On June 6th, I shared that the beta review process had been completed for The Moreau Witches. That meant it was time for me to go through all the feedback—good and bad—and make the changes I felt would best benefit my story. It was not an easy process and it took a week or so longer than I wanted it to, but I am happy to say I had it all done by last Friday, July 13th—an auspicious sign for a witches’ tale, I think!
With my beta edits completed, the novel was then sent to Elizabeth Slaughter, who is now in the process of making delightful sense of my nonsense. After reading the original short story series and then learning that I intended to work on the novel, she offered to edit it for me. And of course, I took her up on the offer. Now, she’s suffering for her kindness. 😅
Her editing work is done in secret since she’s doing it by hand, so I have no updates on where she is or what she thinks of my revised witches’ tale, so far. But, I am looking forward to applying her expertise to sharpen my storytelling skills and ensure the story is the best it can possibly be for all of you.
There is a tentative completion date for her editing set to September 1st. Once she is finished, another editor in Britain will help me run through it quickly to ensure we didn’t accidentally Americanize any of the spelling and grammar in the book. The editor at my PR firm may then run through the book for the final time to catch any typos the first two editors and myself might have missed on the first round.
It is an ambitious goal, but I would love to slide my novel into a pile of books written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu and Oscar Wilde and escape the immediate suspicion that the book was written in modern times by someone who has never set foot in Europe—not yet, anyway. I have full faith in my editors to help me accomplish this. It is not about being comparable to literary giants, but helping readers escape into an era we never lived in through authentic Victorian writing.
While the editing work is taking place without me, I will not be idle. It is now time to purchase my ISBNs and bar code for the physical and electronic copies of the book. I will also be working on the back cover of the novel with my designer to enclose the words my editors will be working so hard to polish.
I’m so excited to have made it to this step in the publishing process and cannot wait to share the many changes that have taken place in the story. Some minor characters have appeared more often, like Mamie’s paramour and the assassin. Some names have also changed and new rationales were given for old actions.
In the coming months, I will be sharing more about the characters in the book, the themes it covers and historical facts I learned along the way. But first, let’s ensure the editors don’t send me back to the drawing board! If I manage to escape that Fate, then we are still in the run to get this book out on Halloween for the story’s second anniversary.
Thank you for following my journey this far. I hope you stick it out with me to the bittersweet end!
I’m celebrating this big milestone in the writing and publishing process with a trip to Alaska and can’t wait to share what adventures I have amidst mountains and glaciers when I return! Stay tuned!
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For ongoing updates, check out the #MoreauWitches hash tag on Twitter, where I often tweet in real-time, while working on the novel. If you’re interested in pre-ordering the witches’ tale, or would like to help with funding, please grab an item from my store! 😁
UPDATE: The novel is published. Get your copy on Amazon, here!
Alexis Chateau
Activist, Writer. Explorer.