All The Things I've Done Wrong
in my book
Friends,
I’m still in the process of being done with my book. You’re never really “done,” but I’m close to being done with all the things I have to do until I have to do other things. You want to know what I’ve done wrong so far?
Citations
In the actual text of the book, I tell readers that if they need to do citations, to use the Chicago Manual of Style for formatting guidance. Did I do that? Lol, no. I just put the links/info in footnotes, along with all the other footnotes that are more like jokes and asides. And I was SHOCKED I tell you when my editor was like oh hey, can you make your citations endnotes, and format them using Chicago? It absolutely slipped my mind. Or I possible thought I would just do it in copyediting and/or a copyeditor would do it for me.1 I had a total of seven citations. It took me about 15 minutes.
Images
There are four images in my book. Three screenshots and one Venn diagram. I dropped those in the file and patted myself on the back for thinking of such creative images to include. Do you know what I didn’t do? Remember that screenshots are not automatically high res enough to be printer ready. I have been agenting books with hundreds of pictures for over fifteen years. I have had dozens of calls with clients about making sure their images are high res enough for the printer, including ye old blog-to-book projects when the images came from random people on the internet. Did I consider any of that for my own book? No. I just didn’t even think of it! Oops.
I am not a digital artist. I am a very late Gen X-er and can fully admit there are just some things I never learned how to do on the computer. So I outsourced my problems here, one to a friend and the others to my Gen Z nephew. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thinking I Was Done
How did I think I was really done? I knew I wasn’t done done. Copyediting would come soon enough. But I did think I was done with touching the raw materials of the book. What I should have done was take a minute and scroll through the manuscript and think what am I missing here? What does this need before it goes into production, besides copyediting? I might have remembered the images at that point, but probably not the citations. These mistakes are not really even mistakes. We’re far from going to the printer so there’s time to address any and everything. I just feel like I should know better at this point and am a little surprised that I didn’t catch it. Not in an I’m so stupid way, but in a doh! way. I think I was rushing to get done so I could get on to the other things on my to do list that I’m very, very behind on. Because that’s the reality of writing a book with a full time job.
Luckily, I’m not doing this alone. My agent, editors, friends, and family are happy to help. And I need that help. Every writer does. Don’t beat yourself up if you make some mistakes or “mistakes.” Nobody’s expecting perfection.
Imperfectly yours,
Kate
Sorry Sara
You are the lucky person, Kate. The most hard thing for you to do was a writing your book, I suppose. The rest is just some people helping in this and that. The easiest thing for me was the wring my book. The rest is the hardiest think to do - and first thing is --to find an agent. And you were the agent. What are the secrets to find an agent who will accept your book, not a book yet, your manuscript? Thank you, Larisa.
Blessings on the heads of copyeditors everywhere.