Updated: I’m getting over the plague/on editing

I was sick all last week with the plague. Ick. Okay, it probably was a cold or flu, but it was awfully snotty.

What was worse is that the plague sidelined me going through this story, which I like a lot, but I wrote it from my head directly to the page. This means it’s a godforsaken mess. I need to get to it, and that is going to delay my newsletter. It’ll be next month, okay?

The freebie first book of the series is dropping in ranking on Amazon, but I think it’s doing quite well for what it is. What’s good is that the other books in the series, the ones I make money on, are picking up sales, as planned.

I have new covers for my Eastman series and it is being re-edited! UPDATE:I wrote a new post on editing and decided it was better to combine it with this post.

I wanted to get my e-books up on the major online retailers by Christmas.  To do this, I rushed. I also had no money.  So, I made my own covers, and went over the scans myself (why the hell all the dropped periods?).  I was cross-eyed and exhausted, but the books were posted and I was mostly satisfied with them.  (These books were published by Harlequin).

But now, that I have the money to invest in professional editing and more professional covers (a subjective judgment), I’m doing it.

The process is just starting and will probably take several months to get all the books done.  I am stunned at what I missed, but anybody could.  A writer does not an editor make.  It’s a separate skill.  Often, I see what I expect/want to see, not what is really there.  Our brains outrun our eyes.

The editing is costing me a frickin’ fortune (and that is with a generous price break and payment arrangements out of the kindness of their heart-thank you), but I’m sure it’ll be worth every penny.

Self-published authors should really think about making an investment in their work in this way.

I have been reading and buying more IR romance, and occasionally I’m horrified at the amount of errors.  In one instance, although I felt the story had promise, I simply couldn’t get through it, solely because of the errors.  Even books that I liked and would recommend are riddled with errors.  These books are being priced higher and higher.  IMO, authors should reinvest their earnings back into their books, especially if they didn’t have the money at first–if they want to appeal to romance readers across the board and be taken seriously.

Take the time and money to reinvest in your work.  In my opinion, it’s necessary to break out to the next level.