time.
I've spent spare time in gathering together reviewers, avid readers whom I've never met before, but are willing to read and post a review (in return for giving them a free copy of the eBook). So far I have 30 people who have agreed to write a review. I want more, because I think some will drop out, or be too busy when it comes to the day.
On the marketing side, I've focused on who will buy the book. London Red is in the Romance/New Adult genre. By the way, New Adult is an up-and-coming genre where the characters are in the age range 18 to 30, first real love type of thing. My market readership is therefore female, and I figure aged 18 to 60 would enjoy the read, living in the USA (biggest market), Canada, and the UK. So I'm aiming at them with my facebook and twitter sites
YOU ARE READING
Publish
Non-FictionThis is a diary of my efforts to publish. It is not a ''how to'' lesson on getting a book published. Nor does the diary offer any advice to ''would be'' authors. It is a diary, a very brief diary, on what I am doing to get my story published, beginn...
