Is Editing A Published Work Possible?

KittenEV

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Hi all. So a little back ground first for context. I self published through amazon about 2 years ago now. During that time, I have sold a few ((probably not even breaking 50)) copies of my book. And I did the whole process leading up to it (( editing the manuscript myself, sending it to an actual editor, doing the cover art, etc)) and all the while there was a nagging feeling that the ending was rushed. I was told by the editor that it was fine ((but I later learned that that editor wasn't that great)). A few people have reviewed the book ((like 5)) and only 2 have mentioned that the ending did indeed feel a bit rushed. And I think the reason why goes to what I kept reading over and over again on the internet, debut novels shouldn't be over 100,000 words. I read that that means that an author doesn't know how to edit and 'trim the fat'. So I think I rushed it to stay below that mark.

Now, I'm conflicted. I want to go back and pace the ending a bit better, but its published. I know that because its amazon I can literally just upload an edited version of the manuscript at any point and then that becomes my book on the site, but legitimately is editing a published work allowed? Is it a thing that authors sometimes do or is it frowned upon? Not a lot of people have read the book, but to those that have, is it fair to change the end a bit?

Need a little bit of help and guidance. Thanks in advance.
 

Cephus

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If you want to, go ahead. Release a second edition. It happens all the time.
 

AW Admin

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Moving this to Self-Publishing from BWQ.
 

KittenEV

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If you want to, go ahead. Release a second edition. It happens all the time.

Do second editions usually have such a substantial edit to them? Also, would I continue to sell the first edition as well as the second or just move it all over to the second edition?
 

Cephus

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Do second editions usually have such a substantial edit to them? Also, would I continue to sell the first edition as well as the second or just move it all over to the second edition?

I know someone whose first book was absolutely terrible. He did pretty much everything wrong, put up an essentially unpublished manuscript that had errors on almost every page, a terrible cover, etc. He put out a couple more books thereafter and each of them were better than the last. He was really embarrassed by what he'd done so he completely re-wrote the first couple of books and released them as second editions. Amazon is going to make you take the first edition down and you'll lose all of the reviews and sales (which is often a good thing in these situations), but you'll get a brand new 30-day boost and so long as you're honest that this is a second edition for a book that once sold under a different name or a different link, you should be fine. It's ultimately all about transparency.

You can also just overwrite the original book with the new one. You won't get any perks doing it that way, but you still have to be honest about what you've done and you don't lose any of the reviews or sales. It's really up to you. You just can't have both versions up at that same time.
 

Woollybear

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Do second editions usually have such a substantial edit to them? Also, would I continue to sell the first edition as well as the second or just move it all over to the second edition?

So I needed to make very minor corrections to my uploaded/released SP Amazon copy. (The formatting went funny halfway through and there was a slight issue on the information page up front). Everyone said that those changes do NOT count as a new edition.

I've also seen authors publish different versions of the same story under different titles, e.g. The Sword of Aldones is an early ("bad" the author says, but I liked it OK) version that forms part of a later work. She wanted to salvage the story, so she re-wrote it and the re-write is part of Sharra's Exile. In that case, the titles are two separate books, but if you read both you can see that the first is included in the second. Both books are available as their own book. So this is the other extreme.

What you suggest sounds like the exact reason for a second edition. But you have options. You can re-write it altogether and put it out as a new book, and even promote it as showing the growth of your craft.
 

Yawn of Death

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From my viewpoint, every book is like part of your writing resume. If you feel you were rushed, and can produce a better ending that will improve readers’ opinions of your work and showcase your true abilities then, under the circumstances you described, I'd go for it. The upgraded version of your book could make more readers eager to read your other work as well, rather than maybe feeling iffy about the ending.

Depending on the extent of the changes you make, you might call it a revised edition rather than a full on second edition, though I've heard the difference between the two is mostly subjective. If you only want readers to see the new and improved version on Amazon, you could upload the replacement version like you said, and add a line to the blurb clarifying that it's a revised or second edition. Goodreads makes it easy to add a second edition onto your book on their site, too, and then it looks like all of the reviews stay linked. I don't know if it applies to you, but Kobo can link reviews if you ask them, and B&N says they do it automatically in 72 hours, though with Chapters/Indigo the reviews are unfortunately lost.

(Heartless has a great cover, by the way.)
 

Laer Carroll

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From my viewpoint, every book is like part of your writing resume. If you feel you were rushed, and can produce a better ending that will improve readers’ opinions of your work and showcase your true abilities then, under the circumstances you described, I'd go for it. The upgraded version of your book could make more readers eager to read your other work as well, rather than maybe feeling iffy about the ending.
Quite right. Also, remember that your career is likely to be years long. Every book you publish will kickstart buys of all your previous books. You want the oldest to also put your best foot forward.

I want to emphasize that your older books, which you thought had reached all their audiences, may often surprise you by begin selling again.