Here's where we get off the beaten path. Once you have your rough draft. Go ahead and publish it on www.lulu.com. This will give you an opportunity to 1) learn how to format your book for use on lulu.com and 2) see the quality of their printed books. Order a couple copies if you want, or just get the online .pdf and print out some looseleaf copies.
No one is perfect. Writing is the result of your dynamic and fluid mental processes being recorded linearly by word-symbols. You can't be expected to get it right the first time. You can't even be expected to get it right EVER.
Here's what you MUST do:
1) Eliminate ALL spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
2) Eliminate ALL unintentional grammatical errors.
3) Eliminate ALL plot-holes and internal contradictions.
Even after all this work, your novel will still need polishing. This can only come from allowing others to read and critique your novel. Either pay for professional editing, or have several friends or family members read the novel while taking careful notes of any problems. Tell them to write notes on the copy of the book you give them. You will NEED every piece of information they can think of. Tell them to write down ANY questions they have as soon as they think of them no matter what. You want to know what people are thinking when they read your work so you can better know how to revise your work. Finally, get people's honest opinions about the readability of the novel. If they saw it in a bookstore, would they buy it? Continue editing, revising, and getting people's opinions until people tell you that the book is worth buying. At that point, read the novel from beginning to end in one sitting and edit as you go.
Now, here is my most important piece of advice. DO NOT keep editing until the work is perfect. It never will be, and you will waste too much of your time. It is NOT a piece of art that you must complete with love and care. It is a PRODUCT for sale that must only be GOOD ENOUGH to sell. Get it there and stop. Publish it through lulu as a finished product, stop writing it, and start selling it.
And remember, I'm selling out so I can help you sell out too. to the Marketplace or buy my book.
J. Allen Wentworth
Now what? PUBLISH!
