After a grueling first drafting, I’m pleased to report that the content revision for Desertera #2 went smoothly.
In case you weren’t around when I explained my content edit experience with The Cogsmith’s Daughter (Desertera #1), here’s the skinny: Essentially, my editor combs through the manuscript looking for plot holes, dropped story lines, character development issues, etc. When she’s done, I receive a summary document with her overarching comments and a chapter-by-chapter analysis of the book. Likewise, she returns my manuscript with her suggested revisions and textual comments. Then, I go in and make revisions based on all of her feedback.
Besides the pleasure of getting my manuscript one step closer to publication, this content revision held a special reward. I could see how much I’ve improved as a writer from book one to book two. I learned from my mistakes with The Cogsmith’s Daughter, and most of the issues my editor spotted last time never arose in the sequel. While a few of them did (and of course, I had a couple new kinks to work out), this draft was much cleaner and a hell of a lot less holey than my first novel. That, in itself, is my greatest pride with book two so far.
So…what’s next?
Because I have nearly two weeks until my deadline for line editing, I’m going to take a quick second (but really third) pass through Desertera #2. Then, the novel will be off to the next round of editing. During the line editing process, a different editor will scour my manuscript for issues with sentence structure, consistency in details and voice, and larger grammar problems. To learn more about this process, you can watch this vlog.
After that? Proofreading, cover design, formatting…and publication!
If The Cogsmith’s Daughter is any indicator, the next few phases should fly by. I’m still on track for an early September release, and I cannot wait to share my second brain child with you all. Stay tuned for future updates (though my newsletter subscribers always hear big news first), and maybe even a few sneak peaks!
Kate M. Colby 