Welcome, 2024
This is January in Ottawa. It’s snowy. It's cold. Yes, we make jokes about the weather hurting our faces, but it could definitely be worse. Look: it was sunny today!
Have you made any writing resolutions or goals this year? If you have plans to publish a book (or two!) this year, this is the perfect time to line up your editing slot. It can help keep you on track for your goals, and I’m working on filling up my calendar for the year. Win-win!
What best describes your editing needs?
“I just finished my first draft. My book is awesome!! Well, my friends say it is. But … is it? What if it’s not?”
If you’re looking for potential readers’ opinions, you should get some alpha or beta readers to read your manuscript and give you honest feedback. Friends and family can be very positive, which is great, but they are biased. If you want to know what the general public think, get people who don’t know you to read it.
If you want an editor’s opinion, you can get a manuscript evaluation or developmental edit done. This will look at the overall structure of your manuscript. Is there a logical progression in the narrative? Does the organization of the book make sense? Are characters well fleshed out? Is the dialogue natural sounding and appropriate to the genre and setting? What does the author do well? What needs work? A DE will be a more comprehensive process, with the editor making the changes to your manuscript, and pointing out exactly where you need to add more content. A manuscript evaluation is a report, which will make suggestions for the author to make changes and additions themselves. The manuscript evaluation takes less time, and is less expensive.
“I’m confident that my story is great, but my beta readers said that the dialogue sounds stilted and there are inconsistencies in the plot.”
You need a line editor. The line editor will smooth out and clarify your dialogue, making sure that it’s appropriate to the characters’ background and setting. They will point out any instances where you’ve got an inconsistency in the plot or character quirk.
“Grammar, Punctuation? Pfft.Who need it? Mycretive process would be slowed down. Reeders dont care anyway”.
“Grammar?, Punctuation? Pfft._Who needs it? My_creative process would be slowed down. Reeders Readers don’t care anyway.”.
Yes, they do. Really. There are so many reviews online stating that certain books could be so much better if only if the grammar had been edited. This will translate into more positive reviews for you, and more sales. If you’re looking to be published traditionally, acquisitions editors absolutely care about grammar, spelling and punctuation. If this is your Achilles heel, you need a copyeditor.
“It’s been through all the beta reading, editing, formatting. I’ve got my cover design and done my acknowledgements. It’s good to go!”
Ideally you want one last set of eyes look through the book before you hit the presses. A proofreader will notice any little typos or oddities that got missed before, or crept in during the processes. These are wily errors, good at camouflaging, as evidenced by having been missed in prior rounds of editing.
Not so sure about what you need? Send a sample, and get a recommendation!
