Why Can’t I Have My Book Out Next Month?

 

We live in a want-it-now, get-it-now culture. Cell phones, DVRs, and eBooks have put everything we want at our fingertips. Book retailers like Amazon and Smashwords have programs that allow writers to upload a manuscript and start selling it as an eBook right away. So it comes as a surprise to many first-time authors that it will take an average of six to nine months for their book to be published. Keep in mind these timeframes are for self-publishing or hybrid publishing, not for traditional publishing, which can take two or three times longer. The timeframe for your book may vary—we see some books published in four and a half to five and a half months.

Editing: The editing of the book is the most important, and also the most time-consuming, part of the publishing process. Editorial can take anywhere from one month to six months depending on the intensity of editorial needed. Proofreading and/or copyediting generally have quick turnaround times, while line and developmental editing will take much longer.

Design & Formatting: The design and formatting steps can vary greatly depending on how much design is being done and the type. Getting illustrations done for your book will add a lot of time onto the design process. Whereas just having a cover designed may only take about two weeks or so. Having the interior of your book formatted will also vary a lot depending on the elements of the book (photos, graphics, etc.), but plan on a couple of weeks.

Proofing & Advance Review Copies: You should receive a printed proof of your book to review after the design and formatting is done. Take your time and review it to make sure everything looks good, and submit any changes. After this time you’ll get a set of advance review copies for you to send to book reviewers to get early feedback on your book, submit to people you’d like to get endorsements from, or use for any advance marketing efforts. They may or may not have the final cover on the book. Plan on a month or two of getting feedback from sending out the advance review copies.

Revisions: After you have gotten feedback from sending out your advance review copies, you may work with your editor to go back and make some revisions to the book.

Marketing: Many of your marketing and promotional preparations can be done during other steps in the publishing process, such as the building of your website and setup of your social media. Marketing is an on-going task that never ends once the book is published.

You really don’t want to rush any of these steps—they’re all critical to publishing a successful book. If you rush a step such as editorial, and put out a book that has mistakes, in the long run you could create more work and lost time (and expenses) for yourself in having to go back and make corrections. So while you may be rushing to get the book out because your friends are dying to read it, tell them it will be worth the wait!

Building a Good Author/Illustrator Relationship

Laura Kajpust
Graphic Designer

Whether you are an author looking for an illustrator or an illustrator hoping to draw someone’s newest book, the last thing either of you want is for the project to end with stress, resentment, or more problems than it’s worth. Having a good author/illustrator relationship is important, especially if you’re creating a series and want to keep the same look. Spending time with each new book trying to find an artist to replicate the original style because the relationship fell apart isn’t a good use of time or resources!

So how can you start a relationship off right? Here are some things to keep in mind:

The contract is CRUCIAL. Always have a contract. Always. Even if the artist is your friend, a contract is the only thing that will protect you in case things go wrong. A good contract should detail the scope of the work, how the work is going to be used, who owns the rights, and deadlines for both the work and payment—and also what happens if one party cancels the project, fails to complete the project, or fails to pay. Remember that the contract is intended to protect BOTH parties. The author is worried about getting what they paid for and having their expectations met, while the artist worries about getting paid and receiving credit.

If the contract is written solely in the interest of one party at the start, this lopsided favoritism will inevitably create friction with the other involved. Don’t be afraid to negotiate and explain why you feel changes to the contract should be made. If the other party isn’t willing to compromise or even discuss the issue, that’s a good indicator that they may not be someone you want to work with.

No payments should be sent and no work should be started until a contract is signed.

Remember respect. If your artist doesn’t feel like you value or respect them or their work, it’s going to affect how they work with you. Likewise, an author who doesn’t feel respected will begin to resent the artist.

It is extremely easy to forget how much of a skill illustration is. It took the artist years and years to get to the point they are now. You are hiring them because they are bringing something to your project you can’t do yourself. Please be sure that what you pay reflects the ability they’re offering you. Keep this in mind with artists fresh out of school, too—you may be tempted to use them because they will offer a lower price, but remember their inexperience. They might have no idea how much work a children’s book is until they do it and only at the end realize they should have been paid more and feel undervalued. So if they offer you an extremely low price, make sure you communicate clearly and the artist understands what they’re getting into before either of you begin.

