Book Status

I finished writing my book, It Is What It Is, last fall. Since that time, it has been reviewed and edited by a variety of people including a doctor, someone who doesn't know me, people who read self help and inspirational type books and people who don't. All comments have been very positive. I have read and edited more times than I can remember. Quite frequently I am asked about the editing process and just what it is I am doing. I'm looking for consistency, misspellings, grammar and punctuation to name a few. Plus, sometimes I just find a better way of saying something. The thing is, when you make a change, you may read the paragraph the change was made in but not the complete chapter or essay. So by the time you get around to reading the whole document again, you hopefully can see that the changes you have made are consistent with the rest of the document. It's actually interesting what you and others miss. I found I had gotten too close to the words and wasn't seeing what I needed to. I worked extensively with a dear friend of mine who has also probably lost count of the number of times she has reviewed this book, and has admitted that she is now too close and doesn't see what she needs to see.


I'm currently finishing an edit and will read my book yet again. Each time I read I try not to focus on everything. When I was focusing on punctuation, it just about drove me crazy. After awhile, I felt as if I didn't know anything anymore. While reading other books or articles, I found myself concentrating on the author's punctuation style. That is not something I've ever given a whole lot of thought to when reading. It quite definitely takes away from the reading enjoyment. This whole process has been frustrating at times but enlightening and I know it will help improve my writing in the future.


Getting out from under all the editing will give me more time to work on this blog and organize all my notes and scribblings for the next three books that are screaming to get out of my head. I have looked into traditional publishing as well as self-publishing, such as print on demand. I understand the traditional publishing world is in a bit of a turmoil with all the new self-publishing avenues. What I know for sure is...I just want to write and speak to groups and not have to concern myself with everything else that goes along with publishing my writing. I can see the future is bright and my books will be published. I just don't know what the in-between looks like at this point. I am confidant and I will find my way, one word at a time.

Photo courtesy of Zitona