{"id":508,"date":"2009-05-13T13:14:59","date_gmt":"2009-05-13T21:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=508"},"modified":"2009-05-13T13:16:27","modified_gmt":"2009-05-13T21:16:27","slug":"yes-you-do-need-an-editor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/publishingblog\/?p=508","title":{"rendered":"Yes, You Do Need an Editor"},"content":{"rendered":"

I just finished compiling another issue of the SPAWN Market Update <\/em>for the member area of the SPAWN website. That\u2019s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network, http:\/\/www.spawn.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In so doing, I had occasion to check publishers\u2019 guidelines, their announced calls for submissions and their press releases telling about some innovative new publishing options for authors. Guess what I read in these documents over and over and over again: <\/p>\n

\u201cSend your completed manuscript ONLY after it has been professionally edited.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yup, this bit of advice can make the difference between a contract and a rejection letter. And it often does. <\/p>\n

You hear that publishers will run accepted manuscripts through their editorial departments before sending them to the printers. And you interpret this to mean that you don’t have to hire an editor. Not so. Most publishers have specific editorial requirements and they want their stable of editors to make sure your excellent manuscript conforms. Sometimes a manuscript will get just a good proofreading. When my publishers \u201cedit\u201d my manuscripts, they generally make very few changes, but they will often catch a little something that we missed. <\/p>\n

When I edit a manuscript for a client, I like to go through it at least twice. And this is after they have gone through it numerous, numerous time\u2014looking at it from all possible angles and checking for all possible problems. It doesn’t hurt to also have another good editor or talented proofreader give it a look over.<\/p>\n

Here are some of the things your savvy editor will look for when editing your almost perfect manuscript:<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSpacing<\/strong>. It is now one space between sentences, not two! <\/p>\n

\u2022\tPunctuation<\/strong>. Are you using quotation marks and single quotes correctly? Are you creating the em dash correctly? What about commas and exclamation points? Do you place them only where they need to be? <\/p>\n

\u2022\tApostrophes<\/strong>. A common problem I see in manuscripts is the use of apostrophes. Does the apostrophe go before the \u201cs\u201d or after? Is there an apostrophe in 1990s? This is elementary, yet way too many authors do not get it right.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tHyphens, etc<\/strong>. Do you know when it is two words, one word or a hyphenated word? Many authors are inconsistent in this area. For example, they write heartbreaking<\/em> on page 12, heart breaking <\/em>on page 76 and heart-breaking <\/em>on page 101.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tCapitalization<\/strong>. Do you know when to capitalize Mom, Father, etc. and when not to? Have you been consistent in your capitalization of special words you\u2019ve used in your story or nonfiction book?<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSpelling<\/strong>. Have you triple checked your spelling? Are you consistent in the way you spell names and other specialized words you\u2019ve chosen for your book?<\/p>\n

\u2022\tSpell check errors<\/strong>. Have you checked for misused and extra words leftover when you\u2019ve made changes? These can be really hard to catch. Maybe you changed someone\u2019s name along the way\u2014did you remember to make that change in all places? I meet authors every week or so who miss things like this in their manuscripts.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tClarity<\/strong>. Are your sentences tight, clear and necessary to your nonfiction book or your story? Is there enough explanation? Could someone from Mars read this sentence or paragraph and comprehend it? Be careful here. Often, folks who engage in muddy
\nwriting don\u2019t recognize the mud in the writing. This is another good reason to hire an editor.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tRepeated words<\/strong>. I see authors using the same words in sentences and paragraphs more often than you can imagine. And it makes them seem so amateurish when they do this. For more interesting reading, vary your use of words throughout the manuscript.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tVoice.<\/strong> The active voice is much preferred the majority of the time over the passive voice. And most authors know this. But do you recognize when using the passive voice has become a bad habit? Most authors do not.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tTense<\/strong>. Will you write your story using past or present tense? Decide and then be consistent. It can take an editor a great deal of time to correct your misrepresentations of tense throughout your story.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tReadability<\/strong>. Have you used common words that anyone can understand? <\/p>\n

\u2022\tClich\u00e9s<\/strong>. Have you avoided the use of too many clich\u00e9s? Readers (and publishers) want to \u201chear\u201d that fresh voice coming through, not old, worn out phrases. <\/p>\n

\u2022\tQualifiers<\/strong>. Avoid using too many instances of \u201cvery\u201d and \u201creally\u201d in your nonfiction book or novel. These qualifier words tend to weaken rather than strengthen your statements.<\/p>\n

\u2022\tThe right word<\/strong>. Are you clear as to which is correct: whose or who\u2019s; then or than; your or you\u2019re; to, too or two; it, its, it\u2019s; there, their or they\u2019re, for example. Often we know the right word, but inadvertently use the wrong one. An editor can help you clean up this sort of mess.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve just created a nice checklist for you to follow the next time you edit your manuscript. But keep in mind that these are some of the things that a good editor will catch probably even after you have spent hours editing<\/p>\n

She (or he) will also help you to discover errors in your how-to instructions (errors that could be disastrous), serious inconsistencies or blatant mistakes in your storyline, boring redundancies or unrealistic series of events, for example. <\/p>\n

After reading this blog post and looking your manuscript over one more time with these points in mind, can you see the value in hiring a good editor before approaching a publisher? I sure hope so because this decision and anywhere from around $500 to $2,000 could mean the difference between a publishing contract and a rejection. If you choose the \u201cself-publishing\u201d route, an editor could mean the difference between excellent and poor book reviews, bookseller acceptance or rejection and ultimately, book sales.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re seeking an editor, please consider me. Learn more about my background and my work at
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/consulting.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Read my clients\u2019 testimonials at
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/testimonials.html<\/a> <\/p>\n

Contact me at: PLFry620@yahoo.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just finished compiling another issue of the SPAWN Market Update for the member area of the SPAWN website. That\u2019s Small Publishers, Artists and Writers Network, http:\/\/www.spawn.org. In so doing, I had occasion to check publishers\u2019 guidelines, their announced calls for submissions and their press releases telling about some innovative new publishing options for authors. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t