Many writers, authors and marketing people, in recent years, have entered into the business of helping authors. Some of us, of course, have been working within the industry for a long time. But with the shaky economy and the huge new wave of authors coming on scene, more and more people without a lot of experience are offering various services to new authors. <\/p>\n
There are book shepherds, writing coaches, editorial assistants, marketing\/publicity people and ghostwriters, for example. Even traditional publishing houses are setting up self-publishing arms in order to help authors become published. There are fewer and fewer reasons for authors not to publish these days and more and more reasons why they can.<\/p>\n
Before you sign with an editor, publicity manager, publishing consultant or other author\u2019s helper, make sure that it is a good match. For example,<\/p>\n
\u2022\tHow do you know this person? If he or she has been recommended, if you have been following this person\u2019s career for a while, if you\u2019re impressed by the material this person creates on the topic, he or she may be worth pursuing.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tGet an example and an estimate before signing with a new editor, ghostwriter and even publishing consultant. But remember, less isn\u2019t always better. I had a hopeful author contact me once about editing her book. I gave her a quote. She decided to get quotes from others\u2014which isn\u2019t a bad idea, if you also check credentials. But the editor she chose for her manuscript quoted something like $300 to my $1,500 to edit her 200 page manuscript\u2014which, by the way, needed quite a bit of work. She boasted to me that the \u201ceditor\u201d could do the job in just a couple of hours, as opposed to my estimate of around 30 hours. Well, this author came back to me a few weeks later to tell me what a huge mistake she had made. She spent $300 for nothing more than a quick automatic spellcheck. Yes, there are scammers out to get even the hardworking, serious, diligent author. So beware. You will usually get what you pay for.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tAsk for references. Also check out the comments\/testimonials posted at the individual\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
\u2022\tDon\u2019t necessarily trust lists of qualified, reliable book shepherds, etc. Why? Many of them require payment in order to be included\u2014a fee is the criteria for inclusion, not qualifications.<\/p>\n
If you are currently seeking an editor or someone to help you with your book proposal, consider contacting me: PLFry620@yahoo.com. I have references. You\u2019ll find numerous testimonials on my websites. And I will provide a free evaluation and estimate for editing work.<\/p>\n
One thing I do NOT want you to do is to go out and seek a publisher or engage a pay-to-publish service without first hiring an editor. The results could be disastrous. <\/p>\n
Special offer for my blog followers: Send me your first three to five manuscript pages and I will do a FREE edit for you. What will this prove? You\u2019ll discover whether or not you like my editing style. This may also give you some guidelines for doing some serious self-editing before you actually send your manuscript to a qualified editor. This can save you money.<\/p>\n