#YAIndieCarnival: My editing process

Editing. It's probably my least favourite part of the whole indie publishing scene. I spent years editing other people's work when I worked in the newspaper and magazine industry. I worked my way up from assistant editor to features editor to, finally, editor. I did enjoy it though.
Editing my own books is very different, I admit, but thankfully I have a team of beta readers who make it much easier. Once I've written my first draft (often editing as I go too), I work my through it a second time, editing some more. Then I send it to my team who works through it over a period of a few weeks. During this time, I don't even look at it. I try not to even think about it (which is difficult, I might add). I just chill out and give my brain a rest.
When their notes start coming back to me, I read through them carefully and begin making all the necessary changes and corrections.
Once these are done, I then transfer my manuscript to my Kindle where I begin to read the whole thing again. On my Kindle, it makes it much easier to spot any minor errors that might have crept back in or have been missed. And then, when I'm happy it's publish ready, I start uploading to all the online distributors and then get ready for release day!
Speaking of release days, my next book in The Morgan Sisters comes out next month. YAY!! I'm super excited about this one :D

Don't forget to download your FREE copy of my book, Daisy Madigan's Paradise here and your FREE copy of Raven here.

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series
3. Heather Self
4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga
6. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
7. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog
8. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
9. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series
10. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
11. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey
12. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter
13. Melissa Pearl, Author of The Time Spirit Trilogy
14. Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga
15. Courtney Cole Writes
16. Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.
17. Ella James
18. Maureen Murrish
19. Valerie Sloan
20. YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings
21. Terah Edun, author of Red Madrassa and An Amlah's Diary

Click here for more Indie News:

Indie Life: Beta Readers

I've just finished writing my latest novel. It's always such a relief to get it done and sent off to my beta readers that I feel exhausted for days afterwards. Sometimes I even feel a little under the weather.
Anyway, it's in their hands at the moment and I shall wait with baited breath to see what they think of it. So far, I've had some AWESOME comments, which certainly helps me to breathe a little easier.
One of my beta readers is only 12! She's an absolute star and I'd hate to be without her now. I was gobsmacked when she approached me after she read The Raven Saga to ask if I needed a beta reader for any future books I might write. Apparently, she adored the series which is why she emailed me. Talk about make my day (week, month, year!). She's been sending me thorough notes over the past few days... I am so indebted to her, I really am.
But I won't start making any changes until I've had notes back from all the beta readers in a few weeks. So for now, I'm having a much needed break... YAY!

Don't forget that you can get Raven and Daisy Madigan's Paradise absolutely FREE!

Have an awesome month! :D

#YAIndieCarnival: The wolf pack

Other than our absolutely smashing readers who we adore (!), us indie authors usually have our very own wolf pack - a team of essential folk right behind us, that come in the form of book cover designers, beta readers and editors.
When I first started out with Raven, I had no money put aside to pay for any of these, so my book cover was a photo my husband took of me running through a little forest up our local mountain. I fiddled with it a bit in Photoshop and uploaded it to Smashwords and Amazon. Needless to say, when I look back at that image, I cringe! It really was pretty awful.

From this

Then this

To this... gorgeous!

Anyway, after several weeks (or was it months? I can't remember!), I decided it had to go so off I went to track down the perfect image for my new cover. I paid a stock photography site a few dollars for a picture I did like but I knew it wasn't THE one but with no money to fork out for a professional designer, I had to make do with it. The next two books I did the same, used stock images and then added my bit of flair in Photoshop (very little flair... I'm not exactly a pro!).
For my latest book, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, I knew it was time to go pro and so, using some of my earnings (!), I found a fabulous cover designer (Ravven) who did a stellar job with a beautiful new cover which I adore. During the same week, before I'd even told anyone about my professional cover, I was approached by the gorgeous Emma Michaels, who is a YA author and cover designer. She offered to re-do all three of my Raven Saga covers. Naturally I jumped at the chance and I'm totally over the moon with the result! Gorgeous!
As for beta readers, I started off with a dear friend (a teacher) who offered to read Raven as well as a number of close friends who happen to be in the publishing business with some experience with editing and proofreading. They did a wonderful job. I still use them today, but I've also added to them with beta readers who I've found via facebook and other YA sites. In fact this morning, I received an email from a fan who offered to beta read for me. Delighted, I promptly sent her my latest manuscript!
I must mention Bryna Butler at this stage. Bryna very kindly beta read The Lost Soul for me and I am so grateful because she managed to stop me from making a fool of myself with a certain dinosaur. I had written that this dinosaur could fly... and of course, it couldn't! I am so grateful to her for that!
As for editors, I did hire one once and although she is a lovely person and did a decent job, I felt that my beta readers offered the same service for free so at the moment I am content to continue just with them.
For more stories about the important people behind us indies, check out my awesome fellow carnis...

1. Laura A. H. Elliott author of Winnemucca & 13 on Halloween, Book 1 in the Teen Halloween Series
2. Bryna Butler, author Midnight Guardian series

3. Heather Self

4. T. R. Graves, Author of The Warrior Series
5. Suzy Turner, author of The Raven Saga 

6. Cheri Schmidt, author of the Fateful Trilogy
7. Rachel Coles, author of Into The Ruins, geek mom blog 

8. K. C. Blake, author of Vampires Rule and Crushed
9. Patti Larsen, The Hunted series and The Hayle Coven series 

10. Amy Maurer Jones, Author of The Soul Quest Trilogy
11. Fisher Amelie, author of The Understorey

12. Gwenn Wright, author of Filter  

13. Melissa Pearl, Author of The Time Spirit Trilogy
14. Heather M. White, author of The Destiny Saga

15. Courtney Cole Writes
16. Liz Long | Just another writer on the loose.

17. Ella James
18. Maureen Murrish

19. Valerie Sloan
20. YA Sci Fi Author's Ramblings

Click here for more Indie News: