Talking About Revisions

What happens during the revisions process?

I've just finished revisions on a book. It’s gone up from 40,000 words up to 60,000 words, which is quite a lot longer than the average business book. But the changes have made the book better.

The first draft I wrote was concise and logical, and I was quite pleased with it. However, the author felt that it was a little too staccato and hurried, and didn't spell out some of the nuances of his concepts quite enough. So we've gone through it all in a very long review, and improved it. (It didn’t help that the publisher went bust in the middle of the process.)

Sometimes authors read the first draft and think, “This doesn't sound like I sound in my head.” (It may be that *they* don’t sound like they do in their head, but no matter.)

The whole process is built to be able to cope with a moment like that. First drafts are first drafts. They don't have to be perfect. No-one will ever read them but me and the author. Some authors hate what they read. They wonder if I listened to anything they said (yes I did, to all of it). They wonder if I’m a real ghostwriter (yes, I am – a professional one).

But that’s fine. I’m not going to be hurt if they don’t like it.

That’s because I know it doesn't matter. We will sort it out in a revisions process calculated to get the author the book they want.

And most of the time, it won’t take a year to do it.