Blog Archives

Blogging for Authors: Part 2

27/9/2015

Last time Springtime's Jack Scott extolled the virtues of blogging as a way of spreading the word about your words—and, in the process, flogging that box of books you’re using as a door stop. This week, Jack takes you further down the yellow brick road to blogger glory, with answers to the following FAQs...

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Blogging for Authors: Part 1

20/9/2015

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Blogs are a boundless, no-to-low-cost way to lay out your stall in a way an ordinary website might not. Why so? Because Internet search engines like Google love content that’s new, fresh and frequently updated. Among the blogging big hitters are travel, politics, food, family life and…ta-da! books and creative writing.

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Book Marketing for Authors

13/9/2015

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Unless you want to be stuck with a stack of books propping open a door or languishing unloved and unread in the attic, you’ll need to make sure people know about your book. But how do you get the message out there these days? Just what are the rules of engagement?

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Springtime Books on Facebook

9/9/2015

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Premium quality literary, publishing and social media services http://www.springtimebooks.com
Posted by Springtime Books on Friday, 27 February 2015

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So, you don’t need an editor? Think again

6/9/2015

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I recently attended a book launch with an author whose book I was in the process of editing. As we chatted another writer – whose name I was aware of although we had never met – joined us. I knew through the grapevine that he too was writing a book. The author introduced us announcing,

“This is Jane, she’s editing my book and we’re working towards publication in a few months.”
“Wow, fantastic,” came the reply, “but why on earth do you need an editor when you’re such a good writer?”

It’s a question that often leaves me lost for words – a rare state of affairs. If you have to ask why a writer needs an editor then – in my book – you don’t fully appreciate the writing process, or the symbiotic relationship that develops between the two.

While it’s wonderful for an author to have a support group of other writers and readers who’ll give their opinions on your work – which is of huge value as you’re writing – you also need a professional to guide you through the process. A good editor will be your coach, manager, cheerleader and most valuable team player. They won’t be afraid to tell you where you’ve gone wrong, but more importantly will tell you how to put it right.

If you want to be published you should be talking to an editor before you start writing, or at the very least before you submit your manuscript to a publisher.

Writers often don’t appreciate there are different types of editing, or that editors may have a primary focus on only one:

Developmental editing – the writer has a concept for a book and works with an editor from the planning stages. The ‘Big Picture’ edit if you like, when the structure of the book, themes and plot are meticulously planned out. In an ideal world the author will then start work writing the manuscript.
Rewrite, substantive, or substantial editing – this is fixing an existing manuscript. Rewriting can be as difficult or more challenging than starting from scratch. This edit often happens when a writer has written the manuscript and, having approached an editor to look at the big picture, realizes how much work is required to iron out any problems in structure, themes or the plot.
Copyediting – this requires someone who has patience, a great eye for detail and a thorough understanding of both the rules of grammar and of common usage, plus a good sense of when to use them. The copyeditor gets deep into the text, polishing it, ensuring each word has the correct nuance for the context it’s in, that the text flows and the author’s voice is clear and unambiguous. This is also known as as line editing.
Proofreading – similar to copyediting but corrects errors only, does not adjust or change text.

Depending on what you’re writing, how good a writer you are, whether you’ve published before or you’re working on your first manuscript, you should work with an editor at some point before publication. If you read the Acknowledgements in any bestseller, you’ll realize that the most prolific writers in the world often have a whole team of editors behind them. There’s a good reason they do.

Next month I’ll be looking at the top ten things editors look out for when beginning an edit – sign up for the blog now to make sure you don’t miss it.

Jane Dean
BA (Hons) English Literature/ Language (UK)
Associate of the Society of Editors and Proof Readers, UK
Member of the Editorial Freelancers Association, USA
www.WordgeyserEditing.com
Blog: www.Wordgeyser.com

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Congratulations Jack Scott for Twenty Five Star Reviews

5/9/2015

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Congratulations to Jack Scott for his twentieth five star Amazon.co.uk review for Turkey Street, Jack and Liam move to Turkey.

Could not put this book down - very funny.

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Promoting a Book on Facebook

2/9/2015

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We live in a visual age. The old advertising adage ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ has never been more pertinent than it is today with our social media obsessed society where a silly selfie can circle the world faster than the Gulf Stream. Images evoking your book – its plot, message, characters and backdrop – can often get the message out better than any wordy blog post, worthy review or static webpage struggling up the Google rankings. Find a few good pictures spice them up with a snappy quote and add a buying link then share them on Facebook – your profile, your book page, group – wherever you want to get noticed. The images don’t have to be masterpieces but they do need to convey something interesting to whet the appetite. This is what Jack Scott is doing with his latest book, Turkey Street, and it works. Here are a few examples:

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Springtime​News

Blogging for Authors: Part 2

Blogging for Authors: Part 1

Book Marketing for Authors﻿

Springtime Books on Facebook

So, you don’t need an editor? Think again﻿

Congratulations Jack Scott for Twenty Five Star Reviews

Promoting a Book on Facebook

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