An Epic Proofreading Fail??? (finishing final edits for The Secret Shadow)

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Bethany Atazadeh - YA Fantasy Author

Жыл бұрын

4 days to proofread. 314 pages. 1 insane deadline. Can I proofread this book in time for it to be printed/shipped to my Barnes & Noble book signing???
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Пікірлер: 79

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Am I going to make the deadline??? Put your guess in the comments lol... The Secret Shadow (book 2) available on all vendors here: books2read.com/thesecretshadow The Secret Gift (book 1): books2read.com/thesecretgift Preorder Giveaways: forms.gle/V7RH3Sb3C9oJSx3s6

@speakingfromtheheart-f1h Жыл бұрын

Thank God you have it on AMAZON!!! :D

@AbulHussain-ey8pg 7 ай бұрын

@@speakingfromtheheart-f1hHfjjdjchkck xinknvikbf

@chelseawritesbooks8763 Жыл бұрын

I don't understand why these POD companies ave the worst customer service. They wouldn't be around if not for the authors

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Agreed!!!! It’s so crazy how badly they treat us sometimes.

@venusianmoonchild Жыл бұрын

I love how you said the word "just" twice right after you said you needed to delete it :)

@Captainzelda Жыл бұрын

I had to lol at the slight hope of the kiddo falling asleep in the car. Phew, I relate so hard to that when I’m on a crunch!

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Haha!! Yeah that did NOT happen lol, but I'm glad i'm not the only one who hopes!

@Rayowag Жыл бұрын

You should get one of those erasable ballpoint pens for this. They come in all colors and as someone that likes to correct things the wrong way frequently those pens are my saving grace 😅 It also sounds like even though Ingram Spark is expensive if you change stuff after the 60 day mark it is overall handling stuff better (although with error messages) than B&N Press when things are urgent.

@alexwholey3391 Жыл бұрын

I love your videos! ❤ Best of luck with your release! I’ve just released my third book and do my own proofreading. 😊 I proofread my draft on my kindle, make the changes on Scrivner, then format on Vellum, then order a paperback proof and do a final proofread from that. Then I make changes before release day 😊

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Yay! Thank you so much, that means a lot! And good luck with your proofreading too, hope it goes better than mine haha!

@melanie.clark.author Жыл бұрын

I felt like I was at the edge of my seat to see if you made the deadline! I love how you showed behind the scenes on how you proof read!! This was such a great video! I learned so much! And of course I'm soooo excited to read your book because you are always so good at keeping me reading and turning the pages!

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Haha right?? It was INTENSE! I'm so glad it was a helpful video and can't wait to hear what you think of this story yay!

@evelyngray9893 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing your struggles, even though I'm very sorry for you having them. The whole echo thing has me nervous now because, in my story, a main character has a boatload of cats... How can I get around saying cats? I mean I've used feline, companion, furry friend, etc, but a cat is everywhere in my novel! I couldn't possibly name them all. There are too many, but the idea of a crazy cat lady is central to the plot.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad they're helpful, I'm much happier to be the guinea pig and make the mistakes if it helps someone else haha! As far as an echo like that, I wouldn't stress TOO much because it sounds like the type of echo that readers won't notice as much. For example, "said" and "and" and "but" and character names are all echoes, but they can still be used multiple times on a page, more than most echoes, if that makes sense? If it were me, I'd still substitute other words and/or find ways to remove/replace some of them (at least the ones in the same sentence), but wouldn't worry if it was repeated occasionally on a page, if that makes sense?

@evelyngray9893 Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh Thanks, Bethany. That makes complete sense. I really appreciate you taking the time to help me.

@kirbymountifield7259 Жыл бұрын

Hey Evelyn! I just wanted to suggest substituting some coats or breeds as well. Instead of "cat" you could sometimes say "calico" or "Persian." I would use it sparingly but it could be a good way to break up your use of cat, it also helps the reader imagine what some of the cats look like!

@evelyngray9893 Жыл бұрын

@@kirbymountifield7259 that is a great idea. Thank you. I do have a few of the cats that play secondary parts in the story, so I'll have to remember to maybe use the cat breeds or colors. So I can have my people refer to them as "yellow fellow" or, the tortoise shell calico.

