When T R Monaghan finally decided she wanted to publish a novel, she knew she wanted to do it right: she wanted readers to lose themselves in the world of her 1970's thriller, not get pulled out of the story thanks to scattered typos or errors. So she turned to professional editors to ensure she joined the publishing world with a polished and professional debut book.
I was brand new to publishing when I found Reedsy
Sweet, Sweet Jayne was my debut novel at the age of fifty-two. When it came time to publish the novel, my author bio was so slim that I asked my designer Nuno Moreira (who I also hired through Reedsy), to leave the jacket free of print. Outside of writing, I work in the office of a metal-fabrication plant. Needless to say, the world of publishing was brand new to me, and each step in the process of publishing Sweet, Sweet Jayne was a very cautious (and educational!) one.
As a new author, it can be challenging to decide how much to invest in your first book. I was lucky enough to have a member of my family provide my manuscript with a developmental edit, and this experience bestowed confidence in me that my work was good enough to invest in further rounds of editing.
In my mind, Sweet, Sweet, Jayne was my one opportunity to share my writing — an opportunity I’d waited a while for. I knew that I wanted to hire a professional copy editor and proofreader to ensure that my finally-published novel was as polished as possible. And to ease my fears that a reader would be pulled out of the story due to errors or typos — be them small or large. In essence, I wanted to put my best foot forward, and for me, that meant getting help.
I hired professional editors so I could publish with confidence
I ended up hiring Ryan Quinn for a copyedit, and he did such an excellent job that I sent him an additional request for proofreading. While he expressed how much he enjoyed copyediting my book, he suggested that another set of eyes would be best for catching any tiny mistakes on first-read. I greatly appreciated him giving me sound advice, and I ended up hiring Allister Thompson for a proofread.
The collaborations with both editors were seamless. In fact, once Ryan had finished with his copyedit, he provided me with a Style-Sheet to share with Allister, in order to ensure both editors were on the same page and there were no inconsistencies or discrepancies.
I had thought the editing process would involve days of hard work, requiring me to comb through their recommendations and implement the changes myself. Instead, all of their suggestions were neatly and clearly left on my manuscript; all I had to do was read through them and hit the checkmark accepting their changes.
I now have a polished manuscript and positive press
Collaborating with Ryan and Allister gave me confidence. Without their skills, I would not have had the confidence to plow through the publishing process, from setting up a small business, applying for a tax ID #, navigating eBook formatting, etc.
The collaboration with both editors brought my novel to a level I could not have achieved without them. Since then, Sweet, Sweet Jayne has been featured in The Lowell Sun, is sold through Barnes & Noble, and I have been working on the second book in my series, Blackbyrd Fly.
I definitely plan to reach out again to Ryan Quinn and Allister Thompson for my next book.
