This is an opportunity for readers to ask questions about our craft. Thanks fellow authors for helping me out! I know you are busy.
Musti asked: Do you pay someone to proofread your work?
Children and YA author, Kimberly Mitchell, responded to this question.
The short answer is no. I've always partnered with other writers
in a critique group while I develop my books. Once I hit the stage where the
book is ready for beta reading, I ask a few friends. My twin sister has been
one of my best beta readers as well. During this process, most of the
proofreading gets done. Then I'll do a final version before I send the book out
and focus closely on grammar and sentence structure instead of the plot line,
trusting that the earlier edits have ironed out the story.
However, I did hire a sensitivity reader to read through a middle
grade novel that contains diverse characters. Since one of the characters is
black, and I'm not, I wanted to be sure I wasn't falling into stereotypes or
presenting the character in any way that might be offensive. I found the
reader's feedback valuable and I was able to revise the character accordingly.
If I were to self-publish a book in the future instead of pursuing
the more traditional route as I am now, I would definitely hire an editor
before I released the book.
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