Set clear expectations. If your artist does not explain their process, make sure you ask them to. When do you get to request changes—before a page is finished, after the initial sketch, or at the very end? What kind of changes might incur an extra cost? How long will each page take them? How often will the artist keep you updated on progress—every week? Once a month? Are they okay with you asking for an update? How much are they expecting you to be involved? Some artists prefer to get all the information in the beginning and then be left to their own devices, while others like to get continuous feedback from the author as they go. Knowing what your artist prefers—and what way you prefer—is important to working together successfully. Also, what kind of feedback are they expecting from you? All of these questions should be addressed before either of you sign a contract.

The clearer both of you are with how you anticipate and explain how the relationship will work, the better off you will be. Maintaining professionalism is also a key aspect of keeping the project going strong. This doesn’t mean that you can’t be friendly, just that neither party should let themselves be walked over by the other. An author should feel comfortable enough to tell the artist they got something wrong or don’t like something. Likewise, an artist should feel comfortable enough to tell the author when they don’t think a change is a good idea and why. Both should go in having the correct expectation for collaboration.

Remember the project! At the end of it all, you’re both in it for the project. Both of you are bringing it to life, adding what skills you have to offer to create something great. As always, communication is everything, but don’t let personal feelings distract you from doing your best.

Authors, your artist may be as nervous to work with you as you may be with them.

Artists, the author is worried about whether or not you’ll take good care of their “baby”!

You’re both creative people, but your skill sets are different. That’s what can make an author/illustrator relationship great! Stay on the same page, communicate, look out for each other’s best interests…and do the best you can. With a little bit of teamwork, you’ll do just fine and come out with a great book. And, hopefully, a relationship that’s solid for the next one!

Book Buying Trends, Part I

Kristyn Iodice
Book Publicist 

We recently launched a survey to help us identify book buying trends among readers. Many of you requested insight into the responses that we received, and we are happy to deliver! Below is Part I of the results from our book buying survey released in the spring. The results are based on eighty-seven responses from people ages sixteen to eighty. If you have not completed our survey and would like to contribute, please do so here: http://bit.ly/BookBuyingSurvey.

As you can see, people are still buying books! Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see the sales you want right away. Continue to focus on targeted marketing that will increase awareness of your book!

From this survey, Science Fiction, Young Adult, and Historical Fiction took the lead, with Mystery/Horror and Memoirs/Autobiographies following closely behind. Among the “Other” answers were World Literature, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Christian, Academic, and Classics.

People discover new titles in a variety of places. Book readers who participated in this survey informed us that recommendations from friends is the number one way that they discover new books. This should serve as an indicator of how influential word-of-mouth is, so it is important to provide your readers with the best quality product to increase the chances of them recommending your title to somebody they know. In-store and online browsing were the next most popular way that participating readers come across titles. Having a captivating cover, an abundance of good reviews, and increased availability will allow your title to compete in the bookstore arenas. Social media and book reviewers also hold clout with many of our survey participators. “Other” book discovery avenues include the library, Kindle browsing, Amazon recommendations, and advertisements in literary publications.

I believe this is one of the most important questions asked. It is incredibly beneficial for authors to understand the influential factors about their book that will sway a buyer. The top two factors are reviews and the content of your text. I cannot stress enough how important reviews are to persuading buyers; the more Amazon reviews you have, coupled with regular sales, will afford you with increased visibility to potential buyers. Second, having content that effectively reaches your target audience will impact their buying decision when it comes to your book. So, I recommend developing a strong pitch, understanding your value proposition, and knowing your audience in order to reach potential buyers.

The cover and price of books also determine purchasing decisions. Invest in a professionally designed book cover. You want your reader to take your book and you as an author seriously. With so much competition within the book industry from both traditionally published and self-published titles, a well-designed cover will help you stand out in the crowd. Equally important is pricing your book competitively with similar titles in your genre. Don’t price your book for immense profit, price it to sell! This will benefit your sales in the long run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine-tune your marketing strategy

Ian Douglas
Marketing Coordinator

The world of marketing remains in constant motion. Techniques and strategies that once dominated the industry have become obsolete. Either drowned in the tide of ever-evolving online middlemen or buried beneath the sands of social media content and Internet bylaws. We have already seen the rise and fall of several social media and search engine empires, once hallmarks of the business world, now all but forgotten.

Google now reigns supreme as arbiter of the virtual world, so the best course of action is to learn what Google wants and plan the rest of your strategy around that. The nature of how Google itself works is in constant flux; the algorithms the information behemoth uses are constantly being altered to target different forms of information in different ways. The result is no one can game the system for too long. One must maintain a constant awareness of the changes that are taking place in the Internet world or risk being left in the dust.

