A few months later I recorded my audiobook, and as I read through the manuscript out loud, I was horrified. There were 100 tiny little mistakes and changes I only heard once I said them out loud. Not just spelling; there were very few of those. They were more word choice or phrasing mistakes. It drove me NUTS. Don’t make the mistake I made. Read your manuscript out loud, and mark changes as you go. If the words roll off your tongue, they’ll also flow smoothly in read- ers’ heads. Because I waited until so late in the process to read it out loud, it was too late to make edits to the book. Learn from my mistake and read your manuscript out loud and make your changes before you start the publishing process. If you find taking the time to sit and read out loud difficult (and a lot of authors do), we recommend having a friend help you out. If someone is sitting in the room with you, listening as you read through the manuscript, it’ll create the social pressure you need to actually do it. If it’s something you would say out loud, then it reads clearly on the page. If it’s something you would never say to another person, it won’t read as clearly. This sounds crazy, but it works. Paul Graham explains why: Ok, so written and spoken language are different. Does that make written language worse? If you want people to read and understand what you write, yes. Written language is more complex, which makes it more work to read. It’s also hOW TO EDiT yOUr BOOk · 167