The Line Edit is Done

Those of you who have been following my blog will remember that I had hired Erin Stropes from kallista.ca to do a line edit of my novel Evermore: Call of the Nocturne.  I am happy to announce that she has finished and returned my annotated manuscript to me.  Or, I was happy until I found all the (valid) criticisms levelled at my baby.  But not to worry, I did what any self-respecting writer would do.  I went into the corner and cried.After a couple of hours and a couple of hundred tissues, I pulled myself from my misery and began to focus on what I needed to change.  After some thought, I identified three major issues with the plot:

1. The ending was too difficult to understand.
2. The timelock used during the story fizzles out as it approaches the deadline.
3. One of the major characters disappears without reason for half the novel.

The first problem I was able to solve last night with some clever tinkering but the other two will take weeks of work as I read through the manuscript yet again.  This will be followed by a second swing through the novel as I address the thousands of small (and yet valid) points that Erin raised.  Following these two drafts, I will have to submit it again to Erin for a final line-edit review.So while Erin's editing has levelled a blow to my self-esteem and delayed the novel's release for months, I still find that it was worth the time and the money (about $1200) to have the line edit done.  Despite all the aggravation and extra work, the end result will be a manuscript that will be far more fun to read.  Thus for those of you that are considering publishing your novel digitally on your own, I would fully recommend hiring an editor.  They truly do pick up so many things that you missed.  In fact, I would recommend three rules:

1. Hire an editor.
2. Your editor is always right.
3. Your editor is ALWAYS right (it needs to be said twice)

Follow these rules (don't forget to pay her) and you will be able to produce a manuscript that you won't be ashamed of.