People often ask me whether publishers edit their books or not, and I always respond with “It depends.” If you choose the traditional publishing route, editors within your publishing house will not only edit your manuscript, but your literary agent will also make edits and note revisions for you to make. If you opt to self-publish your book, you will be responsible for having and paying for editing services for your manuscript. In this post, we’ll explore how book editing works both when your book is traditionally published and when you self-publish your book. How Book Editing Works When Your…
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Plot holes can creep up in any book genre, and typically go undetected for a while. To start identifying plot holes within your work, you have to know what you’re looking for. There are a few different types of plot holes: Continuity errors Something takes place that is impossible Storylines are unresolved at the end of the book Contradictions are embedded in the writing An illogical event takes place Now, that we know what plot holes are, we need to know how to avoid them. The most helpful way to avoid plot holes is to revise your work with strong…
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This question of writing skillset comes up a lot: “Do I need to be good at writing to write a book?” The answer is “yes” and “no.” In order to write a book that others want to read, writers have to understand the basics of writing and be willing to read a lot of resource books, and teach themselves how to plot out their writing in a way that readers will follow. Grammar is an important part of writing because, without strong grammar and sentence structure, a book is hard to read and comprehend. “Well, I can just hire an editor…
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What are Style Guides? It can get downright confusing to remember all the writing rules set in place centuries ago. That’s where style guides come in handy; a style guide is a manual that details the standards for writing, designing, and publishing various publications. There are many types of industries publishing materials within their area of expertise. Style guides are specifically created to keep writers, editors, and designers on the same page when working on a project. In your high school and college English classes, you most likely used a style called MLA, or The Modern Language Association Handbook. If you’ve done…