65 days until my publisher’s submission date  my 1st book is complete, well as complete as I think it can be on my first draft. So now I’m at the stage where I’m doing the challenging job of a self edit before I submit. I want my first piece of work to be the best it can be and be as happy with it as possible.

I’m only 3 chapters into editing, good news is I have managed to slightly reduce my word count and I’m happy with how the first 3 chapters flow; as it’s these all important first 3 chapters that scored me a publishing contract and what will (hopefully) entice and grab readers to stick with reading my book and hopefully enjoy it.

What I’ve learned so far is that I don’t envy professional editors at all, this job is a challenge! So many things to be on the look out for it’s not just grammar and use of English. Point of views, enhancement and flow are just a few. My brain is whirling right now.

It’s enjoyable to read your work back and see areas to be improved or even removed to end up with a  better version but it is by no means an easy job.

That said, I’ve set myself a challenge  to edit 2 chapters a day, everyday and I should be done with my first edit by mid June. I read a really interesting blog post on Writer’s Digest indicating that you should read your novel over 5 times checking for 5 different things before you submit;  whoah! I’ve got 92,000 words down on paper y’all.But I guess it be worth it right?

Any self editors out there? How many times do you/ have you done an edit of your work before you actually submitted to your publisher or self published?

What made you sure that this is it, my work is ready to be submitted or self published, no more editing I’m done.

Did you do a challenge like me or take a more relaxed approach?