Authors often create characters who are perfectly suited for the story that is being told. The brilliant detective is put to the task of finding out whodunnit, the brilliant surgeon must operate on the life-threatening tumor, the brilliant commando must rescue the hostage. If these characters have suitable antagonists to oppose them, then enough conflict…
I’ve worked with a number of book publisher and book packager clients over the years and I’ve found a few basic rules help ensure that I complete each project satisfactorily. You may find them helpful, too. #1. Understand your role. If an author has asked whether the plot entertains you and you tell them they…
Editors often want to freelance for book publishers and packagers as a way to have reliable clients who provide ongoing work. But there are some differences in working directly for the client (as with an indie author) and working for a publisher. When I’m doing a developmental edit for a book publisher, I usually have…
As a teacher of developmental editing, I want students to get comfortable with being able to advise big solutions to big problems. Often this is the best way to truly help an author produce superior work. It is also an invaluable method for stepping back to see the big picture (a poorly constructed conflict, for…
NEW! Starts January 4, 2021 $50 4 weeks (through January 31), instructor-led This class is intended for editors, new and experienced, who are interested in following along as an experienced editor performs a developmental edit on a complete fiction manuscript. It is a reading-intensive class and the more you participate in the online discussions, the…
For problems that recur throughout a series of paragraphs, a scene, a chapter, or an entire ms, developmental editors will sometimes use a shortcut: “You do a lot of info-dumping throughout; I recommend cutting it back.” The problem with this approach is that if the author could identify where the info-dumping is occurring, they wouldn’t…
As Club Ed adds new classes, I’m frequently asked, “What class should I take?” or “What class should I take next?” so I wanted to provide some answers. These are my recommendations for the new instructor-led classes (self-paced classes are organized by skill level on the Club Ed site): For Anyone For anyone interested in…
$249, 4 weeks (through February 7), instructor-led. This new class is for freelance editors who have hit a slump or who have been away from the field for a while but want to get back in the game. Maybe the pandemic has impacted your clientele and you’ve lost the indie clients you’ve relied on, or…
Fact-Checking in the Editorial Process Fact-checking is verifying that the information included in a ms is accurate: World War I took place in the early twentieth century, production of Hummers stopped in 2010. An author (even a novelist) who gets facts wrong irritates and alienates readers, so one of our roles as dev editor is…
The Importance of Separate Developmental Editing and Copyediting Rounds As I mentioned in my previous blog post, indie authors often want editors to combine DE and CE in one round of editing. I mentioned that one problem with doing this is the likelihood of overwhelming the author. Another problem is the complexity. There’s no point…