@katieknightley Жыл бұрын

Oh my goodness! What a frustrating ordeal! Way to go 🎉❤

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Yes it was! Thanks Katie!!

@MakimasFuneral Жыл бұрын

This must have been super stressful! But seeing you still accomplish your goal is really inspiring 😊

@morleywritesbooks Жыл бұрын

Tip for next time: a crock-pot stew. Put it together the night before on a low/medium setting, it's ready for supper the following day and will last 2-3 meals as long as you keep it on warm.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Ooooh love that!! That sounds amazing and so smart - I'm making a mental note for next time haha!

@tracy-marie Жыл бұрын

love the idea of using the back of the book to make lists of repetative words, time lines , ect.

@MWinklerBooks Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us :) I'm sorry it was such a struggle, but so happy it worked out in the end. I love the echo and n.m. edits. I'm gonna 'borrow' those from you. One thing I do is mark every line that has a correction with a dash in the margin of the page. That way I can glance through and make sure I didn't miss any of those period/comma type edits.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I'm glad that I can share my mistakes to help other authors not run into the same issues, because it's stressful lol!! And absolutely borrow anything that works for you, I'm so happy you like those tips-and love your idea of marking all pages with corrections! :)

@thewritingsongbird5108 Жыл бұрын

Wow, that seemed like it would definitely be stressful! I can’t imagine! I would have cried many times lol But I’m so glad it worked finally and I hope the best for your release!! I preordered the book and can’t wait to read it

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Oh my gosh it was haha! I'm not a big crier but I definitely cried once because I couldn't figure out a way around it all. Thank goodness it ended up working out in the end. YAYYY I'm so happy to hear you preordered, I can't wait to hear what you think of the story!

@johnparnham5945 Жыл бұрын

Everyone has different ways of doing things but I'm astonished that you edit in the proof book. Me, I would have done all that before I sent for a proof copy on the laptop. I always thought that the proof copy was to check the printing and their formatting. I would never think of submitting my book for publishing before the editing was done, Well, your method works for you so that's okay.

@cambrimorris3955 Жыл бұрын

Agh! Watching you struggle to make the deadline is stressing me out so much!

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

So sorry! It stressed me out to edit it too lol!

@speakingfromtheheart-f1h Жыл бұрын

I use a highlighter as well to help guide me to the issue, and while I am proofing on the book sometimes, I print out a copy of the book and have that with me to compare contrast. Obviously it's a lot of work! But hello it is so worth it. And, finally I send it off to my trusted proofer. :)

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

The extra work is definitely worth it!!

@ValeVin Жыл бұрын

Lately, I've been using a green and a purple pen for editing. Green are things I want to change, but if I saw them in someone else's book, I wouldn't really consider them a typo. Purple is for actual errors/typos. That way, when I look at the marked-up book, it's easy to see how many 'real' errors there were. Oh! If you want to use the editing mark for your "nevermind/n.m.," it's STET - latin for "let it stand." You can use that for when you made a change by accident but want to revert it, or you can use it if an editor did something like changing your "towards" to "toward" to let them know that you want to use the -s spelling. It's jokingly called editor's bane.

@esolofoni Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for sharing your process

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Absolutely! So glad you enjoyed it! :D

@celiaeven878 Жыл бұрын

I was like "ok, they want the interior before to be able to provide the correct cover size and verify it". And then… no they didnt, they changed it AFTER? what? Then WHY :(

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Right?!?? I was like “oh makes sense” also, but then it totally didn’t!! 🥴🫣

@JoLovesToRead Жыл бұрын

I hope you never have to go through that again, but thank you so much for sharing the journey with this vlog!! Hope you were able to relax and breathe after uploading! And hope the signing was fun!

