Editing Published Books

Coffee and cookies on table with book in the background and the post's title, "Editing Published Books" superimposed on the front.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of my favorite things about self-publishing is the ability to go back into a published book and make changes.

There have been, unfortunately, a few things that I would like to correct in some of my published Penguin books. Naturally, I don’t have the ability to make those because they’re not in my KDP dashboard.

But with my self-published books, I’ve made quite a few changes to the text.

One reason I might go back in is what you’d expect…correcting typos or small formatting issues.

Another is updating my back matter, especially my list of published books. I’ll update the book titles and link each title to a page on my website (this prevents problems later. Linking to Amazon, for instance, will cause the title to be rejected by Apple and other retailers). Sometimes my bio requires a tweak. Sometimes I’ll add a new social media channel, like Instagram, or end my presence on another. All of those things would make me want to update a book’s back matter.

As formatting options for the self-published author improve, I’ll also return to a book to change the book’s style (more on how I do that in this post). Wanting small flourishes like drop-caps or styled chapter headings may make me update a book file.

Sometimes I’ll add links to new things that I’m doing for promo: maybe a link to my Etsy store or to Patreon.  Once I started a newsletter, I quickly added a link to the signup page in backlist books.

As far as updating the file goes, I’ve done my best to keep it simple.  In the past, I tried editing the mobi and epub files themselves.  I used a program called Calibre. It worked, but it was definitely a hassle. A lot of tech-savvy writers use Sigil with good results. For me, I simply updated the original Word file and then converted it to mobi and epub through Draft2Digital.

It’s worth noting that if you’re making extensive revisions to a published book (for example, updating a technical nonfiction book) that change more than 10% of the content, you should consider getting a new ISBN and changing the edition number of the book. (Version 1.1, for example).

Although I try to make each book as perfect as I (and a team of helpers) can make it, sometimes corrections and additions need to be made. It’s great that, in this digital age, we can continue making our books better.

For more reading on this subject:
Jodie Renner on whether we should make extensive revisions of an older book
Joel Friedlander on updating an ebook after publication. 

Do you ever change previously-published books?  What prompts you to make changes…and how do you make them?

Editing published books: Click To Tweet

photo via VisualHunt

Elizabeth Spann Craig

View posts by Elizabeth Spann Craig
Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series (as Riley Adams) and the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin and writes the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She also has a blog, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. There she posts on the writing craft, finding inspiration in everyday life, and fitting writing into a busy schedule.

20 Comments

  1. Natalie AguirreNovember 6, 2017

    I haven’t self-published or published anyway yet, so haven’t done this. I can see how adding new books and social media sites you are would be good marketing reasons to go back and revise a book.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      It definitely helps! And somehow it’s very satisfying making these updates.

  2. Alex J. CavanaughNovember 6, 2017

    My publisher offered me the chance to updated my first book, specifically the print version. Yes, there were some content changes. (I write so much better now.) I think they also update the front and back content of the eBooks now and then.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      This is the difference between a smaller press and one of the Big Five! Such a good reason to consider going with a smaller, indie publisher.

  3. L. Diane WolfeNovember 6, 2017

    I recently updated five of our eBooks, adding links and other material. I have a couple more on the list to do, too. I also have one print book I need to update (my own) and that one will cost me to do so.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      The only bad thing about this is that it’s a never-ending chore, although not one that has to be done too often.

      I update my own print books (not the ones for Penguin, of course)…again, uploading the updated Word file to Draft2Digital and choosing their PDF option.

  4. Margot KinbergNovember 6, 2017

    I couldn’t possibly agree with you more about the ability to go back and edit self-published work, Elizabeth! I’ve done that a few times with some of my stuff, and it’s great. Not only does one get the chance to correct mistakes, but one also can add in new information, a new author ‘photo, and so on. It’s straightforward to do it, too, if a bit time-consuming.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      There are never enough hours in the day, are there? You’re right–easy to do. Takes a bit of focused time. And I *do* have to focus, because if I lose my place, it takes that much longer to get it done.

  5. Pat HattNovember 6, 2017

    Sure a great thing to be able to do, especially when we learn more as we go, but time consuming indeed.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      It is. It helps to keep back matter in a special folder in your computer and then just update it with every book. Then it’s a simple copy-paste (at least, for *that* part of the updating. Typos, etc., still have to be searched out).

  6. Carol KilgoreNovember 6, 2017

    There are some things I would like to change on some books, but I haven’t. I’m sure I probably will at some point, but they don’t bug me enough yet :)

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      There’s never enough time, is there? At least you know you can make changes whenever you’re ready. :)

  7. Jemi FraserNovember 6, 2017

    Being able to update the backmatter is a real bonus to self-publishing :)

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 6, 2017

      One of many excellent parts of being an independent author. :)

  8. Hilary Melton-ButcherNovember 7, 2017

    Hi Elizabeth – thanks … once again an informative article – can see the advantages of updating some parts of the books and correcting odd things if necessary – cheers Hilary

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 7, 2017

      It can definitely be useful to do some updating. Hope you have a great week!

  9. Deborah Nam-KraneNovember 7, 2017

    I’ve fantasized about having my new editor take a pass at my first book, but just the thought of it makes me freeze :-) Backmatter I know I have to address, but it’s something that’s made me fantasize about some kind of plug-and-play widget we could put into the file and then update in one place for all books.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 8, 2017

      I would *love* such a widget. In a way, Draft2Digital has something similar: https://www.draft2digital.com/faq/

      “What is Automated End-matter?

      A book’s end-matter is a powerful tool for aiding authors in discoverability and even marketing. As an author’s catalog of books continues to grow, it can become challenging to keep end-matter up to date. Draft2Digital’s automated end-matter will update content such as the author bio, publisher bio, copyright information, and useful marketing tools such as book Teasers and Also By pages. By opting into automated end-matter, you only have to enter information once, and it can be included in all of your books automatically, and updated every time you make a change.”

      But do I use this option? No. I like to make things complicated. :) But also, I distribute my books through a variety of different aggregators and so I just put the back matter in, myself, to be consistent. I wish *all* the aggregators had this option.

  10. Stephen TrempNovember 7, 2017

    hi Elizabeth, I think many of us can relate. My revisions to my four books are finished although the Breakthrough series could use a more professional formatting.

    1. Elizabeth Spann CraigNovember 8, 2017

      I’m sounding like an ad for Draft2Digital today (and I don’t have any affiliation), but you could run your Word file through their formatter and see if you like the results. Here’s how: https://beta.elizabethspanncraig.com/6388/templates/

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