After months (or sometimes years) of putting everything into writing your book, it would be tempting to finish, hit save, and never look it again, hoping it's perfect. But not even the most experienced authors can do that. 

There is still a lot of work to do between writing the final word and having the book on the shelf.

Recently, there seems to be a rise in the number of people preferring to self-publish their books. But if you've never written, let alone published, a book before through a traditional publisher, you may not be aware of all the steps (or how to do them) that go into publishing a book.

​So, what do we need to do to make our book the best it can be?

It is tempting to write a book, hit save, and send it off to an editor or publisher without ever looking at it again. It must be perfect, right? You have just put your heart and soul into it.

But not even the most experienced author can do that.
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There are a few steps to take before you send your novel to an editor or publisher, and one of these steps is to use beta readers.

After months, or even years, of perfecting your manuscript, it will have become really familiar to you. When you open the document to work on a chapter or to play with a few sentences, you know what you expect to see.