Category Archives: Edits

Mind Your Grammar by J’son M. Lee

I remember the first time I realized I could write. I was in Mrs. Vick’s high school typing class. We were given an assignment to create and type a fictitious resume. As you can imagine, this was a challenge because none of us had any previous work experience. The person with the most impressive resume would be hired by our teacher. I dug into my imaginative bank and created a resume that would impress even the most discerning employer. I was certain my resume would put me ahead of the competition for that dream position. Although the job was make-believe, I won!

Now two books and three short stories later, I find myself on the opposite end of the writing spectrum—I sling red ink for a living. As an editor, one of my goals is to ensure that a writer has put his or her best foot forward. Readers have become much more sophisticated, and for better or worse, they have an itch to judge. While grammar isn’t necessarily a reflection of your storytelling abilities, it does translate poorly if your finished product is wracked with errors.

It behooves every writer to have a firm grasp of basic grammar rules. Below are five common grammar mistakes I see routinely, not only in editing submissions, but in print. Don’t feel bad if you find the rules confusing. Although I am an editor, I continue to make these mistakes as well. I often have to refer to my trusted resource manuals for clarification. When I’m too frustrated, I let my editor figure it out. Yes, editors have editors.

Who and Whom

“Who” is a subjective pronoun, along with “he,” “she,” “it,” “we,” and “they.” It’s used when the pronoun acts as the subject of a clause. “Whom” is an objective pronoun, along with “him,” “her,” “it”, “us,” and “them.” It’s used when the pronoun acts as the object of a clause. Using “who” or “whom” depends on whether you’re referring to the subject or object of a sentence.

Still too hard to remember? Try this easy rule: Like “whom,” the pronoun “him” ends with “m.” When you’re trying to decide whether to use “who” or “whom,” ask yourself if the answer to the question would be “he” or “him.” If you can answer the question being asked with “him,” then use “whom.” EX: If you’re trying to ask, “Who (or whom) do you want to see?” The answer would be “I want to see him.” “Him” ends with an “m,” so you know to use “whom.” But if you are trying to ask, “Who (or whom) loves me more?” the answer would be “He loves me more.” There’s no “m,” so you know to use “who.”

Who’s and Whose

“Who’s” is a contraction of who is or, less commonly, who has.

EX: Who’s the author of that book?

“Whose” is the possessive of who.

EX: Whose book is this?

Still too hard to remember? Try this easy rule: If you can replace the word with who is, use “who’s.” If not, use “whose.”

Lay and Lie

This mistake is by far the most egregious. In the essence of time, let’s focus on present tense only. “Lay” requires a direct object, and “lie” does not. That said, you lie down on the sofa (no direct object), but you lay the remote down on the sofa (the remote is the direct object). Admittedly, this one is very tricky. Refer to the chart below.

Infinitive Definition Present

to lay to put or place lay(s)

to lie to rest or recline lie(s)

Getting it right, takes considerable thought. In my own writing, I usually figure out a way to avoid the word. When I can’t—and it’s use is necessary—I let my editor figure it out.

Affect and Effect

“Affect” is almost always a verb, and “effect” is almost always a noun. “Affect” means to influence or produce an impression. “Effect” is the thing produced by the affecting agent; it describes the result or outcome. There are a few exceptions. “Effect” may be used as a transitive verb, which means to bring about or make happen. EX: The eBook revolution effected a much-needed shift in the literary industry. There are similarly rare examples where “affect” can be a noun. A client, Deidra DS Green, introduced me to this use. EX: His affect made him seem bored at the book signing.

The last common mistake isn’t a grammar mistake, but a punctuation mistake I see time and time again—the use of quotation marks. I recently questioned one of my mentors, Deatri King-Bey, on the use of quotation marks. After giving me a tutorial she said, “Don’t overthink it.” So here goes:

Periods and commas always go inside the closing quotation marks. EX: “I am looking forward to the Romance Slam Jam,” Edwina said. “I can’t wait to meet Deatri.”

Question marks and exclamation points go inside the closing quotation marks if they are part of the text you are quoting. EX 1: Tanya picked up the phone and asked, “Are you coming over today?” The question mark goes inside the quotation because Tanya is being quoted as asking the question. EX 2: Have you heard the saying, “smart as a whip”? In this example, the question mark goes outside the quote because the quote is not a question.

Bottom line, an author’s job is to tell great stories. So what you can’t remember all the rules of grammar! Make a concerted effort to master as many as you can, but when you fall short, let your editor sort it out. That’s their job. Remember, every great writer has a great team of editors.

