It’s been a while since I’ve given an update on YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED. I think I’ve mentioned here on the blog that the book is now coming out Aug. 24, 2021. (I have, right? I’ve kind of lost track of this whole year… ) Anyway, you can even pre-order YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED now, if you’re so inclined. I have the available links on my book page!

But back to the purpose of this post…

My last “After the Book Deal” post was in October 2019, when I’d just turned in round two edits. I forgot to post after line edits, which were basically my editor going through and zeroing in more on specific sentences and wording rather than overall themes and plots. I wasn’t sure what to expect from copyedits, and I have a feeling some other writers will not agree with me on this, but–

I LOVED THEM!

This probably doesn’t surprise anyone who worked with me at the PR agency, where they had a name for me when it came to edits… Moving on.

Five things I loved about copyedits:

1. The copyeditor double-checked facts and even provided links to sources.
2. The copyeditor caught places where I repeated words too close to each other. If you’ve been reading this blog a while, you know how careful I am to avoid that, but after many rounds of edits, repeated words are bound to reappear.
3. The copyeditor noticed if a character wasn’t where they should be, like if they had magically moved. Often another result of multiple rounds of edits/cuts.
4. Similarly, the copyeditor pointed out if something hadn’t been established in the story. Sometimes these were facts I, as the author, knew in my head, but other times they were lines/info deleted from earlier drafts and never put elsewhere.
5. Clarifying questions! I love these. Because if I hadn’t made something clear–or I’d muddled it up the way I’d revised it along the line–I obviously needed to tweak it.

And, obviously, being me, I kept a running document of all the house style changes the copyeditor made. I mean, it’s totally a goal for book two to get back a copyedited manuscript with the fewest changes possible. Honestly, I felt like mine was in pretty good shape, although I haven’t seen anyone else’s, so who knows?

Oh, and here was my favorite comment of all:

Have you been through copyedits? How was your experience?

Next up, I’ll get to see the pages all laid out as they’ll be in the actual book, otherwise known as pass pages. Looking forward to that!

I’ll continue to share news about YOUR LIFE HAS BEEN DELAYED here on the blog, but I’m also planning to start a newsletter, and I’d love for you to sign up for that as well!