There’s nothing like working on an audio book to hear every flaw, every possible mistake in a book. I was settling in for a good listen to the second half of a fantasy sci fi book (Book 2 in my Lost Xentu series) and discovered something no author ever wants to encounter. During the final editing for the print version, I thought I made a really good chop to the middle, to tighten the story. But listening to the lovely voice of my narrator, Sarah Edwards, I realized the condensed transition into Part II was dry and too explainy, devoid of the rich character development it had contained! Yikes!
I went back to the original text and found the juicy parts I’d dropped! I unexpectedly spent my Sunday syphoning scenes back in, reading and editing section by section.
The thrill was seeing the texture of the story come back to life.
In general, I like the editing process. I trust that the right changes will come to me, hear them in my head. When another person is involved, such as the audio book narrator, I worry about asking for re-dos when they’re my fault. This one was really needed, though. I feel bad that some people have read the book in a less appealing form, but I have to figure more readers are yet to come. Now it has the sea elf’s point of view in Part II, which I think adds a lot to the story. Now it’s in the audio book, I need to re-publish the paperback and ebook with it in there.
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