Happily, the editing work is picking up. Authors are finishing up their manuscripts\u2014or at least a few chapters\u2014and sending them along to me to work my magic. Believe me, with some manuscript I work with, it is as if they were magically transformed. <\/p>\n
When I look at some of the manuscripts I receive, it occurs to me that either authors don\u2019t read their work once they finish the writing or they are naturally blind to their own literary shortcomings. Maybe readers today are so accustomed to wading through the muddy, incoherent, error-riddled books they find at bookstores that they don\u2019t know, anymore, what constitutes good writing. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s frustrating, after correcting the errors and problems in a manuscript and providing lessons for the author, to discover the exact same mistakes in the next round of chapters I receive. It\u2019s a shame when authors pay for your expertise and then don\u2019t take full advantage of your teachings.<\/p>\n
Do you have a good eye for your editorial mistakes and problems? Do you actually read your manuscripts through with a critical eye after they\u2019re completed? Do you see the errors or does your brain just rush past them\u2014assuming that everything is perfect? Does it sound pretty good to you\u2014you see no reason to revise even a rather confusing sentence? It\u2019s possible that you are not quite sure about some of your punctuation or you feel only a little uneasy about a couple of areas in your book. Maybe your manuscript looks perfect to you. I\u2019d like to see it, anyway! <\/p>\n
Please send me a few chapters to evaluate. I\u2019ll let you know if I think you need an editor and why. Most authors do, you know. I do editing work for journalism and English majors, Ph. D.s and experienced authors as well as authors who have never penned a book. <\/p>\n
If you contact me this month and we decide to work together on your manuscript or book proposal starting this month (January 2010), I will give you a break on my fee. Instead of my regular $50\/hour fee, I\u2019ll charge you my 2004 rate of $40\/hour. So if your job takes me 12 hours, it will cost you $480 instead of $600. If you need me to edit your entire manuscript and my estimate is for 30 hours, it will cost you $1,200 instead of the usual $1,500. <\/p>\n
Yes, it can be expensive to work with an editor. But, if you choose the right editor, this could be one of the best decisions you make toward the success of your book project. <\/p>\n
Do you know, for example, that there is no apostrophe in 1900s? Are you aware that you use single quotation marks only inside double quotation marks? And did you know that you don\u2019t use quotation marks at all when you\u2019re using Italics to indicate a quote or a thought? If you\u2019ve been reading my blogs and books for long, you know that it is now one space between sentences, right? Do you have an eye for those unwanted words that get missed when you change something using your word processor? Are you observant enough to catch it when you misspell an uncommon name or word that you devised for your story? (I see a lot of oversight in this area.) I also see manuscripts where the author changed a character\u2019s name or one of the scenes halfway through and neglected to make the change throughout.<\/p>\n
I can tell you that most authors\u2014probably even you\u2014have some bad habits that spill over into their manuscripts to a degree that pretty much spoils the integrity of their story or nonfiction book. Do you write with absolute clarity? Does your story flow naturally? Are your instructions logical? The problem is, you might not be the person to determine these things. Your mother or best friend may not catch them, either\u2014or they will notice just some of the actual problems in your project.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t stress enough the importance of hiring an editor and this is true whether you plan to self-publish, go with a pay-to-publish company or land a traditional royalty publisher. <\/p>\n
I have to admit that there are a few (very few) manuscripts that I have refused to edit. A couple of them were already in pristine condition\u2014no need for me to interfere. And I\u2019ve seen some that were in such poor shape\u2014had so many serious problems\u2014that I would be doing a complete rewrite. Do you know how much that would cost the author?<\/p>\n
For this author, I would (and do) suggest joining a writers\u2019 critique group and participating regularly. <\/p>\n
If you have a manuscript either ready to go or almost ready, contact me today PLFry620@yahoo.com. As you can see, this is not a hot link\u2014you must copy and paste the email address, or type it in when you send me an email. To learn more about me and my work, visit: http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/consulting.html<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Happily, the editing work is picking up. Authors are finishing up their manuscripts\u2014or at least a few chapters\u2014and sending them along to me to work my magic. Believe me, with some manuscript I work with, it is as if they were magically transformed. When I look at some of the manuscripts I receive, it occurs […]<\/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