Polish those shiny apples - the importance of editing in self-publishing

Editing is a pain, so if you don't have to do it, why should you?  Once you make the decision to self-publish, for whatever reason, it's tempting to rush into print without too much revision.  After all, the barriers to publication have been removed - the need to find an agent, sell it to a publisher, work with an editor to revise the manuscript.  So why wait?  To my mind the primary reason is that first drafts do not make particularly good reading.  According to one book on self-publication I read (sorry, I cannot remember the author - or the title!) the biggest criticism of self-published books is that they weren't edited enough.

But why does this matter?  Basically, because good editing translates into sales and reader recommendations.   If a book is difficult to read, confusing or dull, the reader is far more likely to put it down without finishing it.  He or she is also far less likely to praise it, whether in conversation, on Amazon or a blog.  It's amazing the difference editing can make.  I went through the life story part of the book I'm (avoiding) working on right now, and 'Stephen Kinged' it a while back.  This basically means I stuck in hooks that were designed to make the reader want to read on and find more.

I was astounded by the results.  Two of my beta readers who know me quite well - and are not keen readers to start with - said they read through the 200 page draft in one sitting because they found it so interesting, and wanted to find out what happened next.  My editing really transformed the story - and made it far less likely that a rader would put it down without finishing it..  If I hadn't bothered, the final book (presuming it ever gets finished, which sometimes feels unlikely) would have been much the poorer.

Stephen King and other writers, along with agents, are keen proponents of the 'polish, polish, polish til you have a shiny apple' school of writing.  Famous poet T S Eliot said "Probably, indeed the larger part of the labour of an author in composing his work is critical labour - the labour of sifting, combining, constructing, expunging, correcting, testing." (What a wonderful word 'expunging' is!  Pity there aren't more opportunities to use it in everyday life.) Agent Tina Wexler gives authors this advice: 'Write a really amazing manuscript.  Which is to say: take your time, put your work through multiple revisions, read published works in your genre, and consider joining a critique group or finding a writing partner whom you trust who can help make your manuscript a shiny apple.'  She's talking to authors who want to get picked up by an agent and a publisher but I think her advice applies just as much to self-published authors who want to their books to sell well.  Finally, words from the king (Stephen, that is, from his wonderful book 'On writing'.) .  'Now let's talk about revising the work - how much and how many drafts?  For me the answer has always been two drafts and a polish (and with the advent of word processing technology, my polishes have become closer to a third draft.'  That's his advice and he seems to have done reasonably well for himself.  'Nuf said!