Forum: Ten Things I...About You!

10. Pick Your Battles Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Depending on your approach to the editing process and how clean your manuscript really is, that first revision letter from an editor can seem like an attack.

1. Publishing is a Business: Business, more than any other occupation, is a continual dealing with the future; it is a continual calculation, an instinctive exercise in foresight. Henry R. Luce—an American Editor] Business, that’s easily defined—it’s other people’s money. This first point is short and simple—

2. Authors are Businesses, too: HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING 1. You must write. 2. You must finish what you write. 3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order. 4. You must put the work on the market. 5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.

Hi There For those who might be interested here's a quick and easy method toward developing that formula: :cool: 1. If there is more than one pov protagonist (i.e. H/H in a romance), start the synopsis by introducing that character -- focus on qualities this person has, not just what they do. Remember to include any pertinent backstory here -- regardless of where it might appear in the manuscript. 2. Now start telling the plot chronologically by following the Big 5 Plot Points,...

4. An Author’s Job: Part 2: Follow the…Submission Process Rules This may seem like an incredibly dumb, naïve, could I even say stupid point on the list, but have you ever visited the submissions and FAQs pages of an electronic publisher? Of course you have. And while those pages spell out and answer questions about the submission guidelines, what I always find intriguing are the notations about what not to do. While some of these points serve to clarify the parameters of a...

3. An Author’s Job: Part 1: Learn Your Craft: Writing a novel is a long-distance run of the imagination and will, an arduous exercise, a quest, requiring stamina, discipline, confidence, patience, courage, technique and perhaps not a small amount of cunning in order to compete with that most problematic opponent of all, oneself. Writing can be the most wonderful, creative, driven, and exasperating job there is. Fortunately, it’s your job. And part of that job is honing the...

9. An Editor’s Job: Part 3: What it Isn’t I feel sorry for people who have to edit me. Which is why book writing is by far the most enjoyable. Really the only thing it’s based on is whether it’s good or not. No book editor, in my experience, is getting a manuscript and try to rewrite it. Chuck Klosterman] An editor does not write your story for you. An editor does not teach grammar—though she and a copyeditor do correct punctuation, typos, and other...

8. Author/Editor Teamwork: Revisions & Edits Editing is the same as quarrelling with writers—same thing exactly. I’m a writer first and an editor second... or maybe third or even fourth. Successful editing requires a very specific set of skills, and I don’t claim to have all of them at my command. Lynn Abbey—American Author]

7. An Editor’s Job: Part 2: The Nitty-Gritty of the Editing Process The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t. A harsh reality of newspaper editing is that the deadlines don't allow for the polish that you expect in books or even magazines. Bill Walsh – An American Editor] An editor’s job is rather amorphous because no two editing projects are the same. Authors have their own voice and style and ability...

6. An Author’s Job: Part 3: Professionalism Professionalism keeps the focus where it belongs—on the job at hand. Part of your business plan should include developing and promoting an Author Brand. Branding is the process of creating a unique name and image for a product (good or service…or yourself and your work, in the case of a Personal Brand) in your audience’s mind, to establish a significant and differentiated presence that attracts and retains them as...

5. An Editor’s Job: Rejection Letters It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else. I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10 000 ways that don’t work. Hardship is a great teacher.