As daunting as this all may seem, there are some constants to which authors can adhere that will greatly increase your chances of success. The first thing to remember in a world inundated with social media posts is that e-mail is still king. It is important to not favor one over the other, find a way to synergize email and social media networks so that they support each other and cover a wider range of current or potential clientele.

Marketing is a game of inches. This, above anything else, has remained constant in the business world since people started buying and selling things to each other. There are few “Hail Mary” marketing tactics that actually work. Your marketing strategy should be composed of small, carefully calculated steps—a reaction to measured analytics, fine-tuned trial and error. Remember, if you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing. Brainstorm ways to push content and pull a response from your target audience.

Content specificity is key. Let your audience know that you are an expert in your field. What do you know that they don’t? What do you have access to that they don’t? Originality isn’t always required, but relevance and intrigue is. Remember that less is more; focus the scope and wording of your message to have maximum impact with as few words as possible.

Winning the battle of priorities requires good subject lines for e-mail and social media. You have two seconds to grab someone’s attention with two words, today! People scrolling through hundreds of social media posts or scanning the sea of e-mails on their phones will put off or completely disregard you if you can’t prove your worth in two seconds or less. Create a sense of urgency, stress the importance of what you have to say, or risk being drowned out and forgotten.

The average person will subconsciously sort their e-mail into three categories depending on the criteria of the subject line. Some e-mails are opened immediately, some are put aside for later, and some are deleted. The major contributing factors to this decision are the who, what, and when of the e-mail. Who is it from? (How do people know you?) What is the subject? And when did you send it?

Nothing accompanies a great subject line like an image or graphic. Studies have shown that pictures get forty-seven percent more click-through activity than content without images. As with most things, balance is key; don’t rely too heavily on images alone, and make sure they are there to support and complement the existing material. Ensure that all your images are clickable and are linked exactly to where you want your clients to go. Presenting people with too many options will lead to lack of interest and a lost customer.

Treat reviews as currency. Reviews are the unofficial currency of the Internet, and the more positive reviews you can cultivate, the better. It is important to remember that negative reviews have a much greater impact than positive. Make sure you are constantly monitoring what people are saying about you and responding immediately to minimize damage done by negative reviews. If people see a negative review go unaddressed for an extended period of time, they will assume you don’t care, making whatever undesirable remarks were made that much more powerful.

Never stop fine-tuning your content and strategy for maximum marketability and impact.

Legal Counsel for Authors

Angela DeCaires
Publishing Director 

 

There are so many things to think about when you set out to publish a book. As a writer, you’re worried about the plot, the characters, or the advice and information you’re providing, and maybe the book’s cover…will readers like my work? Will anyone buy my book? Will I make any money? As the publisher of that book, your concerns start to shift…how can I market this book? What social media sites are best for my genre? What retailers would I like to see my book sold through? What is the printing cost per book? My colleagues and I field lots of different questions, but the questions and concerns we don’t see self-publishing authors deal with enough are legal concerns.

There are many legal issues an author should be concerned about, and if not dealt with prior to publication, they could mean hassle and expense down the road. Here are some of them:

Let’s start with the content of the manuscript. We frequently meet authors who are writing a memoir and don’t think they need to be concerned about legal ramifications because they’re “writing about their life, and it’s all true.” But if your book has anything in it about someone else—be it a company, former colleague, or even a family member—that could be viewed as negative or unflattering, you may find yourself in a legal dispute. Even if you don’t think what you’ve said in your book is “bad,” it’s not about how you view it, it’s about how the other party views it. Whenever possible, avoid negative or unflattering statements. And get other parties’ permission to write about them in your book. Always be thinking about how outsiders will view the content of your manuscript.

Are you using photos, graphics, or text that is not your original material? Doing this without permission can lead to legal action against you by the rights holder of that material. All too often we see manuscripts that have pictures taken off the Internet or material quoted from a song, book, or website without written permission to use the material. You may think it’s not a big deal, that you’re only quoting a few sentences, or a few song lyrics, or just using one picture you found on the Internet, but if someone decides to start legal proceedings against you, it will be a big deal. Using a professional editor will help to identify issues of concern in your manuscript, but in many cases you should also have a lawyer review the manuscript, especially one who specializes in copyright/trademark law and/or has expertise in handling libel or slander cases.