J’son M. Lee (Editor)

See you at www.sweetgeorgiapress.com

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or$9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Successful Writing, Editors, Publishers, And The Fine Art Of Compromise

Successful writing is not easy. As authors, we already know this much. And, of course, there are a number of factors in being a successful writer. Included among these is a willingness to edit and cut your work as needed. This last means you have to be willing to be an editor in your own right these days, but also to listen to professional editors of various publications to which you might send your work.

This last is hard to do. I don’t mean the sending part. I mean putting up with others editing our work once it’s been accepted. Whereas we might not mind editing our own work, we tend to hate it when others try to do it for us. This tends to be a truism of all writers. We just don’t like people touching our work, not after we’ve put so much personal effort into making it “just right” already.

However, in order to be a successful writer, you must put up with editors. That is, you must if you actually want to get your story published. Yes, the burden of editing falls ever more heavily upon us as writers these days, but even so, publishers have the last say, and most still have editors read your work. This is especially true of “pro” publishers.

And here we come to the crux of our discussion. In order to be a successful writer in the traditional sense of the term, we must first be published somehow, someway, somewhere, and not just in a vanity press. So that usually means going through some sort of editing process to “get there.”

Even if we strictly self publish, we still need the benefit of an “outside” editor. But if we do send our manuscripts to some publisher, is there anything we can do to sway them, to make them want to publish our work, in particular, over the thousands of other manuscripts they receive on a monthly basis?

Yes, there is. There are a number of things we can do to improve our chances. Some of these things may seem incredibly obvious to many writers, but you would be surprised, perhaps even amazed, at how many authors do not use all of them, or simply don’t use any of them at all! Why this is so, I can’t say. But it’s true.

Perhaps, it has something to do with the number of publishers out there. There are so many and all of them seem to want a different type of format for submissions. Although many say they want standard manuscript format, in reality, this doesn’t really seem to be the case at all. Each one usually adds certain requirements to this basic demand. One of the things you can do is to give them exactly what they want.

The same holds true for cover letters and synopses. While all of them seem to want short cover letters, it is amazing how many seem to want you somehow to fit almost the entire contents of the book, your biography, synopsis, and any marketing plans into that one-page, cover letter. I know this to be true, because I have come up against this many times. What can one do? You have to give the publisher what they want.

Or do you? Often, we send in a manuscript that is close in style to their demands, but not quite on target as far as formatting requests go. We simply use the same version we’ve already sent to someone else.

Is this okay? No, generally, it isn’t. As a submissions editor myself, I can assure you we are very interested in getting through our slush piles as quickly as we can, because there are always new piles growing. This means we don’t like wasting our time. Therefore, rightly or wrongly, we try everything we can to weed out manuscripts and shorten that pile to a more readable level.

How do we do this? The answer is simple. We do it by getting rid of those manuscripts that do not conform to our formatting specifications. That’s the first thing we look for. Yes, it’s an easy way to shorten the pile quickly, but we also do it because the wrong formatting tells us the author will probably not be a good one for us. If writers won’t do the basic things we ask up front in order to get their work published by our company, we don’t want them! Again, it’s that simple.

In other words, if authors don’t format exactly as we want, often it’s a sign to us they aren’t bothering to listen, or worse, are ignoring our requirements. This means, usually, it will be a battle to get them to do what we ask. Likely, they may be troublesome to us down the road. You see, the guidelines are not just to make it easier for us. They are often a test. If you fail that test, we simply move on. There are plenty of other good writers out there besides you!

So to be a successful author you must not only be a good writer with all that this entails, but you also must be willing to compromise as to how you send out your submissions. You must be willing to change them for each publisher demanding this. And yes, it can be tedious to do. But to do it right is necessary. I, personally, have had to write any number of versions of a particular synopsis, for example, because some publishers want very short ones, others, one-page ones, and still others, comprehensive ones. Again, it is tedious!

As a side note, something else to consider—you must send the right work to the right publisher. Always read the publishers’ submission guidelines carefully. For instance, under the horror genre, publishers can still be very fussy. Some don’t want anything to do with vampires. Others don’t want anything to do with fantasy. Still others don’t want anything to do with science fiction. So you had better read those guidelines closely. Don’t try to force your manuscript into a publisher’s hands who does not want your sort of story. You will get rejection letters. Do you remember in school when your teacher would mark you down for poor penmanship? Publishers do much the same thing, only they do it with regard to the submission formatting of the manuscript.

