What Every Manuscript Needs to Succeed

Your manuscript needs to be more than well-written in order to flourish--it needs to touch people's hearts and meet their needs. If you can touch their hearts, you'll keep their attention. Regardless of your genre, there are three things you can include to captivate your readers, including agents and publishers.

Here are more tips from Karin for what to do after you finish the manuscript:

1. Walk away for at least two weeks (a month is better).

2. Self-edit in three steps:

 - Big picture: Is it organized well? Find other books in your genre and see if your book structure

   is similar to theirs.

 - Readability: Does it include all of the necessary information? Does it flow well from topic to

   topic?

 - PUGS: punctuation, usage, grammar, and syntax. Yes, you can use Grammarly or ProWriting

   Aid for something like this. Don't blindly accept all of their changes, but use it to help you find

   things that might need to be changed.

3. Read it out loud. Do this after your self-edit. It will help with flow and pacing.

4. Find beta readers for feedback*. Don't rely on family and friends, though you can include them. Find people who read (preferably in your genre) and ask them for feedback, but don't use yes/no questions. Ask things like

 - Did anything confuse you? Where?

 - What was your favorite part? Why?

 - Did any chapter feel like it was missing something? Which chapters?

Take their feedback to strengthen your weak spots.

*I recommend an odd number of beta readers. That way you have a majority: one person might like a chapter, but if two are confused, you'll want to revise it.

5. Get professional feedback. If you can afford to hire an editor (especially if it's your first book), do it. If it's your 1st, 2nd, or 3rd manuscript, you'll likely need a substantive edit. But please do your homework! Great ways to find editors:

 - Christian Editor Connection (www.christianeditor.com): a free service for authors, all of the

   editors have at least two years of experience and must past editing tests.

 - Word of mouth: ask authors who they've used. (But remember not all editors edit all genres.

   Your friends novel editor may not edit devotionals.)

 - Look in books: pick up books in your genre and see who's listed as the editor. Also check the

   acknowledgements. The author may have worked with a freelance editor before being

   published. That author won't appear in the front pages but might be in the "thank yous."