Exactly how many times does an author edit and proofread a novel before publishing?

Posted on July 20, 2018 (Subscribe to Blog)

I'm asked this question a lot.

I can't speak for other authors, but I can give you a glimpse into my own writing habits. Take these past two weeks, for example. In the days leading up to a new book launch, it's all hands on deck (as the tired old phrase goes). Being an author, "all hands on deck" literally means both hands on the keyboard for longer than usual, and my eyes glued to one screen or another!

Back in my early days of writing, it took me eight months to write a book. A few books later, I got that down to five months, then three. I used to bang out my first draft pretty quickly, but then I would run through it a second time and change almost everything, rewriting each paragraph as I went. At the time, that seemed normal. The first draft was just a draft, and the second pass was the forming of a "real novel." All subsequent passes, therefore, were for polishing things up.

Then, without realizing it, my first draft got better and better, so good that my second pass became the start of the polishing stage. I no longer had to rewrite every paragraph. I had effectively combined the first and second stages into one. I was rocking it!

Except... not really. In truth, my first draft takes much longer than it used to. I'm more careful with it. But it's far cleaner by the end, meaning there's no need for that rewrite. So I think, in all, I take about the same time as I always did, but in one pass rather than two. It's a case of "getting it right first time."

But there's more to a story than just a bunch of nicely formed sentences!

This is true. There's plot, pacing, character building, and everything else. That's another skill I had to work on, because I used to suck at it.

My very first published book, Island of Fog, took six years to write. Admittedly I had a couple of years off from writing when my daughter came along, but still, four years is a long time. I was writing in my spare time, and I didn't really envisage actual publication, so I didn't have the drive that I have now. Even so, I spent a lot of time fumbling around. I wrote eight chapters and ditched them. I wrote fourteen new chapters and ditched the first four. I rearranged everything a few times. I wasted a LOT of time because I didn't plan properly.

All that said, I'm proud of the finished result even today. There are things I could streamline to make it a "faster" read, but overall, it's pretty tight.

After publishing that book and realizing I could actually do this, the second book only took eight months. And so did the third. I had learned to plan better, which cut out a lot of wasted time. A few books later, I was down to a mere three or four months if I pushed myself. Meanwhile, the quality was (and I believe still is) improving all the time. Better quality in a shorter period? Yay me!

And then there's the proofreading...

This stage, like everything else, has always been of paramount importance to me. I've listened in amazement to authors who happily claim to put their books up on Amazon as quickly as possible to get sales NOW, and then spend the next few months picking up typos and correcting them -- while the book is on sale! Needless to say, they get negative reviews saying "poorly written" and "needs editing," and these reviews can never be undone.

Obviously, the proper way is to proofread the book to death before it goes live. That's not to say there won't ever be any typos in the published book. There will. I can almost guarantee you that every book every author puts out will have a typo somewhere. The question is how many? When you write 85,000 words, typos are inevitable. My hope is that one or two will be acceptable to the reader or will pass completely unnoticed. But if anyone spots a typo in my books, I want to know about it.

So, how many times do I proofread?

As you know, this week I've been busy getting Forest of Souls (Island of Fog, Book 10) ready for publication. As far as proofreading goes, it's been a pretty standard procedure...

First, I wrote the book.
I ran through a second time doing a careful polish.
I ran through a third time checking for pace and consistency, and adding/deleting scenes here and there.
I ran through a fourth time on my phone, making edits directly to the document where necessary.
Then I passed it to two beta readers who found a LONG list of things to fix (as usual).
I tidied up those things, then passed the book to a third beta reader, who also found a list of things that somehow we'd all missed.
I fixed up those things, and then I put the phone on my Kindle and read it through a final time -- and found yet another list of things to fix, though most of them were improvements rather than amendments.

And that still wasn't enough!

When I uploaded the book to Amazon last night, Amazon's instant spellchecking tool found the usual list of "errors" -- most of which are not errors at all but exclamations like "arrghh!" or made-up names or fantasy creatures and so on. But it did pick up the word "pretting." Huh? Turns out the word "pretting" should have been "pretty." Somehow, that word slipped past all those read-throughs and three separate beta readers. (I fixed the typo and re-uploaded.)

This is why I almost guarantee readers will still find the odd typo or two. I do my very best, and I'm proud of the number of readers who have told me my books are super-clean and polished, but I know in my heart there's still a typo or two lurking in there somewhere like a fiendish little gremlin. :-D

Forest of Souls (Island of Fog, Book 10)

All that aside, Forest of Souls is now online as follows:

Amazon US Amazon UK Nook Kobo Apple

Now here's a special bonus!

Do you want a signed print copy of the new book for free? If so, just buy the ebook, take a week to read it, and answer this simple question:

Q. How many gargoyles are in the story?

That's it! You don't have to be the first to answer. Just send me a private email with your answer before midnight on July 31st, and your name will be entered into the draw. I'll pick a winner from the entries on August 1st.

Did you know? Forest of Souls marks a return to the series after a four-year absence. In fact, it was July 20, 2014, when Castle of Spells was published. Fun fact!

If you'd like to read the first three chapters for free, you can do so right here on this website:

Forest of Souls -- A Sneak Peak at the First 3 Chapters

Thank you, everyone!

Comment by BRIAN B. on Friday, July 20, 2018...

That long since first published, huh? Time files. Any chance of 2 signed hard copies for me and my kid?

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Friday, July 20, 2018...

I can definitely arrange that, Mr. B. I'll email you later about it. Thanks!

Comment by GRAEME JENKS on Friday, July 20, 2018...

Welcome back Island Of Fog, I have been eagerly awaiting this, I shall be buying Forest of Souls tomorrow when I return home from family holiday.
Genuinely cannot wait to read it, sure it will be a great addition to the set. Congrats on newest book Keith and expect my email with number of gargoyles soon, Haha.
I would also love a signed hardback version but I'm afraid at this moment the cost of shipping would push it a bit out of budget.
All the best with this new addition to the set!!

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Friday, July 20, 2018...

Thank you, Graeme — appreciate you as always!

Comment by Y on Thursday, July 26, 2018...

I've finished Forest of Souls just yesterday, and I can't say how much I enjoyed it! Fantastic read! Can't wait to follow the sly creature in the following book in the Island of Fog universe, bok 5! Will be e-mailing you the amount of gargoyles TODAY! thanks again for the great read :)

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Thursday, July 26, 2018...

Thank you, Y! Very happy you enjoyed it. I'll look out for your email. (Any chance of an Amazon review, too? Optional, of course: Add review to Amazon)

Comment by Y on Thursday, July 26, 2018...

What e-mail can I use to message you?

Comment by KEITH ROBINSON on Thursday, July 26, 2018...

Y'all can use keith@unearthlytales.com.

Comment by M. CHANG on Saturday, February 19, 2022...

Thank you for the article. I'm writing my first book and it's been tedious. My daughter who has had several books published brought me to reality when she said you can't do it in one draft. That freed me to get more writing done and to work on editing later, although I try to review during each session of writing. While my book is non-fiction I am trying to build interest in the next chapter while working on the current chapter. Like you I want to have the book flow as seamlessly as possible. When I first started I thought the words would just flow onto the pages. Not so! I've had to do quite a bit of research on a subject that I am well versed in. Who'd have thought that!

Thank you for posting your article.

All the best!

Chang

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