Is your novel ready to publish?

We all feel the urge to join other like souls and launch our tome into cyber space. But is it ready?
 What steps have you taken to ensure that it's not filled with missing commas, full stops, annoying misspellings and the like.

You can't rely in Microsoft Word to pick up all the misused words e.g. affect and effect. What about that character that you named Flower and changed your mind, then called her Daffodil. Did you use control + F to find and replace all the old names with the new?

Here's a checklist:
* Chapter one concentrates on filling in the reader on the back story -
   - The why the MC is like she/he is. What event in the past sent her/him on the journey to this point?
   - What event preceded the story, whether it's relevant or not?

* No balance of dialogue and thoughts.

* No incorporation of at least three of the five senses - smell, sound, sight, taste, touch.

* Info dumps which stop the story which have nothing to do with the story. And if they do they should be     incorporated gradually.
   His mother always made apple pie from overripe apples on Sundays and he hated that. Whenever he walked past a pie shop on Sundays, he felt nauseated. He used to scream at her that she should use fresh apples but she always laughed in his face.

* Telling instead of showing.
   She told her husband that she didn't like him going away all the time. That she was left alone in the house with two screaming kids. He told her that it was expected of him.

* Your MC is boring and perfect. - mine was until someone pointed this out.

* Flowery descriptions with too many adjectives.

* No plot - Its a series of scenes that don't go anywhere.

We are all blind to our own mistakes. Me included. When I started writing I did most of the above.
Just keep writing and you'll eventually learn the craft of writing. A brain surgeon didn't learn his skill in a day and neither will you. I'm told it takes at least two books before you get there.

Substantive editing

Hi

I'm now getting ready to publish my story The Deadly Caress on Kindle in the near future. I'd been over and over my manuscript so many times and then my dear friend and writer, Victoria Chie found more things wrong.

I decided that I needed someone to edit and proofread it because I didn't want to upload something to Kindle that wasn't as professional as it could be.

I had so many replies to my job post that I was overwhelmed.

I settled on two American editors who will be doing a substantive edit and proofread for me. I figure the more eyes the better.

I have now sent my mss to the first one.

A quick learning curve for me was to find out what sort of editing I needed. I settled on a substantive edit.
I have copied and pasted an extract below from:
www.allograph.ca/Allograph/editing/Substantive%20edit%20checklist.rtf‎
http://catherineryanhoward.com/?s=substantive+editing&submit=Search

TEXT	DONE
Structure is appropriate for the intended audience and medium.
Material is organized into an appropriate structure and sequence.
Chapter and sub-section divisions are appropriately organized and meaningful.
Language is appropriate for the intended audience and medium.
Consistent style, reading level, point of view, and level of decorum is used.
Appropriate stylistic and dramatic devices are enhanced or minimized as necessary.
Ambiguous vocabulary and syntax are recognized and clarified.
Statements that should be checked for accuracy are noted for copy editor or fact checker.
Redundancies and verbosity are eliminated.
Jargon that is inappropriate for the intended audience is eliminated.
Possible legal trouble spots (e.g., libel, plagiarism, missing permissions) or departures from social acceptability (e.g., gender, ethnicity, or age bias; failure to give sources) are identified for author  and publisher.
Revise or cut manuscript to meet length requirements, as necessary.

Adapted from the Editors’ Association of Canada’s Professional Editorial Standards book, revised edition.

Editing

During the substantive edit, your editor will be considering the following aspects of novel

writing to comment on as needed:

There may be some comments inserted at various places throughout the manuscript. At the end

of the manuscript or as a separate revision letter, you can expect a narrative analysis with

suggestions and explanations of usually about 10-20 single-spaced pages on the following areas:

Characterization

□ Protagonist: May include: strengths, weaknesses, character arc, GMC (goal, motivation,

conflict), portrayal of appropriate and authentic emotions, turning points, raising personal

stakes, handling back story, character voice, plausibility, and other suggestions as the

editor sees fit.

□ Antagonist: Same as above, but additionally: special focus on creating a believable,

three-dimensional character with clear and understandable motivations and desires

□ Main Supporting Characters: Same as above for protagonist: for whichever

supporting characters the editor deems significant enough for analysis. This will be a

briefer analysis since supporting characters are not as deeply developed in most novels.

□ Overview/Summary of characters as a whole: including general strengths, weaknesses,

suggestions for improvement, and additional resources to help with character

development as editor deems necessary.

Plot

□ Story Structure: May include: Inciting incident, turning points (disasters, three-act

structure), building the story tension, dark moment, climax, resolution, Story GMC (goal,

motivation, conflict)

□ Pacing: May include: balance between action sequences and reflective scenes, tension,

use of back story, eliminating preachiness, SHIR (See-How-I-Researched), explaining,

unnecessary scenes, extraneous sub-plots or meandering story threads, excessive

narrative summary or irrelevant dialogue passages

□ Central Conflict: May include: discussion on ways to deepen conflict, make it matter

more in the story, raise public and personal stakes, heighten tension, layer conflicts

through sub-plots, complicate the conflict, strengthen or create turning points, and

connect external conflict to character’s inner conflicts.

□ Plausibility and Originality: May include: suggestions for avoiding clichéd or

stereotyped plots, encouragement to create new plot twists, making the plot more

believable

□ Other aspects of plot as editor deems necessary

□ Overview and summary of plot: strengths, weaknesses, ways to improve, and additional

resources such as books, articles, websites, or groups that editor feels would be helpful

Writing Technique—overview and general suggestions for improving the following areas as

necessary:

□ Dialogue

□ POV: deepening, limiting, strengthening

□ Voice: writer’s own writing voice

□ Showing, not telling

□ Narration

□ Dialogue attributions, beats, and internalizations (thoughts)

□ Increasing tension on every page

□ Maturing overall style

□ Summary and additional resources as needed

Summary and Further Recommendations

□ Advice regarding how to approach revisions

□ Suggested next steps beyond revision

□ Encouragement regarding overall story potential

O.

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