My writing career started out as a newborn author freshly birthed into the literary world with a pen in hand; unrelentingly sure that my manuscripts would stand up and get noticed without a ticker-tape parade. How? By assuring every word is edited to perfection myself. It was such an obvious choice.

However, it turned out to be a horrible course of action (in my opinion). There are better ways to go for proper editing, which I'll talk about later.

The end result produced a shoddy pile of words waiting for some roaring bonfire fueled by massive typos. I am not an editor, nor will I claim to be one anytime soon. If only there were someone out there which edited novels for a living. It would help end my writing woes.

My confidence in built-in software, like Microsoft Word, began to crumble as I watched terrible prose and misleading uses of the English vocabulary (also known as homonyms) defeat the word processor. That's when I went out on a limb to use my internet for something more than surfing social media sites. It was time to get my work properly edited once and for all.

The funny thing is that budgets are always tight when one starts out on a new project. I began my writing career with three shiny wood nickels. Yes, the coffer next to my computer was bone dry and not growing by any leaps or bounds. Suddenly a rainbow brightened on the horizon, April 15th was around the corner. It usually stands for a major payday in some households and mine is one of those. Funding for the much needed edits and the eventual publishing of a printed copy was close at hand. Editing 101 is about to begin. Fasten your seat belts for an extremely short ride, it's going to get bumpy.

The road to a perfect novel can come in many forms. Self-editing is one way to get the job done if you have the talent. Some websites offer a computerized version of proofreading/editing manuscripts on the fly. There are even some offering edits for free or at least give you a sample of their editing skills.It is a great place to start.

Another is hiring a professional, which can be tricky. Why? Well, because you are entrusting the person at the other end with your novel, expecting them to be better at correcting grammatical mistakes. When a publishing package is purchased, editing is sometimes included. Keep in mind that you may only receive one round of edits, but more might be needed especially if changes are made. Additional editing will cost extra.

No matter what route you end up taking it is important to have edits done. Excuses as to why edits were not done don't exist here. Too many options are available to an amateur writer if they look hard enough. I've taken the necessary steps to provide quality in future novels, so should you.

I'm working with Indiegogo to promote my third novel in the Temperature Trilogy and seek out pledges to finally publish it. If you are a fan of my work but cannot donate at this time, you have another way to back up my efforts that will give the same effect. Sign in to Indiegogo and share the link provided under the video trailer. By doing that little bit you have helped me find untapped resources I might not have reached alone. Please use the campaign link below to find my Indiegogo page and take it from there. Thank you so much for your help. (Quick note: The image on the left is what I hope to use as the third cover.)

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