Printing My First Draft

Proof I wrote for 5 months

 I am on a pauper's editing budget. I can't afford to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for editing. Not on this book. Hopefully by Book 2 I can send my book off for editing, if not then definitely Book 3.

I *know* the book needs editing. That isn't an issue. I am going to do my very best and use as many quality assurance skills I can to help improve the methodology.

First, I outlined my plot. I tried to check my story for holes before I ever wrote a word. Okay, before I wrote more than a few scenes. Writing a few scenes helped me feel the tone of the book, which helped in story boarding. There's layers to editing and I have two editing books that list them. Things like plot, setting, characterization, dialogue. Each chapter will get each layer. The book as a whole will get each layer. I am going to make it the best writing I possibly can.

This is how THICK 225 pages is!!!

Here is where I will print again****

Then come the pre-readers. I am thinking about doing a typo/grammar mistake contest with my 5 pre-readers. Whoever finds the most issues gets a $25 Gift card. And everyone gets a signed copy of the paperback. No idea if they will go for this or not....

Then I will check for typos, each chapter, out of sequence, as many times as it takes until I don't see any more. Not over and over again right away. It will be more like Chapter 3 is checked, I find 2 typos, I mark them. I check other chapters. Then, I come back to Chapter 3, I find another typo, so it will get another run, and just do this systematically until I run out of chapters failing the typo check.

Then I will layout. If I catch anything in the layout, I will fix it. Then print the layout (maybe, unless it's cheaper to buy the mock up from Amazon....).

And that's the best I can do on a shoe-string budget. All in all, I should publish this book for about $500 in expenses....




*** Next time, although this is gorgeous, I'm going to just opt to have the pages printed and hole punched for the first draft. That way as I edit I can print at home and insert them. That should cut the cost from $21 to about $15 or less.

"CANCELLED" arriving SEPTEMBER 2011. A robotics engineer asks his business partner to marry him, but a previous one-night stand is having his baby.