Now your manuscript is going to a publishing company. Are they asking you to sign a contract? There are lots of pieces you’ll need to pay attention to. How long does it lock you in for? Is it for just this first book, or do you have to use them for future books? Who will retain the rights to the material and the final book files? Who pays for what? Who is responsible for doing what (marketing, distribution, etc.)? What is the royalty scenario when copies of the book sell? We always recommend that an author have the contract reviewed by a lawyer before they sign anything. Be sure that if you do sign a contract, the terms benefit you, not just the publishing company.

If you have a third party provide services to you in the publishing of the book, such as cover design or illustration, be sure that you have written agreements between you and the other party. Outline the work to be done, the timeline, the fee structure, the use of the material after it is completed, and who owns the work/files. Work for hire documents are critical, but in some cases you may also need an agreement transferring the copyrights of the material from the other party to you.

Time to sell the book. Are you selling it under your personal name or under a business name? Do you have the necessary paperwork in place? Many writers come up with a company name and place it in their book—their own “publishing company”—but we discover that it is not a legal, registered business. Did you file that business as an LLC or corporation? Do you have a tax ID number? Have you consulted with a tax professional about how to handle reporting royalties and collecting sales tax when you sell copies of your book? The last thing you want is to deal with the IRS when you should be busy promoting your book.

My advice? Always be thinking about how you can protect yourself, in every step of the process. When it comes to possible legal risks, it’s better to over-think the scenarios and how they will play out than to just assume everything will work out okay or that it won’t matter because “they may never even see the book.” Assume everyone, everywhere will buy and read your book, then assess if you are prepared legally.

 

 

Publishing Children’s Books: It’s Not All Child’s Play

Angela DeCaires
Publishing Director

You’ve decided to write a children’s book. Wonderful! Children’s books are one of the most fun genres to publish, but can also be a very challenging genre in the publishing industry.

With new children’s books entering the marketing daily, there is a lot of competition. Walk into any bookstore, or search online, and you’ll see just how many titles your book will have to fight against for attention. Because of the high costs of production and publication, it’s often not profitable to publish a children’s book. But you can be a successfully published children’s book author, if you take time to learn more about the steps involved and your options.

An important first step, before you even write a single word of the book, is to identify your target audience. “Children,” you say. Not good enough. Girls? Boys? What ages? 2–5? 3–8? You have to be specific, because that will affect the writing and editorial process.

When writing, keep the target audience in mind. Are you writing with vocabulary they can understand? Are you keeping them engaged, or will they get bored? Will they want to read the book again, or toss it away after one reading? Your editor will assist you in determining this during the editorial process, and will make suggestions on word choice, flow, plot, and more.

Illustration is key to the success of your book. The trick is to have beautiful illustrations that didn’t break your budget in the process. Consider not having illustrations on every single page of the book. Or do a mix of some color and some black and white illustrations. Maybe find an art student who is looking for some experience in exchange for a reduced cost.

Printing is another area to budget wisely. Choose paperback over hardcover to cut costs. You may think it’s better to pay less per book by printing a lot of books, but what if you print hundreds of books that have a mistake in them? Better to print a small first run and make sure all the “kinks” are worked out before you commit to printing a large order of books.

Then of course there’s the marketing of the book, which will make or break the success of any book…but we’ll save that for another time!

Authors: Raise the Bar in Your Marketing!

Ian Douglas
Marketing Coordinator

Up your marketing game to sell more books!

As we near the half way point of 2014 several things become clear; it is an exciting time in the world of self-publishing and opportunities abound. As the self-publishing industry continues to grow and mature, it is important for authors to raise the bar alongside their publisher in order to stay competitive. The recent surge in growth of self-published authors has made it more important than ever to set yourself apart from the competition. The accompanying rise of eBooks on a global scale has further increased the volume and complexity of the indie book market, raising standards and increasing the need for quality control. Authors should strive to continuously educate themselves on how to produce the best possible product, as mediocrity is no longer a viable option.

While creating a quality publication takes a great deal of time and hard work, it is merely the tip of the iceberg in the grand scheme of becoming a successful author. Creating the right marketing strategy for your book is just as important as the quality of the book itself. Getting the word out about your book can seem like a daunting task at first. Where does one even start? Cultivating a professional presence online through social media should be a top priority on your list. Using social media properly enables you to connect to over a billion potential customers worldwide, giving you unlimited potential for growth.

