Tips for revising efficiently

Criminal justice author M.L Dantzker, who just completed the third edition of one of his books, said that revising can be almost more difficult than writing fresh if you are not properly prepared. He shares some tips for revising efficiently:

• Start collecting potential information for the next edition immediately.
• Prior to beginning the revision, prepare all potential new information by chapter. That is, put information in "time or topic order" and already have an idea where it fits in the revision.
• Be sure to have the most current data, info, sources, etc.
• Request the previous edition on CD or disk from the publisher.
• Try to add at least one new chapter and edit out all older materials, don't just keep adding information on top of what is already there.
• Work on one chapter at a time.

Carol J. Buck, author of Step-by-Step Medical Coding, said her most useful revision technique is to keep a copy of the text exclusively for revisions. Throughout the publishing cycle, said Buck, she places all intented revisions, ideas, errata, thoughts, and input from others directly into the pages of that text. Then, when the manuscript arrives, she can easily place the revisions into the pages. "It helps me remember a lot of details that I would probably forget otherwise," she said.