Have you finished a novel manuscript? Wondering what to do next? Fix Your Damn Book is a self-help manual for writers who have finished a manuscript - a novel, novella, short story, or serial - and who want to self-edit their work to a professional standard and get it on the market. In this instructional and occasionally hilarious book, James Osiris Baldwin - an author and editor with over 8 years of experience as a freelance and staff editor - explains his technique for painlessly and successfully polishing your manuscript to a perfect glow. Fix Your Damn Book will: - Introduce you to the seven essential components of successful editing; - Help you get in the right headspace to edit your own work; - Teach you to objectively diagnose problems in your manuscript; - Walk you through the secrets of developmental editing and line editing; - Teach you hacks for sharpening your story, character, and dialogue; - Guide you through copy-editing and grammar, including a copy-editing essentials checklist; - Give you guidelines on recruiting and making the most out of your first readers; - Cover proofreading and publishing. You will also find a special section on writing and editing query letters, advice on developing characters and stories, a list of the best software to help you write and edit, and much more If you want to write faster, edit stronger, master the craft of storytelling, and ensure your book is something to be proud of before you put it on the market, Fix Your Damn Book is the how-to book for you.