At the top of the list of the most common book production mistakes is: 1. The book was not edited! You should ALWAYS hire a professional book editor to edit your book. Find someone who specializes in your genre. Don’t ask your child’s English teacher! An expert editor will comb through your manuscript and will let you know if you should hire her for content editing, copy editing or both. To learn the difference, click this link to go to my blog post that explains the distinction. 2. The book does not have a professional cover design. Your book deserves an eye-catching cover…
A writing tip from one of my team members, Patrice Rhoades-Baum reminds us to be objective when writing and editing our content. As a marketing consultant and branding expert, she guides solopreneurs – such as professional speakers, corporate consultants, and business coaches – to create a clear brand, strategic website, and polished one sheet brochure. Patrice has a 35-year marketing background: 25 years in high-tech corporate marketing + 10 years as a business owner. She specializes in branding for small businesses and writing strategic, hardworking one sheet and website copy. “Murder your darlings.” It’s not a Halloween joke. It’s a century-old, highly respected writing tip! Who…
Why Use Active Verbs Instead of Passive? This is part 3 of a 3-part series by my team editor Barbara McNichol on communicating clearly and writing like a pro. During the summer months of June, July and August, I’ll post a 3-part series on helpful writing tips by Barbara. You’ve probably been urged to use active verbs when you write but do you know why? Because sentences written with active verbs: Clearly spell out the action being performed and who is doing it. Convey the ideas more quickly and directly than passive sentences. Frequently require fewer words than passive sentences when space is limited. Two clues help you identify “passive” use…
Better writing skills: My team editor Barbara McNichol is passionate about teaching self-publishers how to write like a pro. During the summer months of June, July and August, I’ll post a 3-part series on helpful writing tips by Barbara. Have you ever wondered about the distinction between “like” or “such as” in your writing? Here are two phrases to consider: . . . the answers that so-called geniuses like / such as Newton seem to embody. . . . centuries of innovations like / such as the airplane and the space shuttle have resulted. In these examples, “such as” is preferred over “like” because the word…
I recently received a query from a subscriber who asked me to weigh in on a contraction conundrum. This author wanted to know if it was acceptable to use contractions in a book manuscript. I asked my teammate and award-winning book editor Barbara McNichol for her take on this issue. Here’s the definition of a contraction: Two words that have been contracted (pulled together) into one word. E.g., let’s (let us), he’d (he had), we’re (we are), etc. This author wrote: My latest (4th) book is coming out in September. I just got the edits back from my publisher. I…
Smart self-publishers have their manuscripts edited and proofread by professionals. To meet this need, we offer an assortment of editorial services, from content editing to proofreading. Our award-winning team of editors and proofreaders specializes in a wide range of genres with a variety of skill sets in both fiction and non-fiction. It’s so important to find the right fit for each client, and we feel it is our responsibility to educate our clients about the different types of editing and proofreading services. As a visual person, I like to make analogies with visual images. I think about editing from the…
Sometimes our team will receive a partial manuscript or a manuscript that has not been edited or proofread. If a self-publisher provides us with a properly formatted manuscript, we can save them time and money on editing and proofreading services. Once the manuscript has been edited and proofread we can move on to the design and layout stage. Your manuscript should be formatted in a typical 8.5″ x 11″ MS Word document so it is easy for you and our editor to review, markup and make text changes. While your manuscript is in the editing stage it will NOT resemble a book page layout. Our graphic designer will do that later during…
Our team just completed a branding and publishing project for John Hall. This included designing marketing materials, a corporate ID package, book design, CD packaging and website development. It was a massive undertaking, bringing together the skills and talents of 10 team members into a 5-month project. John came to us to help launch a new direction in his successful speaking business based on his new book, Do What You Can! John provides advice, motivation, insight, and a step-by-step system to help people not simply meet their goals (business, career, personal) but to achieve extraordinary results. John’s core message is: “Get…
My guest writer today is award-winning writer and editor, Barbara McNichol. As writers, we can get caught up in an idea or feel particularly attached to a word or phrase. Our writing can suffer as a result. When editing your own manuscript, dare to be brutally honest with yourself. To help you, here’s a list of tips and techniques for steering clear of common pitfalls and strengthening your manuscript along the way. An editor will ask these questions: Is every word, phrase, sentence, paragraph, section, and chapter necessary? Is the message clearly understood? Can your ideas be expressed more simply? Miracles do…