TAB073: Hacking the Editing Process

 

Michael Anderle and Stephen Russell are the guests in this episode of The Author Biz

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Efficiency experts tell us to focus on the 20% of our work that generates 80% of the results.

For author Michael Anderle, and probably for most of us, that means keeping your focus on the writing. Michael learned late last year that publishing without the aid of an editor wasn’t a great idea. His readers loved the stories, but many of his positive reviews included a note concerning the editing of the books.

The editing process, as it operates for most of us, left Michael with a big problem. To reach the ambitious production goals he’d set for himself, he needed to average 37 days between releases of his Kurtherian Gambit science fiction series. That’s for everything. Writing, editing, cover design, marketing plan and publication.

Michael, with his background in information technology, knew there had to be a better way, and that’s where today’s second guest, Stephen Russell comes in. Stephen is a voracious reader of science fiction, and after finishing Michael’s fourth book, he agreed to join the beta reading team, and that’s where the story gets interesting.

Stephen now serves as Michael’s Production Editor, managing an editing process that includes multiple editing passes and several beta readers, using free and low-cost technology.  This allows Michael to continue to please his growing legion of readers by publishing new books on a rapid and regular schedule.

In this 55 minute episode, Michael, Stephen Russell and I take a deep dive into the 27-day writing and editing process for the 7th book in Michael’s series, KNEEL OR DIE, which hit multiple Amazon bestseller lists on launch week. 

Hacking the Editing Process Show Notes

 

• We discuss the way in which Stephen and the beta reading team edited the 6th book in the series, and improved on that somewhat cumbersome process to wind up with the much-improved process they used for the 7th book.
• We walk through the workflow that Michael and Stephen used to streamline the editing process. 
• We discuss the way Stephen interacted with the beta readers and how those beta readers interacted amongst themselves, using Google Docs and the private Facebook group that Michael created for the KNEEL OR DIE team.
• Michael explains what this “just in time” editing process is like for him as an author.
• We discuss the different skillsets Stephen uses in his role as Michael’s “production editor.”
• Their process Michael and Stephen use is still evolving. They consider the ways it may change with the next book.
• Michael shares his gross sales numbers for the first three months of this year.
• We discuss a short-story experiment Michael is running, that he hopes will bring new readers to the Kurtherian Gambit series.
• We discuss some technology that Michael’s team has developed, which allows authors to learn more from Amazon’s also bought data. While still in its infancy, Michael is happy to generate reports for interested authors. You can email him – mike at Kurtherianbooks dot com.

Links

• Michael Anderle’s author website www.kurtherianbooks.com
• Michael’s Amazon author page
• Michael’s Facebook Author Page
• Michael’s email address is mike at Kurtherianbooks dot com
• Author Biz 2016 Survey 

Thanks for Listening!

Thanks so much for joining me again this week.

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Thanks to Michael Anderle and Stephen Russell for joining us this week.

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