@authorbrendilynnma Жыл бұрын

I am so happy for you and that everything worked out! Thank you for sharing about proofreading. So many questions were answered for me. I had to move my publication date a while back because of edits too! I was discouraged, but in the end, my story is much better. Ah, girl! I teared up with you, through this video ❤ and thank you so much for sharing your vulnerability. I sometimes feel like I'm doing this author journey wrong and to see that experienced authors go through the same worries, doubts and fears is comforting and helpful in giving myself a bit more grace. I'm looking forward to Book 2 of the Queen's Rise (recently finished the Curse Hunter, so I'm guessing it's the same Queen 😅) Blessings to you and all the best on your release! ❤

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Yay thanks Brendilynn! So glad it was helpful! :D Oofta so sorry you had to move your pub date, that's a rough feeling, but you're so right that it's worth it in the end. I'm so happy to hear that, and can't wait to hear what you think of the story! :D

@woodlandlady7011 Жыл бұрын

Wow. The amount of stress you went through...but I'm so glad it worked out in the end for you, Bethany. Have fun on your signing day at B&N, unfortunately I'm in the UK so can't make it. Wishing you all the luck and love🥰

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Yeah it was on the crazy side for sure haha! Thank you so much, I appreciate it!

@kayweda5929 Жыл бұрын

Have you tried Ginger Turmeric tea for your headache? My mom gives me a coup whenever I have a headache, cramps, nausea, etc. It really helps and tastes good!

@KathrynWhiteford Жыл бұрын

Wow, what a ride!! 🤯 I'm so glad you persevered and that everything worked out in the end. Also, thank you so much for sharing this side of self publishing, I'm sure it's not easy but definitely important. 💖

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Right?! It was crazy! Glad it was helpful to see! :)

@Writing4Jesus247 Жыл бұрын

Their email😮That's crazy!! And yesss, JUST is a major crutch word for me! I went through my book and it's like the Lord highlighted all the "just"s for me in that final readthrough and i deleted a ton!😂😅

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Right?! Lol, so weird how bad customer service has gotten in general for businesses, but that was pretty sad. And “just” is a big crutch word for most authors, you’re not alone!

@Writing4Jesus247 Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh yes customer service EVERYWHERE is soooo lameeeee🤷‍♀️🤯😂

@Deenatheknittingauthor Жыл бұрын

I listen to it and follow text in my word document. It's amazing what you pick up when listening.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Listening is a fantastic way to catch things, love that!

@Deenatheknittingauthor Жыл бұрын

@BethanyAtazadeh you even catch where you need a common. The flow of how it is read really shows up, and also, if you unintentionally repeat yourself or one word too many times. It is excellent for those dyslexic too, which I find there are a lot of us who write and are dyslexic. Ironically, they go hand in hand from what i have noticed.

@romeoandthechickenfeather Жыл бұрын

Honestly it was making me stressed watching you talk when you were on such a tight deadline - I was screaming internally "stop talking!!! go read!!!" haha Also, the websites were MESSY. I can't believe how long it took to upload the files?

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Bahaha right??? I should've talked less for sure lol, that was 100% me procrastinating because I didn't know if I could make it! But yeah, that uploading process is wildly out of date, needs some serious updating!

@pxlmvr7 Жыл бұрын

If I remember correctly, way back in the day, they used to use a blue pencil to do editing.

@morleywritesbooks Жыл бұрын

Wait... by "weird lines" do you mean the dotted lines of doom? i've had that problem. If it's that: select the 2 paragraphs above and below it go to the borders option on Word select No Border that should fix it. if it lingers, select a little more surrounding it, and try again. (it happens to me when i put the **** for a scene change and hit enter to start a new paragraph) Hopefully no more dread ^_^

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

That's the line! But unfortunately I already tried that method with the borders a ton of different ways, and it just continues to say there's no border and then show a border lol... I will keep trying things though to figure it out for future books, thanks for the encouragement!

@morleywritesbooks Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh best of luck

@morleywritesbooks Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh oh! my sleep-deprived brain just remembered: if you go to your "select" option and click "select all" and then go to the "borders" option -- even if it says there's no borders in the doc -- select the "no border" option anyway. might do the trick

@bekahkurz Жыл бұрын

I kind of "color code" my corrections. Like punctuation and typos might be orange. Word changes might be pink. Things I want to get rid of or make big changes to might be blue.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Love that! Super helpful!

@authorjoannawhite Жыл бұрын

Wow this stressed me out to watch and it sounds like a nightmare. If I ever work with them I'll be sure to do proofreading and have final proofread done waaaayy before hand. I also never proofread but that's why I did major edits after my first 4 books were published (even during going through the audiobooks and editing with the narrator which is a huge mistake). So going forward I am definitely gonna do proof copy edits.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

So sorry! It stressed me out even to edit it lol, so I get that. That sounds like the perfect strategy to avoid these pitfalls!

