Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book

“Brilliant, time-tested and clear” advice that will help writers at all stages, in all genres, write their very best book—and then make it better. As a freelance editor for more than a decade, Williams has shepherded books from rough draft to polished manuscripts bought by Big Five houses, university and literary presses, and for independent publishers. Now, she distills everything she’s learned from editing hundreds of drafts, coaching writers past creative blocks, and navigating authors through querying and publication, into this useful guide for every step from idea to book.

Seven Drafts: Self-Edit Like a Pro from Blank Page to Book divides writing and revision into distinct stages, with a new focus in each draft. Williams’ frank, funny voice encourages writers to tackle even big editing tasks with a sense of humor and a feeling that someone who understands is on their side.

With plenty of fresh examples, insider wisdom, and snappy footnotes, Seven Drafts teaches story, character, elements of writing craft and structure, how to seek and use feedback, and the publication process. This book will prove invaluable for the writer mindset, with transformative advice on using envy to fuel your own work, finding a writing community, and literary citizenship. Editors and teachers will discover nuts and bolts of what they “already know” and elevate their students’ work while refining their own methods.

You’ll laugh. You’ll write. You’ll finish your book, with Seven Drafts on your side.

Praise for Seven Drafts

“Like a friend privately taking you aside, delivering the honest truth you need, in a way that makes you enthusiastic to keep on going, even when the work gets very hard.” —Jane Friedman, publishing expert and author of The Business of Being a Writer

“…understands at a molecular level what makes prose work.” —Christopher Buehlman, author of The Blacktongue Thief

“…crucial, clear, and inside-secret information…to elevate our grammar, style, and storytelling with precision and joy.” —Diane Zinna, author of The All-Night Sun