Week 13 of 13 · Phase 4: Assembly and Review

Final review. Manuscript complete.

Read it aloud. Check the word count. Write the subtitle. Format for your editor. Then mark the manuscript complete and unlock the publishing tiers.

The Assignment

Complete your final read-through and confirm the manuscript is ready for professional editing.

You are at the final week. This is the polish pass. The single most effective editing technique you have not used yet is reading the manuscript aloud. It catches awkward phrasing, run-on sentences, and passages that look fine on the page but do not actually flow when spoken.

Budget four to six hours for the read-aloud. Then check the word count, write your working subtitle, and prepare the file for your editor.

Word count target: Final manuscript target: 25,000 to 35,000 words.
The Framework

The Four-Step Final Review

  1. Read it aloud. Every word. Out loud. The most effective editing technique you have not used yet. Budget 4 to 6 hours.
  2. Check your word count. Your target is 25,000 to 35,000 words. If you are under 25,000, identify which teaching chapters need more depth or more examples. If you are over 35,000, identify which sections are over-explained and tighten them.
  3. Write your working subtitle. Your subtitle should communicate the specific promise or methodology. Format: [Benefit Statement]: [Methodology or Approach]. Examples: "The 6-Step System for Turning Expertise into Executive Presence" or "How [Method Name] Helps [Audience] Achieve [Outcome]."
  4. Prepare your manuscript file. Save as a Word document (.docx). Standard formatting: 12pt Times New Roman or Garamond, double-spaced, 1-inch margins, page numbers. Chapter titles as Heading 1. This is the file you will send to your editor.

When You Are Done

Click the Mark Week 13 Complete button below. That marks the curriculum complete and unlocks the publishing tiers in your dashboard. You will see The Publishing Sprint and Done-For-You Publishing side by side, with the IngramSpark distribution add-on available for either.

You will have a finished manuscript. You will be an author.

If You Get Stuck

Here is my complete Table of Contents with chapter summaries and my working subtitle: [paste]. Does the subtitle communicate the book's promise clearly? Does the Table of Contents tell a coherent story on its own?

Open Dave Open Paige
Completion Check
You are done when: You have a complete, formatted manuscript in .docx format. It is between 25,000 and 35,000 words. It has a working title and subtitle. Every chapter has been read aloud and revised. You are ready to send this to a professional editor.

You did it. You are an author.

Marking the manuscript complete celebrates the work, locks the curriculum, and unlocks the two publishing paths in your dashboard.

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