Now, let’s say the publisher/editor has read your story. What’s the next step? Well, they will contact you and say they are interested in your work, that they’d like to publish it, and are you willing to sign a contract? Of course, you’re going to jump at that, and answer, “Yes!”

I imagine that many of us do this without really reading the fine print of the contract before doing so. And that’s a mistake. Always read the contract through several times! That’s a given. You must consider various aspects of the contract as you read it, of course, but here we’re concerned principally with the terms and conditions regarding editing.

The next step is the publisher will want to edit your work to his or her own specifications for their publication requirements. These specifications may include the size of the work (it may need to be shortened), and/or content altered, etc. Under content, it may be the type of language you’re using (adult language?), the grade level you are writing to (this may need to be lowered, but is usually never raised), and edited for various other factors the publisher may feel is their God-given right, to demand of you.

And this is where the problems usually start. Do you remember how we mentioned earlier that writers do not like their work edited—at all? They will resist every way they can. How much dare you resist, as an author? How far can you go? Well, the answers to these questions may lie in your contract. Again, the contract usually states the publisher’s rights with regard to editing your work.

Often, if the author refuses to agree to make the changes the publishers require (even if the author has the final say according to the contract), then the publisher usually has the right to refuse the work and not print it. If you have received a cash advance on your novel, they will most certainly demand it back under the terms and conditions of the contract you signed. So beware! Even if you have final say on editing written into the contract, for practical purposes, you may not really have that final say. You will have to compromise, maybe big time, and give in on certain points.

Something else to remember: the publisher/editor selected your work because they thought it might sell and make money for them. This is their single strongest criterion. They also have a very strong idea of what works to make money, based on past publishing experience. They usually go with that. So, like it or not, whether you have your own experience in this way, or not, you should listen to them on this one point. Remember the old adage, “he who pays the piper, gets to call the tune.”

Yes, to a certain extent, you can argue with them. But a warning here, if you argue too much, they may decide not to publish your work. They simply may not want to bother with yet another unwieldy, recalcitrant author. What’s more, they may not even warn you about this. The publisher may just send you a notice saying they do not want to work with you any further and so they are cancelling the contract. You will then just be out of luck.

So to be a successful writer is not only to be a good writer, a persistent one, one who produces work on a regular basis, but also one that is willing to compromise on many issues. Of course, if you are J. K. Rowling, you can say and do pretty much what you want. They’ll let you. If you’re not Ms. Rowling, then you had best listen to this advice: compromise with your editor(s). Listen to his/her advice and requests. Try to do what they ask of you with regard to editing your work to the best of your ability, and hopefully without damaging the quality of your work. It might even improve it, you know…

In conclusion, I can only say as a submissions editor, as well as a writer, one of the key ingredients in being a successful author is to listen to your editors and publishers. Perhaps, unbelievably, when it comes to marketing and selling your book, they actually may know what is best.

Your only other option is to seek a different publisher or self publish your work, if you haven’t already signed a contract. If you try to renege, the publisher may just sue you. Or at the very least, they will never consider your submissions again. And publishers have power. Editors have power. Like it or not, they talk to each other. Sometimes, they may be talking about you and not in a good way! So tact, diplomacy, and a willingness to listen and above all, compromise, are a must for all authors who want to be successful.

And finally, these are just my personal words of advice. You can take them or leave them. But if you leave them, you may find your publisher may just choose to leave your work as unread or unpublished. The choice is yours. To be independent, to stand your ground, is fine—to a point. Push this right too far, and you may become the world’s greatest unpublished author. Get it?

Rob Shelsky

http://robshelsky.blogspot.com/

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) for only $4.99 from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Editing—Why Bother?

Let’s be real! No one wants to hear that his or her self-determined work of art is subpar. That is understandable, but tough skin is essential if you are serious about producing an above-average product. Many authors are hesitant to invest in all three stages of editing. However, it’s vital that authors recognize the importance of each step in the process. The road to becoming a successful author is dependent upon one’s adherence to this mandate. Be sure to seek professional editing services, not close friends or family members who love to read your projects. Your “baby” deserves to be cared for by an objective experienced eye. The purpose of professional editing is to strengthen the content and minimize the flaws that exist within your manuscript after the cycle of self-editing, rewriting, receiving feedback from a critique group and more rewriting has been completed.

The following brief summary illustrates a few main purposes of each editing method.

