First of all let me say congratulations.

Surprising to many, one of the biggest challenges when starting any new story is finishing it.

Many unfinished, much loved, half written manuscripts find their way into the forgotten draw for a variety of reasons, so being able to say you have finished your story, regardless of whatever happens next is a huge accomplishment.

So now you’ve written it, next stop …. a six figure publishing deal, a film deal and a theme park … Right?

Well I’m not saying that won’t happen, but it’s not the norm and you’ve got a few steps before that story is ready for the shelves of your local bookshop. The biggest failure for most stories is sending out a raw unedited story that could have been so much more (and many of us are guilty of this when we first start out.)

We often refer to our first draft of a story as ‘DRAFT ZERO’ This is because although it is a big accomplishment finishing your story, draft zero is often you telling the story to yourself, getting it onto paper and bringing its skeleton to life. That’s not to say it’s bad, although some authors will say their draft zero is often verbal spew they use to get the bones of the story down on the page. This is especially true if you are a PANTSER and not a PLOTTER.

A plotter is someone who will plan out their story before they begin writing it and will often have it structured and laid out before they even begin writing the story, whereas a pantser will often start a story will no clue of where it’s going and loves the thrill of discovering their story through exploring and writing their draft zero.

Regardless of how you get to the end of that draft zero, it is highly unlikely that your book will be ready for submission (although if it is congratulations and I am extremely envious of you)

Advice is always to let it sit at least for a few days, although some suggestions do say leaving it for months. (sometimes deadlines do not allow for this.)

Sit down with your manuscript and read it out loud. Your brain processes things differently in your head to when you read it out loud and it will show you things you won’t have noticed when you were writing it.

The first read in my opinion should always be as a reader, I do not alter anything the first read through and instead read it as a story, look at the voice, the flow, the pace. Does it make you want to keep reading? Ignore any grammatical errors etc, these can be fixed later. Make some notes afterwards of what stands out.

Next I change the font size, font type and colour where possible. Again this stops your brain from skimming over things and will help you to identify errors.

Round two for me is always structural edits. Are there any inconsistencies in my story? Are there any plot holes, or floppy bits where the story stalls? Make notes as you go through to help you identify any of these.

This can take two or three run throughs to correct these and sometimes they are little things, sometimes they are integral to the plot. Take your time and ensure these are right or they will make your story less believable to the reader.

Then we have line edits, formatting, spelling, grammar, punctuation etc. I also use this round as an opportunity to look for overused words, lines where the description is too long or too short or if any of the language doesn’t fit with the voice of the story.

Once I get to this point am I ready to submit? ….. errrr no not quite.

I then send my manuscript to a friend, critique group or editor for review and 9 times out of 10 they will have suggestions I have never thought of, or spot errors I have even noticed. A fresh pair of eyes is always valuable. I never send it to someone I know won’t be critical or honest.

Yes, it can be hard to hear your precious manuscript that you’ve poured your heart into isn’t perfect, however you don’t want to do yourself a disservice after coming this far. Grit your teeth take the feedback and use it to your advantage.

It could go back and forth several times and I often send it to more than one person to ensure it has been checked as thoroughly as possible.

Then come the final checks. I read it aloud once more, ensure that it feels right and doesn’t have any glaring errors, is presented professionally and save it ready for submission.

I only ever send a manuscript to one or two people for consideration at once and if  I get similar feedback from them, I will stop and review my manuscript before then sending it out again.

Before sending your manuscript out:

–Research the market, see where your story will fit on the shelves in the current market, what successful books could it be compared to but not identical to.

-Decide why your book fits in the market and where the demand for it would be.

-Research who you are sending it to. If they want a Picture Book and you’ve written a Young Adult Book, there is no point sending it to them and receiving an unnecessary rejection.

-Ensure you follow any submission guidelines, are polite and professional but not arrogant, starting your submission letter with ‘This is the best thing you will ever read and you will regret it if you pass it up’ is not the way to win over peoples hearts, but at the same time don’t under sell yourself. You’ve worked hard on this but confident but professional, ‘I would like submit my xxxxx of xxxxx words that I believe can be compared to both X and Y and would be appealing to x’

-Be prepared for rejection. A lot of success can be down to timing, market preferences, trends and just luck. Some of the most successful authors have been and still are rejected all the time. Persistence, networking (meeting people at events, workshops etc) and being able to accept that rejection is part of the journey are vital.

You are on the first step of an amazing journey of highs and lows. To have got this far you are awesome and you can do this, just don’t rush yourself and sell yourself short! Keep going and enjoy the adventure ahead!