After a reader complained in a review that my box set was poorly edited, I went back an re-edited almost 1500 pages with Grammarly©. This was after I had edited and proofed each book in the series up to six times.
Just to be clear, I am an author and publisher, editor, proof reader, and marketer. After several years and dozens of rejection slips, I gave up ever getting my two books published traditionally. Then, I got a Kindle because I love to read almost as much as I love to write. I also have a small house and nowhere to store the 400+ books I now have on my Kindle.
Even more exciting than that, I discovered KDP – Kindle Direct Publishing! Soon after that, I published The Aledan Psion with a truly horrible cover. It barely sold until a fellow writer helped me rebrand the series with all new covers.
Last year, I sold 700 copies, 248,904 pages read in KU and gave away 5349 copies of 7 titles for a total of $2,123. Then, I had to pay a self employment tax on that. Obviously, I am not getting rich.
I’m in a “catch 22” situation. I’ve had readers complain about editing in their reviews—been told to get an editor. While I would probably sell more books if the editing were better, I don’t make enough money to pay for even a low priced copy editor. It would cost several hundred dollars per book.
So, against professional advice, I self edit by editing tools like Grammarly© and Pro Writing Aid© in addition to a text to voice program that reads the manuscript aloud while I follow along. It lets me hear typos or missing words that I might not see. I calculated the cost of a copy editor for the 1500+ pages in the box set at: $4,500.
None of it is fool proof. This is why my books are generally priced at $2.99 and available in KU. The box set is only $3.99 for all 6 books and the prequel. However, if you find too many mistakes that detract from your reading experience, my email address is in every book. Let me know and I will review it and send you a corrected copy FREE.
Anyone who sends me a list of errors and their locations will get the choice of a free ebook on my list. If you aren’t sure you will like the story, The Aledan PSION is free on Amazon in the US and Smashwords elsewhere.