In my “day job” when I’m not playing author, I work full-time as a freelance professional. Most of my work is editing. In my daily gig-chasing activity, I come across solicitations for editors, but those solicitations leave a lot to be desired. Many are simply “I need an editor” type of messages and offer no information. Posts like those receive hordes of replies...
If you’re on this website, then you know I’m an author. You may also know that I’m a ghostwriter, too. Recently, I responded to a solicitation on Facebook for a ghostwriter. Details were lacking, so I commented with questions requesting basic information: genre, production schedule, compensation, etc. After all, if the project isn’t a good match, then professionals like me...
Ronald Reagan served as the president of the United States during my high school and college years. He was known as “the great communicator” because he didn’t mince words, yet often remained tactful. I never quite learned how to do that, but one of his quotes stuck with me over the decades: “Trust but verify.” I like it better than President Calvin Coolige’s...
When do you know when your book is ready for publication? That’s a question clients often pose. My answer is when you’re happy with it. I advise my clients not to seek perfection because they can always tweak a word here and there in an endless and futile effort to achieve perfection. Perfection doesn’t exist when it comes to literature. There’s always something that could...
For me, convention season is half-finished. On July 21, I participated as a vendor at a quickly organized pop-up event at Missing Falls Brewery, in Akron, Ohio, called “Books & Beer.” The event was originally slated to feature 10 indie authors, but there were only five who actually participated. The event was interesting when compared to previous engagements this year: There were...
When I was 14 years old, my family visited the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Decades later, I remember several of the masterpieces hanging on the walls, particularly one that I did not like and could not determine why it was considered worthy of display in the renowned museum. It was a painting, a huge canvas painted in institutional green (the same color as mint flavored Crest toothpaste...
One bit of advice the “experts” give to novice writers is to read extensively. An author cannot truly know the tropes and reader expectations of his or her genre unless he or she reads extensively within that genre. The best way to know what readers want now is to read the books that are popular now in that genre. I’ve been doing a lot of reading and little (or nothing) in the...
Being both an author and a freelance editor, I spend a lot of time on various publishing-related groups on social media platforms. Without fail, the same questions come up again and again. I often respond to them. Unfortunately, my experience leads me to believe that many new authors don’t do their research before they agree to the first offer they receive for their manuscripts. That leads...
Many authors are reluctant to hire editors for various reasons. The most common are expense, hubris, and dread. Expense: Professional editing is expensive. That’s why it behooves an author to select an editor who’s a good match for both the manuscript and oneself. The wrong editor can make what sometimes feels like an excruciating process worse. An incompetent editor overwrites the...
May is a busy month, a time of celebration for many. Early may often includes high school proms. Graduations fill the month. May has two sentimental holidays: Mother’s Day and Memorial Day. Of personal interest, my birthday is in May. Sometimes Mother’s Day falls on the same date. For my family, May is also a time of mourning. My niece, Madeline, died on May 14, just six weeks before...