As a creator, are you surprised how much time you spend revising?
I am.
In fact, its one piece of being a full-time author that has surprised me the most. Oh, I knew I would be drafting and redrafting, but I didn’t imagine how many times each manuscript would need revising before I could send it to my crit groups, then again before sending to my agent, then before she could send it out on submission, then again before an editor could take it to acquisition, then AGAIN before it would be a real live book on a shelf.
This short post called HOW TO BLEND STORY FEEDBACK INTO YOUR MANUSCRIPT by editor, then agent, now freelance editor, Mary Kole is a super helpful slice of the revision process. While she’s mostly talking about novel revision, it also works for picture books. And since I’m in the stage of revising after my agent has reviewed and before it goes on submission, I’m actively trying Mary’s approach.
I especially like that she distinguishes between an edit and a revision but you’ll have to read the post to learn why that’s important. #cliffhanger
What stage of revision are you in right this very minute? Do tell. And then get back to it.
