Nice job on the video, Julie! Incredibly disturbing but I can tell you put a lot of work into it. I could never do anything like that. I can still barely get a handle on the Instagram 15 second video making! LOL You do not sound like you are from Illinois at all! Although I know I'm probably thinking more Chicago dialect then just mid western.
How much thought do you put into your summaries before you actually post them and how much does a summary play into whether or not you will click on it?
The summary is actually the hardest part of the whole story for me. I really try to come up with the right thing to say to make someone click on the story because I do not use banners as a way to entice people to read. I put a whole lot of thought into it before I'll post it on the site when it comes to my longer novels. The short ones, I usually just give the literal description of what to expect. lol
As far as reading, the summary is a pretty important factor for me in deciding whether or not to click. I am more prone to click on a story with no banner and a great summary than one with a banner and barely any summary. If your summary is loaded with typos and grammar errors, I run away!
What is your editing process like before you actually post your chapters? Do you have someone else read it before you post or do you self edit?
I am constantly editing as I write. I'll write about a page and then stop and go reread it, etc... very similar to how Julie said she does it, so that by the time I am ready to post it's pretty much ready to go but I usually wait a day or at least a half a day before I post so this way I can catch things I maybe missed the first ten million times I read through it, even then there are ALWAYS typos and mistakes I miss. Awhile ago, I used to send chapters to people to read before posting but that kind of stopped and now I just rely on me!
How much research do you tend to do before posting a story?
I probably do not do as much as I should. In fact, I'm going to call this one of my weaknesses. I mean it really depends on the story though. When I know nothing about what I'm writing, I do research to get a grip. I made sure I went online and learned about fly fishing before I centered my entire story around it, and before giving Brian PTSD I made sure I read a lot about that and for Whatever the Night, I did a lot of research about the science behind alternate universes (yup it's out there lol) But for simple things, like the boys tours, albums, relatives etc... I admit I am kind of lax with that stuff. LOL