Continuing to share my publication journey with you, I can tell you that the “first pass page” edits are done.

What are “first pass page” edits?

First pass pages are the first time you get your book back from the publisher typeset in what will be the published format. I received mine as a PDF, which I printed out. Then I popped open the dreaded red pen. . .

The goal as an author is to go through the book once more and note any last changes you want or need to make. It’s really the last chance you have to edit the book to where you want it.

Of course, that means reading it again from stem to stern, and there’s always the danger that you don’t read carefully enough because you’re just sick of it at this point, or because you’ve read it so many times you just don’t see the issues anymore.

But, if you want the best book you can possibly write, this is it. This is the final opportunity to make editorial corrections.

My final read-through ended up being about eleven pages of notes. Not terrible, all things being equal. Still, it felt like a lot and there’s a natural tendency to worry that you’re just annoying your publisher by passing back all the corrections you think should be made. But they want a successful book as much as you do. So it’s well worth the time to read closely and make changes. Because what comes next is pretty much the book you’ll eventually see on the shelves.