Choosing the right editor for your book There are some important factors to consider when choosing an editor. You wouldn’t employ an electrical engineer to change the light fitting in your bathroom, nor would you use a brain surgeon to fix your teeth. The same principle applies to editing. You wouldn’t choose an editor who specialises in academic work to edit a book written for young children or vice versa. So, choose your editor by determining their speciality or genre and by reviewing their qualifications and references. The next consideration is cost. Editors can charge using per page or per hour rates. Personally, I dislike per hour rates for two reasons. Firstly, unless the editor contracts for a specific amount of hours, you have no idea how much the edit will cost until it is finished. This could result in a pricey surprise at the end. Secondly, you have no way of knowing how much time is actually spent in editing your manuscript. I prefer per page r...

Hi all, I did intend to write and post this blog from New York, but what with leisurely bike rides through Central Park, the craziness of Times Square, the odd Broadway show and exploring the city and surrounding boroughs like Brooklyn and Queens, it didn't happen. I thought I might get more time once I hit London, but hey, London in the springtime? What can I say? I'm safely back in Australia now, so here we go with #3 of our self-publishing made easy series. The Professional Edit You may question the need for a professional edit, after all, you’ve read through your manuscript a gazillion times. You've had others read it again and again. You've made changes, corrected errors and typos, re-written and re-written - surely you’ve found and fixed everything? The answer to that is: probably not. The fact that you know your story so well may mean that when you read through it, your brain transmits what it thinks is on the page and not nec...

2nd, 3rd, 4th drafts and beyond – self-editing Hi all and a big welcome from San Francisco. Yes folks I’m sitting on the dock of the bay while writing this post. Last time, we spoke about getting started with that manuscript. Here’s a quick recap: Time - choose or make a time to write and stick to it. Place - Find a comfortable place to write, away from distractions Set a Goal – decide how many words you want to write in a day and make sure you achieve it The main message was, just do it. When writing your first draft don’t worry about grammar or punctuation or any research at this time, just let the writing flow without you getting in the way. The 2nd draft Unfortunately, too many novice writers believe that when they have finished their first draft their book is finished.  This belief is far from reality. When you start working on your 2nd draft you enter what I term as the self-edit stage. Now ...

Getting started. In my previous post (http://www.publicious.com.au/blog/self-publishing-just-got-easy-) I touched briefly on what you need to do to start writing your book. The message was simple. Just do it! I’ve decided to base this series of posts on my tutoring and workshop material as well as my own writing and publishing experiences, hence the name ‘How to write and publish your book.’ Writing the first draft of your manuscript is by far the most important phase of the writing process. This is when your creative juices are at their peak: the time when you give birth to your baby. Depending on the type of book you are writing, you might go through a long hard labour or you might drop the little bugger before you reach the birthing suite. Either way, it is a unique and special time. When I talk about how I write at least one book per year, people who don’t know me may well think, lucky him, he must have a lot of time on his hands. Ho...