Establishing a professional presence on the five main social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Linkedin and YouTube) is the first step you should take in your new online marketing endeavor. Having an organized and eye catching page for each of these sites will greatly increase the chances of it receiving traffic. Once you’ve established a page it’s time to establish yourself as part of the community. People don’t want to be marketed to directly, especially on social media. You must humanize yourself in the digital world before pushing a product onto someone. The best way to do this is to join like-minded communities and contribute to them without expecting anything immediately in return. Helping answer peoples questions, giving advice or even posting ‘how-to’ videos and articles will establish you as an actual member of the online community, gaining the trust and respect of those you interact with. Having people spread positive things about you on social media can be an incredibly effective marketing tool if you are targeting the right groups.

It is critical that you know your target audience, and once you’ve connected with them on social media you should be continuously analyzing the results of your interactions and adjusting your strategies accordingly. Get to know them by providing feedback, information, and resources. Be proactive in listening and responding to what people have to say, react quickly and appropriately. Demonstrate that you want to have a conversation with the audience rather than just maintaining a news feed.

Strategic keyword usage is crucial on all social media sites. Keywords and keyword optimized content make it easier for others to find you, allowing you to continually expand your reach within your target audience. Encourage interaction online by posting polls, asking questions and continuously adding compelling and diverse content. The online community values consistency, authenticity and transparency above all else, so make sure you are adhering to those three principles when building an online reputation.

Offering video content is important because it’s 53 times more successful than text for achieving optimal page placement on google as well as overall discovery. Studies have shown that 4 out of 10 shoppers visited a store and bought something as a direct result of watching a video. Brand each of your social media pages with a customized background to establish an image that displays your value proposition in a compelling manner. Establishing an image and online relationships will create brand advocates and evangelists who will spread the word for you. Driving meaningful interaction and establishing a quality network holds unlimited potential for your new business enterprise. With time and due diligence the results will speak for themselves.

Tis the Season for Book Releases!

Kristyn Iodice
Book Publicist

With the warm weather season beginning, many authors aim to have their books released within the next several months. One of the best ways to raise awareness and draw attention to your newest literary accomplishment is through a book launch event. Book launch events range in scale from simple in-home parties to elaborate catered events in a hotel ballroom. Understanding the goal of your launch event, the time you have to plan it, and setting a realistic budget will allow you to have a successful event regardless of the size!

Things to keep in mind when planning a launch event:
Time: We at BookLogix typically recommend that an author has their launch event just before the actual release of their book. In the past, when authors publically release their book before their release party, attendees purchased the book online prior to attending the event, and the author lost out on their most profitable sale—in person sales. Your royalty amount will be much higher if people purchase directly from you than from an online or physical retailer.
On the topic of time, give yourself at least two months to plan and prepare for your book launch event. Depending on the scale of the party, you will need time to find a location, set a date, make dining decisions, determine your guest list, create and send out invitations, and promote the event if necessary.

Budget: Create a budget for yourself that will help set parameters on your book launch event. Determine what the total cost you are willing to spend on your launch is, and then break that money into individual categories: rental space, food and drinks, entertainment, decorations, etc.

Location: The location of your launch should depend on several things: your budget, the number of guests you expect, where most of those guests live, the age range of your guests, themes in your book, etc. Get creative! If you can find a way to tie your location in to the setting of your book or a common theme in your book, you increase the chances of creating a fun and memorable evening for your guests. *If you plan to have an outdoor event, be sure to have a contingency plan in case of bad weather!

Guests: Guest lists will typically include family, friends, and colleagues. You will also want to consider the content, topic, and genre of your book when determining your guest list. If you have written a business/resource book, it would be beneficial for you to invite business professionals, company executives, association leaders, etc. Your book launch event can be a great way to network and begin to build a buzz within certain groups.

Set the Expectation: When going into your launch event, it is important to keep the focus around you as the author and your book. Set up a prominent table that people must walk by as soon as they enter. Offer to sign books and encourage each reader to leave a review on Amazon once the book goes live. You can even have a postcard made with a direct link to your Amazon page, your social media pages, and your website. It is easy for people to lose focus on the purpose of an event when they are enjoying delicious food, fine drinks, and good conversation. Plan several moments throughout your event where you can bring the focus back to your book.

Anticipating Book Sales: Don’t print too many books. Determine the size of your guest list and then print accordingly. Remember that even though they have come out to your event, not every single person on your guest list is going to purchase the book. It is not a bad idea to have an order sheet in case you run out of books; you can simply take their information and ship a book out to them the following week.

