This is Episode 3 in my book writing journey. In case you missed the previous entries, here they are:
- Episode 1: How I Planned My First Book: The 3 Biggest Challenges
- Episode 2: How I Completed My Book’s First Draft: The 3 Biggest Gaps
Hiring the right coach is a pivotal decision. With the right person, your learning accelerates in a transformative way. With the wrong person, you can be set back. I’ve had clients tell me they worked with other public speaking coaches in the past but it wasn’t the right fit, leading to a wasted investment.
I therefore wanted to be careful finding the right editor. I wanted someone who shared my values:
- Responsive and communicative
- Experienced and detail-oriented
- Not just looking to make another transaction, but go the extra mile to identify my goals and exceed them
The editor I chose, Sarah Busby, made an effort to get to know me from the beginning: she checked out my website and YouTube channel, and gave me advice about the overall publishing process. In her edits, she went above and beyond to understand the unique approach I was taking with the book (making it interactive and hands-on, rather than pure text), and give meticulous comments explaining all her recommendations.
These were the biggest edits she helped make:
Edit #1:
Sentences
I’m not good with sticking to grammar or punctuation standards. I used colons excessively, hyphens incorrectly…my editor cleaned up my prose and gave it extra polish.
Here’s an original quote from my book:
I realized: speaking is not writing. It is not the robotic recitation of a pre-planned, perfectly edited product. Speaking is the animate improvisation of our thinking to the living, breathing needs of the moment.
Here’s the revision my editor made:
I realized: speaking is not writing. It is not the robotic recitation of a pre-planned, perfectly edited product. Speaking brings our thoughts to life through improvisation; it’s how to respond, spontaneously, to the living, breathing needs of the moment.
Here’s another original quote:
Based on last section, you now understand the way conversation should flow. It should not be you dismissing, deflecting, or outright denying someone else’s point of view. It should be you meeting them where they are and aligning with their way of thinking (with the other person doing the same if you’re incredibly lucky).
And here’s the revision my editor made:
Based on the last section, you now understand the way conversation should flow. It should not be you dismissing, deflecting, or outright denying someone else’s point of view. It should be you meeting them where they are and aligning with their way of thinking (and, if you’re lucky, the other person should do the same).
With a few tweaks, she better and more clearly captured the essence of my ideas.
Edit #2:
Sections
After spending so much time with my material, I also became too close to it. My editor helped pinpoint spots where my logic wasn’t clear.
For example, I originally had a section on goal-setting, where I talk about the importance of setting specific, objective goals for your communication. In other words, you want your goals to be specific (and ideally quantitative) so you can measure your progress, and you want them to be an objective, consistent standard. My editor helped me see the word “objective” was a little confusing. (Goals aren’t really “objective” since each person sets them for themselves!)
We decided to go with the word phrase “specific, realistic goals” instead, which felt better aligned with my intent. Changes, additions, and subtractions like that throughout the book ensured the reader understood the material just as well as me.
Edit #3:
Structure
My formatting in the book got a bit complicated. I wanted to include plenty of examples of effective vs ineffective conversations, effective vs ineffective stories…As a teacher, I’ve found my clients benefit most when they can see what to do vs what not to do (rather than just being fed theory).
Unfortunately, that led to special formatting for quotes, hand gestures, tone of voice, keywords, and much more. My editor helped preserve the essential parts, and cut down on the excess.
She also helped me realize I had overlooked an entire portion of my book! I had written titles for each of the 9 chapters, but neglected to include titles for the 3 sections in each chapter. By adding in those section titles, it helped make it immediately clear to the reader what milestones they would pass and what benefits they would gain along the way.
I am so grateful to have worked with someone who pushed my ideas to their fullest potential and am very proud of the book in its final, written form.
What’s the next step? Illustrating and formatting – this is going to be a visual book with plenty of beautiful diagrams and illustrations! Stay tuned for more updates 🙂
Follow me on LinkedIn for more updates on the book and its release!