The first priority is to acquire a developmental editor who will work side-by-side with you to:

Explain what works in the manuscript and what doesn’t
Point out areas in which the story does not make sense and inconsistency issues
Ensure that the plot is well-defined
Determine if the characters’ motivations line up with the characters’ personalities, feelings, thoughts and actions
Evaluate the Point of View’s validity throughout the document
Check that the showing of the characters’ actions is not overshadowed by an exhausting amount of telling
Assist in the proper set-up of dialogue and paragraph formation
Flag inconsistencies in setting and descriptions
Establish proper pacing and conflict resolution
Eliminate aspects of the manuscript that are not true to its established genre
Reorganize, add or remove scenes as needed
Provide guidance on all trouble areas

Once that detailed assessment has been completed and all of the necessary changes have been entered, seek out a copy editor skilled in the fine art of:

Sentence structure
Word reduction
Spelling
Grammar
Punctuation
Reducing redundancy
Improving the flow of the text

Naturally, one would assume that the aforementioned steps are enough to guarantee a fine-tuned manuscript, but that is not the case. The editing process does not stop there. A proofreader is the essential missing link in this equation. What can a proofreader offer that the developmental editor and copy editor cannot? The proofreader serves as the final official set of eyes on your manuscript. He/she is the polisher, so to speak. The one who is there to add in that missing punctuation, forgotten word or two or three. And seal any loose ends—misspellings, misconstrued character names or minor formatting issues.

In essence, no stage should be skipped. The developmental editor, copy editor and proofreader are key participants in the transition from a mediocre effort to a job well-done.

Lynel Washington
www.lyneljohnsonwashington.com

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author (eBook) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Patience, Please

: Lynel Washington

The most challenging task of being a copy editor is delivering what I’ve termed, “The Patience Speech.” Oftentimes, I receive manuscripts which I deem as incomplete from anxious first-time writers who are convinced their project is beyond ready for self-publication. My sense of professionalism is often tested by potential clients who haven’t researched the inner workings of the book industry and the intricate process of editing.

“What do you mean there are stages of editing?”

“Can’t you just do what you do and not focus on the missing parts?”

Well, to the novice writer asking me to perform copy editing services while closing my eyes to the developmental issues that may be present in his/her manuscript may be simple. Not! Don’t rush the process. Patience is a necessity. The journey toward becoming a published author is filled with speed bumps and pit stops. This is your first endeavor into the writing world. Trust those who’ve paved the way, learned the valuable lessons before you—your ancestors of writing, so to speak. Don’t judge these obstacles as painful; they are a catalyst for growth. What you may think is a finished product may be a rough draft in a professional editor’s eye. The work presented to your editor may include a great concept that may require further tweaking. On another note, until you have been through the process of developmental editing setting a release date is a no-no. It takes time to write, rewrite and write again.

Though you’re feeling excited about seeing your name on the cover of your first work of art, believe that an award-worthy finished product is more fulfilling than a less-than-stellar effort.

Lynel Washington

www.lyneljohnsonwashington.com

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Unrealistic Expectations

Below is a post of mine that was published a few years back, but the information is still valuable. Enjoy.

The other evening I was at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff minding my own self’s business while waiting in line to see Saturn through their HUGE telescope. I’ve lived in Phoenix two years now, and we rarely have cloudy days or nights. It’s great for star gazing if you can get away from the light pollution of the city. Anywhoooo, it just happened to be one of Flagstaff’s partially cloudy nights when I was standing in the block-plus long line to see the ringed planet. When we’d entered the observatory, we’d been told of the cloud situation, but I held out hope. I’d come to see Saturn, so I’d see Saturn. No cloud would stop me!

So an hour into the line, I’m about twenty people from the entrance and getting excited because I’ve only seen pictures of Saturn and now I would be seeing the real thing. Then it happened. The clouds moved over this area of stars. I wasn’t worried. With the billions of stars out there, what were the chances this bunch of clouds had covered my view of the planet Saturn? One of the astronomers came out and said something on the lines of, “We didn’t want you all in line expecting to see Saturn, and not see Saturn. The clouds are moving and may be covering Saturn when you go inside, so let me give you a tour of what you’re seeing now.”

I was disappointed. I came to see Saturn and those dang blasted clouds were trying to stop me. I was disappointed because my expectations weren’t being met. He proceeded to whip out this way cool laser pointer that seemed to reach all the way to the stars. He pointed to different constellations and even Saturn. I was like, wow, I thought Saturn was another star.

By the time it was my turn to look through the telescope, I’d resigned myself to possibly not being able to see the rings of Saturn. Why set unrealistic expectations and then be disappointed? So I’ll give you one guess what I saw when I looked though the telescope—SATURN! Yeah baby, no stinking clouds would stop me. LOL. Seriously though, if I hadn’t of been able to see Saturn, I would have been slightly disappointed, but fine because I’d dropped my unrealistic expectations of seeing Saturn through the clouds.