Are you ready for your book release ? Join three of our experts on Saturday, May 10, 2014 for a free seminar to help prepare authors for book launches, media interviews, and other speaking engagements! Click here for details.

Citing – Part I: Why Use Citations?

Daren Fowler
Editor

Citing is a form of reference that is essential to many non-fiction books. To cite is to acknowledge that you are drawing on something or someone else to make your own claims and conclusions. However, many authors struggle to understand the purpose of a citation. What will a citation bring to my work? Here are three important reasons citations exist:

Giving Credit: If you come up with a brilliant way to be successful in business, would do want someone else to take that idea and not give you credit? I did not think so. The main purpose for citing is to give credit where credit is due. If you someone else’s ideas are foundational to your own, then it is important to acknowledge that. There is no shame in telling your reader that you did not come up with every idea under the sun. They already know that to be the case. Your reader came to you because they trust or value your perspective on the wealth of information already available.

Helping the Reader: One of the greatest gifts citations bring to writing is expanding conversations. To write a book is to enter yourself into a conversation—be it the history of person or how to navigate the healthcare industry. A citation tells your reader, “If you like this idea, go here for some further information.” Your book cannot cover everything; therefore, anything you think is valuable, but beyond the scope of your book, can be cited to help further expand your reader’s knowledge. Giving your reader this additional information will also engender their trust, because they will see you are invested in their overall understanding and well-being.

Legality: No one wants to be told they plagiarized something. It sounds like you stole something, that you did something illegal. The truth is, to not cite someone for their ideas is plagiarism, it is stealing and illegal. When someone writes down an idea, it gives copyright over those ideas. To use those ideas without permission and acknowledgement is illegal and can result in legal action. However, just because you cite something does not mean you are completely protected from legal action. Using a citation means you did not steal the ideas, but you generally still need permission to even use the ideas. The issue of permission is different for the type of book you are doing; each field of study has different expectations. Talk with your editor to determine what you need for your book.

When you are writing your book, ask yourself these questions. If you say yes to any of them, you probably need citations.

“Did I do any research to write this book?”

“Did I go on Wikipedia (or any other information aggregator)?”

“Did I copy and paste from a website, book, or copyrightable material?”

“Am I a novice, or untrained, in this field of study?”

“Am I summarizing a complicated or generally unknown concept that I did not originate?”

Citations may seem superfluous or you may think that your book contains only your ideas. However, to create non-fiction content, in many cases, is to expand, complicate, or challenge existing ideas. Ultimately, understanding the value of citations will make you a better writer, show your investment in the ongoing dialogue, and want your readers to succeed.

 

 

5 Tips for Strengthening Your Fiction Writing

Laura Kajpust
Graphic Designer

Written a story, but not sure it’s engaging enough? Here are some tips to strengthen your writing!

1. Remove unnecessary words and phrases. Look through your manuscript for words such as “that,” “just,” “so,” “then,” “a lot,” “very,” “really,” “seem,” “suddenly,” etc.
A good rule of thumb: if the sentence make sense without it, you don’t need it. Let your sentences get to the point!

2. Show emotion. A very common mistake writers make is telling the reader what characters are feeling instead of showing it.
“He could tell she was nervous” just doesn’t carry the same punch as “She avoided his gaze, focusing on the floor as she bit her lip.”
Your readers are smart; they’ll understand what you mean.

3. Remove “realizations.” Speaking of telling, beginner writers often narrate too much by writing things such as: “He realized,” “She saw,” “He wondered”… Try to reword your sentences without those phrases.
“She realized he was lying” is not as powerful as “He was lying.”
“He wondered if they had seen it coming. Probably not, he thought.” is not as strong as: “Had they seen it coming? No. Probably not.”
The more concise, the better. It brings readers straight into your character’s head with impact!

4. Pace effectively. Check for variety in your sentence length. When you want fast pacing, write short sentences. When you need to slow things down, your sentences can be more complex. It’s good to have a mix between slow and fast so readers can be engaged in action when they need to be, but also have moments to relax in more thoughtful paragraphs.

5. Know your tendencies. When reviewing your work, you may notice that you re-used the same words a lot. Vary it up! Find these “favorite” words and replace them with different words—ones that may be even more appropriate for the tone or moment.

Be thoughtful with your editing and spend the time on it that it deserves.
Good luck and happy writing!