Your Next Draft
Your Next Draft is the fiction writer's guide to developmental editing. What do you do after your first draft? How do you flesh out flat characters, fill in plot holes, and hook your readers from the first page to the last? What does editing a novel even mean? Developmental editor and book coach Alice Sudlow answers all these questions and more. Each week, she shares the editing strategies she's using with her one-on-one clients so you can put them to use in your own novel. Tune in for tips, tools, and step-by-step guides for the novel editing process.
Your Next Draft
The Top 5 Lessons From Year 1 of Building My Editing Business
Your editing process has more in common with building a business than you might think.
Editing a novel and building a business . . . well, they’re actually not all that different.
That’s something I’ve been thinking about all year. As I’ve coached writers through the editing process, I’ve been struck again and again by how similar novel editing and business building really are.
After all, they’re both large creative projects. The kind that demand a lot: grit, perseverance, continual learning. And the kind that lead to incredible rewards for those with the courage to pursue them.
Which means the lessons I’ve learned in this year of building my business also apply to you in your writing. (And I’ve learned a lot of things!)
In this episode, I’m sharing five of my business-building lessons that will apply to your novel, too.
You’ll learn:
- Why you might be closer to building your own business than you think
- My #1 marketing tip for a business or a book
- The mistake I made at the beginning of my business and how I’m fixing it now (hint: frozen burritos may be delicious, but they are not entirely nutritious)
- And more!
Your Next Draft is all about inviting you in to the editing tools and strategies I’m using in my own editing practice. And in this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain and getting a little more vulnerable than usual.
I hope this inspires you to reflect on your year of writing and editing, too. What have you learned this year? What new editing wisdom are you taking into 2024?
Links mentioned in the episode:
- For a podcast all about building an editing business, check out The Editing Podcast with Louise Harnby and Denise Cowle.
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