Three Books to Help You Self-Edit as an Indie Author

You’ve spent months working on your manuscript and you just typed those glorious words The End (Or maybe you didn’t, cause those seem a little cliche). You’ve spent painstaking hours on this manuscript and you’re ready to submit it to publishers. 

Slow your roll there, friend. I hate to break it to you, but your work is not done. 

Writing the manuscript is half the battle. Now, you’ve got to take your lovely manuscript and…tear it apart. 

I’m only partly joking. 

Writing a book is about 20% writing, and 80% editing. There’s so much that becomes clear when you really dig into your manuscript and learn how 

Today I’m going to share with you three books that will help you self edit your manuscript.

#1 The Elements of Style by William Strunk and E.B. White

If you went to college for writing, or maybe took some writing classes in highschool, chances are you’ve used this book. The Elements of Style remains one of the best resources for writers over the last hundred years. The small book provides key things to look out for in your writing that will help you cut down on words and use the right word. When you go through your manuscript, you’ll be doing A LOT of word chopping. This quick read makes it easy to take certain rules and apply them to your writing.

#2 Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print by Renni Brown and Dave King

This book is written by editors for fiction writers. This book will give you the tricks of editing to help you get your work ready for publication. Chapters include dialogue, point of view, exposition, interior monologue, and more. This book is essential for improving your fiction manuscript.

#3 Intuitive Editing: A Creative and Practical Guide to Revising by Tiffany Yates Martin

Unlike The Elements of Style, this guide does not give a set of rules for writing. Instead, the purpose of this book is to help you elevate your writing in a way that is unique to you. This book will help you decide what works for your story and style. 

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Ideally, you’d be able to hire an editor to help you with your manuscript. An editor has spent years honing their craft and can give you readily available information that will launch you into the rewriting of your manuscript. That being said, I strongly recommend saving money and hiring an editor. But if you’d like to polish your manuscript now, here are a few books to get you started. 

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Comment below and let me know!