I know many of us who are just starting out are working on tight budgets & we don't want to spend a bunch of money up front when we're trying to find an audience, but Held for Ransom shared a link in my progress thread that made me reconsider some things.
The thread by Russell Blake talks about valuing readers and not EVER (ever ever) putting out a crappy product because catering to readers is crucial to success (he also is a fan of giving away free books).
It took me 30 days to write my first novella. I plotted it out, wrangled with it daily, read it relentlessly, sent it to Betas, etc. I wanted it to be PERFECT. I didn't hire a copyeditor because I figured...I write for a living, I can do this. Of course there are some minor errors that I find and correct, but overall it's pretty solid (and not for nothing, but I actually love it like it's my first born. probably unhealthy, but whatevs
).
I wanted to start putting out a weekly series (serial?), but after putting out the first volume (30 pages), I don't think I'll be able to release the second book (a much longer book, I'm thinking around 100 pgs, basically a novella) this week. Why? I don't want to put out a subpar product. Sure I can word vomit & tell a decent story, but I don't want "decent," I want damned good. I'm now thinking that shooting for 1 book/month is more reasonable. It will still allow me to put out books quickly while still maintaining quality.
So yeah...do you guys work with copyeditors? I can do A LOT on my own--formatting, sometimes covers, etc. But after I read through a book a jillion times I can't see the errors anymore unless I put it down for a really long time.
Have you guys contracted copy editors? If so...got any good recs? I want to have my novella cleaned up, because I'm pretty sure there are probably some errors although readers haven't mentioned any.
And I also want to have someone I can turn to for future books (namely the series + the next novella).
Also, when do you realize it's time to turn to professionals for help?
The thread by Russell Blake talks about valuing readers and not EVER (ever ever) putting out a crappy product because catering to readers is crucial to success (he also is a fan of giving away free books).
It took me 30 days to write my first novella. I plotted it out, wrangled with it daily, read it relentlessly, sent it to Betas, etc. I wanted it to be PERFECT. I didn't hire a copyeditor because I figured...I write for a living, I can do this. Of course there are some minor errors that I find and correct, but overall it's pretty solid (and not for nothing, but I actually love it like it's my first born. probably unhealthy, but whatevs
). I wanted to start putting out a weekly series (serial?), but after putting out the first volume (30 pages), I don't think I'll be able to release the second book (a much longer book, I'm thinking around 100 pgs, basically a novella) this week. Why? I don't want to put out a subpar product. Sure I can word vomit & tell a decent story, but I don't want "decent," I want damned good. I'm now thinking that shooting for 1 book/month is more reasonable. It will still allow me to put out books quickly while still maintaining quality.
So yeah...do you guys work with copyeditors? I can do A LOT on my own--formatting, sometimes covers, etc. But after I read through a book a jillion times I can't see the errors anymore unless I put it down for a really long time.
Have you guys contracted copy editors? If so...got any good recs? I want to have my novella cleaned up, because I'm pretty sure there are probably some errors although readers haven't mentioned any.
And I also want to have someone I can turn to for future books (namely the series + the next novella).
Also, when do you realize it's time to turn to professionals for help?
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