“The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer.” – Zadie Smith

So you’ve written your book, and while you don’t want to brag that it’s likely the greatest piece of literature ever written, you also know that deep inside it is! There’s only one problem though, you’ve yet to get your beautiful creation edited, and you are terrified of doing so.

Understandable of course, no one wants to have their life’s work picked apart, but editing is an absolute necessity if you ever want to get your masterpiece into the hands of a publisher. When it comes to editing you have two options.

1. Hire an editor to dissect your book and give you notes
2. Trust in yourself and get cracking on your own revisions

While many won’t choose the latter, sometimes self-editing can actually be the best editing of all. Yes, it makes sense to have another pair of eyes look over your manuscript, but at the end of the day, you are the writer, and you know your work better than anyone else. Taking the time to edit your own manuscript allows you to grow in your knowledge of grammar, and over all better your writing. You will begin to recognize simple mistakes, and get a grasp on how to fix them on your own. You also will be able to recognize specific crutches, for example; words, phrases, sentence structure and punctuation that you continually use to the point where they are overdone.

It may seem difficult at first to be critical of something you, yourself crafted, but being critical of yourself in a positive manner also gives you the opportunity to better your story in the long run. Self-editing takes discipline and awareness, on top of grammatical skills, but once a writer begins to edit their piece, they will find that few things are more rewarding!

Edit: Given that you’re reading this post, this likely means you are a writer with a story to tell and we want to help you publish, market and sell your work! That is why all of our publishing AND marketing packages are 10% off through May 15th! (If you chose to purchase the Platinum Publishing Package we’ll include 50 printed copies of your book. Imagine holding your book in your hands in a matter of months, how cool!) You’re not alone in this! We will teach and assist you in finding your target audience + selling your books to your readers. Give us a call to discuss our package options! Our staff is standing by ready to help you make your dream a reality!

Despite concerns about consolidation among publishing houses, sales of the top 10 companies accounted for 55% of revenue of the 50 publishers that are on the list for both 2012 and 2011, down from 57% in 2011. One reason for the decline is the increasing number of publishers from emerging markets gaining sales worldwide. That has been especially true among publishers in the 20th to 50th spots on the ranking; total revenues from those 30 companies accounted for 25% of sales in 2012, up from 21% in 2011. In addition, several new companies have been added to the ranking this year, including two Chinese publishers and one from Russia, bringing the list to 60 publishers.

As has been true in recent years, publishers that specialize in scientific/technical/medical books and journals generated the highest revenue in 2012, followed by education and then trade. There seems little interest among the largest companies to broaden the areas in which they publish; each prefers to focus on one segment. That trend was seen most recently in the U.S., when John Wiley sold off its most consumer-oriented properties to concentrate on professional information. That, of course, is also the path Pearson took with its decision to merge its Penguin subsidiary with Random House, leaving Pearson with only its (very large) educational group. McGraw-Hill Companies also decided that it would be better off focusing on one area, this one outside of publishing altogether—financial services. MHC completed the sale of McGraw-Hill Education in early 2013 to a private equity group (the sale occurred before the final numbers for 2012 were released).

So while the rankings in 2012 are relatively stable compared to 2011, events that began or accelerated in 2012—the announcement of the Penguin–Random House merger; the increase in digital sales outside of the U.K. and U.S., where growth, especially on the trade side, has slowed—are certain to jumble the listings much more in 2013.

The four largest book publishers of 2011 kept their positions last year, a result that led Pearson to retain its crown as the world’s largest publisher in 2012, with total revenues of $9.16 billion. The most significant change among the top 10 companies was due in part to the worldwide success of the Fifty Shades trilogy, which boosted Bertelsmann’s Random House subsidiary from eighth place in 2011 to fifth in 2012 on Livres Hebdo/Publishers Weekly’s annual ranking of the world’s largest publishers.

Click on a company’s name to read its profile.