We’re in a weird dystopia, where new AI writing tools and software will soon make it easy to proofread, edit typos and fix grammar. This part is great, because authors can save a lot of money and editors can focus on the real, big picture issues. Personally, we’re not threatened by AI, because very few editors are capable of providing the high-level, critical feedback that we can, and authors will
A few years ago I made a quick video series on self-editing your book (it’s free). This was one of my first courses so while the basic idea is there, it doesn’t have a lot of very specific editing tricks and tactics – and I’ve made a lot of those recently. This post on “how to write a book” links to a lot of my best writing and editing resources,
I’ve seen this issue come up enough times for me to comment on it: authors who get samples from several editors and weigh the pros and cons of each, which usually center around quality and price, but also personality and professionalism. Most authors would prefer to work with an author who responds quickly and effuses praise and seems to really like their book. They want support and enthusiasm for the
advanced fiction writing tips & novel revision checklist It can be tricky to self-edit a scene to make sure it’s working, so here’s a handy revision checklist for editing your novels, with 14 things to focus on or check. Each of these are useful tricks to improve a slow or plodding scene that you like but just isn’t dramatic enough to keep momentum. Watch the video below for a full-walkthrough!
Recently I went to a writing conference and realized something surprising. Most authors spend years writing their book. Only a few study craft, plotting or structure – those that do often focus on the lyrical quality of language rather than the actual content (who’s going to read this and why should they?) Conferences are divided between agents and publishers looking for new projects, and self-publishing services offering to take author
We’ve used our decades of experience working with authors to set up a system that makes it easy for you to find the right editor for your job, and 95% of our clients are thrilled with our work. To make sure we can satisfy your needs, please make sure you understand and agree to our process, which is as follows: Submitting a Sample You can submit a sample on the homepage and
Editing is the most crucial part in turning out any written work. Experienced writers opine that editing may even be more important than writing. Whilst writing is an unbundling of thoughts, memories, imaginations and ideas, editing, on the other hand, organizes these thoughts streamlining them for the third eye. Without editing, those words on paper will continue to remain meaningless. This is what makes the role of the editor so
I made a short video course talking about book editing, self-editing, choosing an editor and the editing process. These are some of the things I’ve learned after working in publishing for a decade and helping hundreds of authors be successful. None of these videos is about why you should choose Book Butchers – in fact I urge you to self-edit first and talking about why paying for book editing may
You probably have someone smug in your life who corrects your grammar and catches your typos. Or maybe that’s you, and you need to broadcast your grammatical superiority. Either way, here are a bunch of fun mugs, Tshirts and other things with writing and grammar related themes. Join the contest: if you win, you can choose any of the following. Gifts for Grammar Police (giveaway) “I have my red pen
Insecurity is a common problem among authors. How do you know whether the book is good enough yet? What if people hate it? New authors tend to compare their efforts against well-known writers and literary masterpieces, but keep in mind, even famous authors had their doubts. Here are some of them. JG Ballard and The Wind from Nowhere British New Wave SF writer J.G. Ballard, who wrote the (in)famous