My books have been professionally reviewed by top beta readers, proofreaders, and copyeditors. As an independent author, I feel this should be mentioned up front. In many online communities there is a stigma revolving around indie authors related to low quality work. So, I want to ensure my readers that my novels are technically sound and read very smoothly. Having beta readers and proofreaders review a manuscript is incredibly insightful. For instance, my beta readers helped to point out scenes in the manuscript that needed a closer look so that situations made better sense and flowed from one chapter to the next. Proofreading is also essential. Even with experience in writing, my proofreaders pointed out several instances where the manuscript could be improved. They tagged items for me to review like sentence structure, word choice, and chapter/section organization. The copyeditor was the final word on the manuscript and the most significant investment. She analyzed the manuscript down to the smallest detail. Every component, each word, its placement, punctuation, and sentence structure, and innumerable other details (the first pass had over 7,000 items tagged for my review) were highlighted and discussed. I was honestly shocked there was so much to do. Beforehand, I told myself the manuscript was tight but I would do this anyway, just to see. I’m glad I did. My readers deserve the best manuscript along with my best effort to create an immersive and compelling story. If you are reading this, you may rest assured that anything written by Gransom Hayes is of the highest technical quality.
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