AtlasBooks Distribution Blog

As the month of November rolls around, the weather cools, the leaves fall, and NaNoWriMo begins.  From November 1 through November 30, thousands of professional and amateur writers attempt to reach that 50,000 word mark with a completed (or substantially written) novel by the time December comes.  It’s quite an accomplishment in and of itself to finish a novel in only 30 days, but once you type (or even hand-write) that last sentence, what then?

It’s important to remember that finishing the first draft is only half of the journey: once you finish that last chapter, you have to go back to the beginning and revise.  Revise, revise, and revise.  First, print out a hard copy of your novel: editing on a computer screen may save trees, but seeing your words on paper can reveal aspects of your writing that would be missed reading from a computer monitor.  Then, read through the entire first chapter without making any notes to see how it flows.  Even better, read your writing aloud: reading aloud can reveal awkward phrasings, words used too many times, run-on sentences, etc.

After you have read the entire chapter, go through each paragraph and each sentence, making certain there are no basic errors (grammar, spelling, punctuation) while paying attention to the overall structure of your story.  Do the scenes you included matter to the overall novel?  Are your characters engaging and act how you want them to?  Are your descriptions interesting?

Ultimately, though, editing is often a gut-reaction to a given text.  This part feels awkward; this paragraph seems extraneous; this character’s actions make little sense.  Change what you feel needs to be changed, but don’t edit your novel until it’s little more than a skeleton.  Be strict, not cruel.  Let your work flourish, but also know when to just let it be.

Now that you’ve not only finished but polished your NaNoWriMo novel until it shines, can it really be published?  It’s certainly possible.  According to the NaNoWriMo website, over 70 published authors have written their novels as a NaNoWriMo challenge, including Sara Gruen’s bestselling novel Water for Elephants. The novel became #1 on the New York Times’ Bestseller list and was recently made into a major motion picture starring Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, and Christoph Waltz.  Other NaNoWriMo participants and authors include Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, Gayle Brandeis, and Rachael Herron, to name a few.

Edit your novel and send it out to anyone who could possibly be interested.  Write those query letters, research getting an agent (many times a prerequisite for any publishing house to read your manuscript), and the most important thing: don’t give up.  Keep getting your manuscript out there and with great perseverance and, yes, patience, you could very well be as successful as Sara Gruen.

Emily Matthews is currently applying to masters degree programs across the U.S., and loves to read about new research into health care, gender issues, and literature. She lives and writes in Seattle, Washington.

Another fine option is to skip the query process and jump into the publishing ring. It is easier, and better accepted now more than ever to self-publish. Though there are a lot of self-publishing choices, a lot of them still limit your creative control and ability to penetrate the market at all levels. This is where Bookmasters stands out. 

Though you can find all the tools you need to put together a book project that rivals anything from a major publisher, you still are the publisher and maintain control of your work, all with the ability to ask for help and advice along the way. Check us out today to see how we can work together. 

Now that you are wrapping up NaNoWriMo, don’t you think it is worth it to take that next step?

Photo: Weirtz Sebastian, Creative Commons