@Ohemaamary Жыл бұрын

Im sorry you went through that with ingramsparks and Barnes and noble press. I wanted to use Barnes and noble press for my book as well as some other platforms. Is there anything I should keep in mind?

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Thank you! I think if you give them 3x’s as much time as you think you’ll need, you’ll have a really good buffer if things go wrong haha. Also just know the cover template that they have you give your cover designer will be a little off and you’ll need them to do an update once your final interior is uploaded.

@Ohemaamary Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh thank you for the advice.

@dandscisco1971 Жыл бұрын

If you got rid of the lines, how did you do that? My hubby is trying to get rid of them, and he doesn't know how. I appreciate any feedback, and I hope everything goes well with your release. 😊

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

I thought about showing it in the video, but it was already 40 minutes long haha... So what I do is export it to PDF, then when in the "edit mode" in a PDF you can click on the line and manually delete each one. It takes FOREVER, but it works.

@dandscisco1971 Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh awesome! Thanks! 😊

@fionahowellwrites5302 Жыл бұрын

I hate red pen marks too. Kind of harsh to the eyes (and deflates me honestly)...I use other colors too. I usually edit in google docs when others are helping me edit. I highlight in different colors. It really doesn't have to be red! I also highlight what I add in a certain color so I know what I put in. :)

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Totally understandable! I actually hadn't thought about it that way, but I can see what you mean - in my case, I just didn't have any red pens handy (maybe because I don't like them either lol)!

@gamexpress111 Жыл бұрын

ok, Im actually glad I didn't worked with Barnes and Noble Press. I wanted to self publish under them as an eBook when I first started even though I'm from Canada (I don't know if that is possible) but seeing this made me change my mind.. I'm only under Kobo and KDP and honestly, it's enough for me...until i get my books as physical...but....have you ever thought of coming to Canada for book signing?? 😅🥺

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Yeah it's a bummer how clunky the website is. Glad I can help others avoid similar issues for sure! And a Canada signing would be so cool -maybe someday!!

@jinxyhelix Жыл бұрын

Nope. As much as I try. I miss things. So I do what I can, then send it off to proofreader.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

Totally fair!

@NormanHuard Жыл бұрын

Not sure this is the reason you can’t upload your cover. It may be that a new cover means a new edition of the book and requiring a new ISBN. Have you explored using Draft2Digital to distribute to B & N? The proofreading process you are describing sounds like what I do when prepping my manuscript to my editor. I love the brutal honesty of my editor. She has saved my butt with each of the six books in the series I wrote, especially the last one. After back and forth with my editor to show my reworked corrections, I then proofread with the ProWritingAid plug-in in Word. I put the manuscript away for a few weeks. When I come back to it I have Word read it back to me. I pick up more details that need fixing. Once the fixes are done, I set the ms aside for a few weeks. When I come back to it, I read it out loud to myself. I find more things to fix, mostly sentences to make easier to read. When that is done, I format the ms to make it print ready. That done, I send it to my proofreader. I call her the Comma Queen. She reads it three times. The first time to immerse herself in the story. She’ll note anything that pops out at her. The second read is to pick up on inconsistencies in the text, usually triggered in the first read. In her third and last read, she reads sentence by sentence checking on punctuation, grammar, spelling and repeated words in paragraphs. She does all this on a printout of book, two pages side-by-side, and ships the marked-up printout to me. There may be some back and forth with her to clarify corrections or suggestions. I make all corrections, go over the whole book page by page with ProWritingAid. I set it aside for a at least a week. I read it out loud to myself. Yes, I find a few typos. I correct those before uploading for publication.

@BethanyAtazadeh Жыл бұрын

New covers don't usually need an ISBN, but that's good trouble shooting - in this case it was because I had to upload the book interior first. D2D is what I usually use (and they're awesome by the way!) but I believe they're only ebook, this was for the paperback specifically. The third party distributor I could've used for the paperback is Ingramspark. Sounds like you have an awesome proofreading system!

@author.vermilionhbaine Жыл бұрын

@@BethanyAtazadeh I think D2D just started doing paperback if what I see on their site is correct. Maybe you can use them to avoid B&N in the future. EDIT: It's in beta.