• A common mistake my editing eye has picked up on is the use of filler words. These words elongate your book but don't advance your story. Here are 10 wor...

    10 Words to Cut From Your Manuscript

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    Editing your own writing will never be the easiest part of the writing journey, but knowing what to look for can make the task a whole lot simpler. Working with the publishing company Xulon Press for a decade now has taught me a lot to say the least. A common mistake my editing eye has picked up on is what I like to call the use of filler words. Excessive use of these words elongates your manuscript but does not advance your story.  As a rule of thumb, avoid using words that end in -ly, such as quickly, readily, suddenly,…

  • Introducing Xulon’s New Editorial Critique Service

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    In 2014, the most helpful feedback that the editorial department received from our authors was that they wished they could have received more in-depth feedback on their manuscripts prior to going into editing and production. The manuscript review was of course helpful, but it wasn’t the thorough read-through and analyzation of a book’s content, structure, characterization, and so forth, like many authors may desire to receive. While some authors are fine with a short overview and review of their book, there are some that truly want to improve their book, have their strengths identified in detail as well as their areas of improvement with…