As I was getting my beta readers' notes, I couldn’t help but smile. I was excited. Scratch that, I am excited. These problems, they’re fixable. They’re revisable. And they don’t make me sacrifice or overhaul the story I love. I’ve never done anything like this before, but knowing myself better as a writer now and the current problems in my manuscript, this will be the best way for me to handle them, keep my energy up, and look at the story with a fresher perspective every tim

There are times during beta reading where you may feel like you’re at a standstill because you’re not actively adding words. But remember: Your book is not at a standstill. It is being read by actual readers who are seeing how good of a story you have. It’s being worked on, just not by you. You should use this time to make progress, be creative, and get ahead of your future self. Being proactive now will bolster your overall writing career.

A book's word counts dictates many factors of the publishing industry and writing process. This blog is broken up in three sections, each addressing how a book’s word count affects writers, publishers, and readers—especially if you're pursuing self-publishing.

Where do you decide to put your money where your book needs? How do you decide what your book needs at all? First, let’s go through the four editing stages, and then I’ll provide my personal recommendation of how indie authors should prioritize them when they’re on a budget.