When do you know when your book is ready for publication?
That’s a question clients often pose. My answer is when you’re happy with it. I advise my clients not to seek perfection because they can always tweak a word here and there in an endless and futile effort to achieve perfection.
Perfection doesn’t exist when it comes to literature. There’s always something that could be changed or improved. If you seek perfection, then you’ll never publish anything. Instead, I advise them, strive for excellence. Exellence tolerates the occasional error.
This attitude follows the 80% rule: 80% of a loaf of bread is better than 100% of no bread at all. This is also called the Pareto Principle: “This principle, grounded in the philosophy of efficiency and progress, emphasizes that achieving perfection isn’t always necessary or even attainable. Instead, aiming for 80% completion can lead to faster results, increased innovation, and a culture of agility. Often the finished product is better because you can test your concept and adapt.” (I worked with engineers for a long time, so a bit of what I’ve learned comes from them.)
Perfection is the enemy of accomplishment.
When it comes to proofreading, many authors have an unrealistic expectation of perfection: they do not want any errors in their manuscripts. That’s understandable, but not realistic. Professional proofreaders acknowledge that if they correct 95% of the errors, they’ve not only done their job, they’ve done it well. Obviously, 95% imposes much less tolerance for error than the Parteo Principle’s 80%, but then proofreading and editing are not the same.
If, after an editor has returned your manuscript, you still find errors, then consider the proportion of of lingering errors compared to the quantity of errors caught. You may indeed find the editor easily hit that standard of excellence, even if you find yourself correcting those remaining flaws. For instance, if your 100,000-word book manuscript had 5,000 errors and the editor caught 4,000 of them, then the editor did a pretty good job. If the editor caught 4,750 errors, then the editor did an exceptional job. (This is why I do not guarantee 100% error-free results in my contract for freelance editing.)
This does not account for the errors introduced during revision (authors do tend to make the same errors when revising or rewriting) or errors the author keeps for stylistic or other reasons. And, sometimes, what’s correct according to one style guide is incorrect according to another style guide.
All editors and proofreaders attempt to eliminate all errors. The operative word is attempt. They’re human, which means perfection cannot and will not be achieved despite their best efforts. They, too, could spend eternity tweaking your story long after reaching the point of diminishing returns.
Machines or software can’t achieve perfection either. As one wise colleague once said, “Software understands rules, not context.” Granted, AI is becoming better at understanding context, but even that leaves a lot of leeway for the introduction of errors.
Yes, editing software, no matter how robust, can and will introduce errors into your written content.
Flaws editing software cannot detect include slang, nuance, plot holes, inconsistencies, sequence errors, anachronisms, fallacies, and discrepancies. That’s where an editor proves his or her value: detecting the flaws that editing software cannot. This is also why I recommend authors either rigorously editor their work before turning it over to a professional editor and why I also urge them to use editing software to help correct the more egregious copy errors.
So, if you read any of my books, you’ll notice they’re not perfect. If you read any author’s book, you’ll notice it’s not perfect. Whether the flaw is a copy error (e.g., misspelled word, a word incorrectly used, a misplaced comma or apostrophe) or even something as subtle and as blatant as a character’s inconsistency of behavior, no story is perfect. Don’t strive for perfection, because you cannot attain it.
Instead strive for excellence. That we can all achieve.
