How Many Drafts of a Book Should You Write? Here’s My 5-Draft Plan for Authors
I once heard from a fella who had a book coming out soon and had signed up for my book marketing strategies course.
It had taken him 20 drafts, but he was now ready to self-publish. I said, “Huh?”
If you have written 20 drafts (and this ISN’T the record, by the way), then something is wrong.
You’re overwriting, overrevising, and inefficient.
You don’t have a plan or a system to follow.
You may lack confidence.
Don’t get me wrong: The process of writing and fine-tuning can be therapeutic or even fun.
It’s important to take pride in your work. You owe it to your readers to produce a quality product.
But it doesn’t take 20 drafts to write a nonfiction book (or a novel) that readers will love. You’ve got other things to do.
How many drafts should you write?
As a nonfiction author coach and book editor who’s also written two traditionally published books, I would argue 5.
You can write a great book in just 5 drafts. How many drafts before publishing? 5.
Are you an American author writing a nonfiction book that you want to dazzle readers?
Time to line up an editor that can help you do exactly that.
“Working with Daniel was by far the best decision I have made regarding my manuscript. Perfect fit for the subject matter. Professional and social. A perfect mix for a first-time author who has no idea what he is doing (me). His work delivered better than I could hope for. And I feel like I made a friend in the process. Wonderful man and an expert at the craft. Will definitely work with him again.”
Here’s my 5-Draft Plan for writing a book.
1️
Draft 1: Working from an outline, hammer it out. The point is to write; just keep the momentum going. Write in order, in large chunks. If you get stuck, move ahead. Each day, make a note of where you were and what to do when you resume. Some people have an author coach to help them get started.
2️
Draft 2: Self-edit carefully—big picture and small picture, chapter by chapter. I talk about self-editing techniques in my self-publishing course. But the most important thing you can do is make sure your chapters start and end in a way that grabs the readers’ attention. Run the dang spell checker. Try your darndest to get your punctuation right. And make your paragraphs relatively short!
3️
Draft 3: Get feedback. This is when you incorporate beta readers’ and other authors’ comments, or better yet, a manuscript assessment or developmental edit, and make revisions. Then do a spell-check and grammar check on it as you make revisions.
4️
Draft 4: Get a copy edit, or at the very least, put it through AI software like ProWritingAid. Very careful fine-tuning and proofreading is in order here. The Copyeditor’s Handbook can be a great resource, too, for folks on a budget.
5️
Draft 5: Fine-tuning and polishing. Here you’re mostly looking for any inconsistencies, overused phrases, factual errors, or little typos. When you’re done, it’s ready to self-publish or send to editors and agents.
Can’t-miss tips for self-editing and revising your book
When you’re reading and self-editing and revising your book manuscript, especially in Draft 5,
Change the font so you can trick your brain into seeing it with new eyes.
Read it aloud or have it read aloud to you. Or
Print it out and read it. I cringe at the thought, but it works.
Sometimes people get a professional editor after this point.
They know it needs a pro. They’ve set aside the funds. Or they’re having trouble getting publishers to bite or are motivated to make this book the best it can be.
In this case, you might have 6 drafts.
Five drafts is a best-case scenario.
But the bottom line is, it doesn’t take 20 drafts—or the record I’ve heard of, which is, ahem, 26 drafts—to write a book.
You’ve got other things to do. Like, um, your next book!
While we’re here, you might be wondering
How long should it take to write a book?
That is a very individual thing. It depends on the genre, the length of the book, and the author. It depends on your organization, too.
Generally speaking, a month to a year will get you a good result.
If you can write a book within a year, things will be fresh in your mind, your enthusiasm will likely stay high, and you’ll likely find your writing and revising sessions more effective.
The 5-Draft Method described above will help you finish sooner rather than later.
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Happy writing and revising,