By Moira Murphy, Emoon Author

There will come a time when you have to just… let go. Let go of your manuscript in more ways than one. I say that like it’s an easy thing to do, which I can attest that it is not. After a second round of beta readers (if you so choose) and many, many editing sessions late at night, you have to come to a consensus with yourself that it’s time to be done. I came to this point last week. I did my final rounds of skimming the pages, searching for any changes it should need, and had a feeling of completion.

“I’m done.” I thought to myself. A year and a half after my little adventure began, I was finished. Can this be? Surely, there must be something I’ve missed or an improvement to make. Well, there probably is, but I think there will always be something to add or take away or change, and as an author you have to end it at some point. Your book will never be perfect—to you. I can assure you that even the greatest of writers, will take a look at their already published work and see something that could have made it better. That thought will never leave, years and years of rewrites will not change that.

After staring at Wiklow for over a year, it’s almost as if I can’t see what needs changing anymore. Even a simple comma or period escapes my eyes; I am blind to my own book. The story is complete and perfect in my head, but making the words equate to my imagination is impossible. All I can do is my best, and that is far from perfect.

So, last week I sent my manuscript off to the editors after an internal monologue of—what if I change that one part? I should switch the ending. That character needs more developing, etc. But, I came to a point where I knew I could do no more. I became blind to my own work. Therefore, I knew it was time to send it off to capable hands.

I want to thank you all for listening to me rant about the publishing process on Emoon’s website this last month or so. It’s been helpful to me and I hope it’s been helpful to you, too.