When you have a book published through traditional book publishers, professional editors are hired to tweak your book and take it from a rough draft to a polished one. When self publishing, that process is left to you.

So how do you go from first draft to a polished second draft? Following are more tips for creating a finished manuscript.

* Find a Good Critique Group

A set of unfamiliar eyes can do wonders for a second draft. Find a critique group filled with writers who understand the fundamentals of critiquing and can give some good, positive feedback. This feedback is especially helpful when it comes from published writers.

* Save the Major Polish for the End of the Draft

While it can be natural to concern yourself with grammatical mistakes, don’t worry about those in the first run of your second draft. There will be time, after you’ve finished, to have your work edited for grammar. At that point you can spend time going through and making changes that need to be corrected.

* Create a Timeline

With a first draft, you’ve gotten your story down. With a second draft, you have the chance to put your story in a timeline to make sure the story flows. Creating a timeline can help you make sure that your story has no obvious glitches or time lapses that don’t make sense.

Self publishing is ideal for many writers. However, much of what a traditional publisher handles has to be taken care of by you, as a self published writer. Reading books on the publishing process as well as editing will give you the tools you need to create a successful book. And, if taking on all the editing yourself is too big of a job, there are always editors-for-hire that can help you find the holes and grammar mistakes in your book that need to be fixed.

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