How many times have you set your self up for disappointment by having unrealistic expectations?

Here are a few unrealistic expectations I hear way too often from authors looking for traditional publishers:

Unrealistic Expectation: I won’t have to worry about marketing my book because the publishing house pays for marketing.
- Reality check – For most authors, unless you are bringing in Stephen King type money, the publishing house’s main goal is to get your novel into the bookstore and you will need to do the overwhelming majority of the marketing. The distributor for the publishing house usually creates a catalogue and presentation for book sellers such as Barnes & Noble to purchase your novel for their bookshelves. Many publishing houses have newsletters and websites that also promote the authors work, but for the most part, authors are on their own. You are responsible for your writing career.
Unrealistic Expectation—My publisher is going to send me on an all expense paid book tour.
- Reality Check—Book tours are GREAT, but it’s usually the author who has set this up. The publisher may pay a little supporting role, but don’t expect a lot of cash to help you out. Expect flyers and sometimes they’ll give you contacts. At times book clubs will pay the authors expenses to come speak to their book club or the author pays out of their own pocket for conferences and such. Many times, authors choose to do a book tour, but to save on expense, they tour the region they live in or if they are on vacation, will do a signing or whatever while they are in that area.
Unrealistic Expectation: I’ll be able to live off my advance and subsequent royalties.

Reality Check—Most new authors do not understand how advances and royalties work. Here are a few facts.

Advances for new authors usually range in the low thousands to the high hundreds. That’s not enough to live off.
If an author makes eighty cents royalties off each book sale, they are ahead of most.
Advance means advance on money you will be earning in the future. I have always thought of an advance as a payday loan without interest. Many authors do not understand that you must pay back the advance before you receive royalties. Don’t worry, the publishing house will not send you a bill. Let’s say you received $1000 advance and make fifty cent royalties from each novel sale. You’d need to sell 2000 novels to equal $1000. After you’ve sold 2000 novels, you will receive royalties on additional sales.
Most authors (new or seasoned) do not sell enough novels to actually receive royalties. This is why many publishing houses are considering dropping advances.

Let’s move on to some unrealistic expectations in editing

Unrealistic Expectation—The publishing house wouldn’t have picked up my novel if it needed developmental editing. Proofreading is all they’ll do.
- Reality Check—Your book may be fantastic, but there is no such thing as a perfect manuscript. ALL manuscripts go through editing, even the big name authors. True story. I was asked to edit this novel for a publishing house that was purchased as a traditional romance but was written as a mainstream fiction. I have NOOOOooooo idea what possessed them to pick up this novel as traditional romance and asked them to reconsider publishing it as mainstream. They still wanted it to be romance. Romance follows a formula, and this manuscript didn’t come close. Needless to say, when the author finished the rewrites, it was a different novel with a little of the flavor of the original. I felt so bad for the author, but when you sign that contract, you agree to make the edits. Granted, this horror story is rare, but once was too much for me. Many times authors have to change names, titles, settings, plots, eliminate characters, eliminate subplots…
Unrealistic Expectation: When I work with a developmental editor, they’ll perfect my book.
- Reality Check—The developmental editor is not a ghost writer unless you pay them to be a ghost writer. The developmental editor can give you guidance on characterization, consistency, plot, setting, voice… and give suggestions on how you can make your novel the best it can be. But at the end of the day, the writing is yours. Not everyone has the same abilities. So when you complete your rewrites, you may not have that great American novel. Some write better than others. Some take comments and build on them, make them their own or come up with ideas that are even better. Some don’t. Some can’t. If you have comments from the editor you don’t understand or you need further elaboration on, don’t be afraid to ask.
Unrealistic Expectation: When my novel is traditionally published, it won’t have any errors in it.
- Reality Check—Back in the day, novels went though seven to eight different pairs of trained eyes before they went to print and at times mistakes still slipped by. Those days are gone. No one can catch all of the errors, which is why so many pairs of eyes used to check to ensure the manuscript was correct. But not anymore. Cost cuts hit proof reading years ago. I HIGHLY SUGGEST everyone take a grammar/punctuation class at least every other year. Clean your novel up the best you can.

Whew, I’m tired. There are a TON more unrealistic expectations, but I thought I’d let you chime in. Come on, tell folks what unrealistic expectations you’ve come across and what the reality is.

Peace

Deatri King-Bey

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