Why authors should never read their own books

It probably doesn’t surprise you to hear that after a book is published, I never want to read it again. I’ve wrestled with writing it and rewriting it so many times, I’m sick of it.

I recently got the rights back to Just One Wish, and knew there were some mistakes to fix. (I had my character leave on a Wednesday when she should have left on Tuesday. Etc) And of course, I wanted to add in those two lines that my editor made me take out.CoverClean-JustOneWish

http://www.amazon.com/Just-One-Wish-Janette-Rallison-ebook/dp/B00M0EVAFI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1406097021&sr=8-2&keywords=just+one+wish

But of course I found a zillion other things to change.  And right off I have to tell all of you people who loved the printed book–thank you! Thank you! Thank you! for overlooking all of the little problems. I used the phrase “There was a long pause” too much.  I also overused the word “expression”. No one ever pointed that out in any of the reviews–which just shows me that readers are a forgiving bunch.

Anyway, the cool thing about ebooks is that you can go back and fix all of those things that bug you later. (Yay ebooks!)

That said, now I worry that with all of the changes I made, I added some typos. If you find any, let me know–because with ebooks, you can fix your typos. (Again, yay ebooks!)

And the two lines I put back in . . .

In the scene where Annika is on the set as a nun extra:

The director held up one hand in the air. “And don’t look so angry,” he yelled as though I were tormenting him. “You’re a nun, for heaven’s sake!”

Yes, well, I supposed that was the reason most nuns went into the profession.

My editor had me take out “Yes, well, I suppose that was the reason most nuns went into the profession. He said nuns went into the profession for Christ’s sake, not heaven’s. I thought that was splitting hairs, but at that point I was tired of fighting about it.

And the second line he  made me take out . . . hmmm . . . maybe I’ll let you find that one yourself.

Also, if you’ve already read the book, can you please go leave a review? My 53 reviews aren’t transferring over from the print book. Thanks!!

 

6 comments

  1. Tiana Smith
    July 23, 2014 at 6:37 am

    Copied my review over 🙂

    • Janette Rallison
      July 25, 2014 at 11:13 am

      Thanks!

  2. Beedubbs
    July 25, 2014 at 9:04 am

    Left you a review! Hope you like it!

    • Janette Rallison
      July 25, 2014 at 11:13 am

      Thanks!

  3. Eliza
    July 27, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    I read this post and thought, “Hey, I’ll just copy over that review I wrote for my blog back in 2011.” Then I read through it and discovered I was really horrible at writing reviews in 2011. Excuse me while I come up with something better to say about Just One Wish.

    • Janette Rallison
      July 27, 2014 at 10:53 pm

      That’s the beauty of writing: you improve over time! Thanks for the review!

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Stay In The Loop

Subscribe and receive 3 free Ebooks!

Want to know about new releases or ebook sales?
Sign up for Janette's newsletter and receive a free copy of 3 books:

  • Slayers
  • A Longtime (and at one point illegal) Crush
  • Blue Eyes and Other Teenage Hazards