A clever play on words can draw attention in a good way, but you don’t want anything to detract from your story. And nothing can yank a discerning reader out of a book quicker than heaving beasts or the flow of hair through fabric.
Read More »Category: Editing
Grammar: Is It Changing Tack or Changing Tact?
Whatever your character is doing isn’t working. Time to change tactics. There’s also a similar phrase—to change tack. But the two words—tack and tactic—are actually not related. Tacking is what sailors do with sails in order to take advantage of the wind. So when used idiomatically, the phrase means you (or your character) are adjusting […]
Read More »Book Editing: What Should You Expect?
If you’re new to self-publishing, you might not know exactly what to expect as you go through the editing and production process. This is true even if you’re a veteran coming over from traditional publishing. It’s a lot different when you’re the project lead and need to make arrangements for every stage of revisions and […]
Read More »Editing & Publishing: Tools of the Trade (Resources and Reference Books)
You may have wondered about the tools editors use. A dictionary is probably the first thing that comes to mind. But which one? A grammar book, probably. Although, again, which one? There are tons of books out there for just about every grammatical and craft question you can imagine. But there are two main references […]
Read More »Publishing: How to Pre-format Your Novel with Styles in Microsoft Word
You may be asking yourself why pre-formatting matters. There are actually some very good reasons. Pre-formatting helps you throughout the writing process and during edits and revisions. It’ll also save you time and money and it’s easy to do.
Read More »Grammar: On Style Guides and Dictionaries
Today’s “Grammar Bite” is going to be more of a meal, so I hope you’ll forgive me, but this topic is pretty important and there’s not a short answer here. So grab a drink and then we’ll dive in. It’s not uncommon for friends who don’t write or edit to ask me how I decide on […]
Read More »Publishing: An Editor’s Tips on How to Select an Editor
As an indie author, or self-publisher, you have a lot of hats to wear. Not only are you worrying about writing a book, quite an endeavor on its own, you’re also assuming the publisher’s role. This means that to be successful, you’ll make arrangements for editing, proofreading, formatting, cover art, and final-pass readers. Let’s take […]
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