StorytimeWednesday

  When you've invested time and effort into writing a book, finding the right publisher is crucial. Whether you go with a small press or self-publishing, it's essential to evaluate potential publishers carefully. Start by jotting down your priorities and questions regarding your work. Identify which publisher aligns best with your needs. Key Considerations: Contracts: Scrutinize the contract thoroughly; having an attorney review it can be invaluable. Pay attention to royalties, advances, rights retained, and how many copies y ou receive for personal use or promotional purposes. Formatting : Understand submission formats and error-checking options before publication. Know how to submit cover art and author photos as well as details about ISBNs. Print-on-Demand (POD) : Inquire if POD is available even if you're currently focused on eBooks—having print options can be beneficial later. Editing. Are the books polished or simply printed without review? Are there extra costs for ...

  Your first draft if finished, now walk away for at least a day or two before you begin your editing process. If you can't afford to hire a professional editor to clean up your project, then you'll have to do it yourself. When I first started writing it took me ages to get the first page written because I kept rereading the page and editing, changing, and redefining the sentences. Finally, my writing mentor who was a previously published novelist who I adore finally got fed up with me during one of his biweekly catch-up phone calls to me when he asked how many pages I got written in the previous two weeks. My response was one page, and my reasoning was that the grammar and wording just didn't sound right to me. He snapped at me and gave me the best advice any writer could receive, stop editing and get the story out of your head and onto the paper or laptop in my case. Editing comes later. It's serious writing time. Now hang up the phone and get to writing and you bette...

  You can edit your story like a Publisher!   Although every publisher believes that every writer needs a good editor, that’s not really true, if you can write a book, you can learn to edit your own work before it is published.   Why do you need to edit your work once you’ve finished writing your best work? The reason why you need to do editing of your work is because you want your readers to be able to comprehend what your story is all about and want to promote your work to their friends.   So you’ve written a novel and now it’s time to begin the editing process. Fist off be sure to run your manuscript through your spell check to ensure everything is spelt correctly. Secondly be sure to find all the word “That” and delete them all. Third print off your manuscript and make sure it’s double spaced with 1- 1 ½ inch boarders so you can make notes accordingly. When I edit one of my finished manuscripts, I punch holes in the copy so I can place it into a three-ring bi...