Another Edit Down

When last we visited my travails regarding the publishing, or non-publishing, of my latest book, I was reassessing the viability of my manuscript. After all, I had sent out several dozen queries with only a couple of nibbles and lots of rejections from agents, even though I was and remain convinced that my book tells a powerful story with verve and humor.

Nevertheless, with the help of an outside consultant, we determined that it was time for another round with a professional editor. Since it's difficult to be objective about the quality of your work as a writer after slaving on draft after draft over a period of years, tapping the insights of a qualified source to evaluate your work makes sense. So through an online resource called Reedsy, I hired an editor with vast publishing house experience who had edited and written several books for audiences similar to my target audience.

She was expensive, but her input should prove invaluable. Her line edits really tightened my writing and she made several insightful suggestions to improve plot dynamics. Most important, to me at least,  she reassured me that, with a few relatively minor tweaks, my book will be pretty much as good as I think it is. She did say there was a glut of books along the same thematic arc as mine, but that my use of humor and voice differentiated it from the others. She gave me some positioning suggestions to use in my query pitch that may yield more positive results than what I've seen.

As previously noted, this is my second comprehensive edit from a professional editor, which is not unlike getting a second opinion from a doctor. Since my first editor was very good, the changes recommended by this second editor are not nearly as extensive. Once I'm finished with the latest round of edits over the next few weeks, I think the manuscript will be in its best possible shape and I'll resume querying.

But publishing these days being such a crapshoot, there's no guarantee that my new, improved manuscript will have any better luck in the marketplace. It's all a matter of finding the right agent, at the right time, on the right date, in the right mood...

But at least I know that what I'm submitting is worthy.