😎 I try to be cool… but marketing can be cringy. 📆 I’ve set myself the challenge this week of using client testimonials as part of a marketing push. That’s such a lie. 😬 The reality is I’d set myself the challenge of sharing social proof three weeks ago – but I keep bumping itContinue reading “An editor who makes indie authors happy. Testimonials say my top skills are attention to detail and excellent communication.”
Tag Archives: personaldevelopment
Cherry Edits: available for samples, blogs and short stories this spring/summer. Full-length novel edits from September. Here’s why.
😅 And breathe. I’ve just got to the end of a seven-month, back-to-back stint of client work for various #indieauthors. It’s been amazing. But I’ve deliberately not taken any novel-length bookings for the next couple of months*. Here’s why: 1️⃣ I need some time to work on my business. I’ve got the editing and proofreadingContinue reading “Cherry Edits: available for samples, blogs and short stories this spring/summer. Full-length novel edits from September. Here’s why.”
What is proofreading and what is it not?
In a couple of different places online, I posted the instruction to fill in the blank. 📢 When I send off my book to a proofreader, I expect that proofreader to ____________. 😅 Now, that’s the thing with social media. You don’t always get back what you anticipated. I could have put it into contextContinue reading “What is proofreading and what is it not?”
Your book is your baby – so find the right babysitter!
The author–editor relationship: an analogy: 👶 “I’m so proud of my book baby!” 🎂 “Happy book birthday!” I see a lot of authors using the baby metaphor to describe their books. I can definitely see why. All that time. All that nurturing. And that uncanny reflection where you see parts of yourself staring straight backContinue reading “Your book is your baby – so find the right babysitter!”
Save The Cat! Writes a Novel. A great book about story structure. Have you read it?
🤩 I’ll tell you what I’m loving about Save the Cat! Writes a Novel so far: 📚 the examples. The novels which are referenced to back up the claims about story structure. There’s a really nice balance in the selection of texts across genres, styles, eras, audiences. It’s just a stroke of luck that IContinue reading “Save The Cat! Writes a Novel. A great book about story structure. Have you read it?”
Looking for a proofreader/editor who is experienced at working with indie authors? That’s me!
I’ve just been crunching some numbers. 📈 In 2021, I had: 1️⃣3️⃣ editing jobs. Of these: 8️⃣ were indie author clients 4️⃣ were business clients and 1️⃣ was an academic client. My word count for the year was 581,191. Not bad considering that’s been part-time. 94% of the words I proofread/edited belonged to indie authorContinue reading “Looking for a proofreader/editor who is experienced at working with indie authors? That’s me!”
Do you attend a creative writing group?
I’ve spent the afternoon at a creative writing group in Morecambe. I really enjoyed the writing prompts and exercises. 1) A piece of free writing based on the word of the day — travail. 2) A first lines auction. This was a great idea. Everyone writes an opening line (to a poem, piece of prose,Continue reading “Do you attend a creative writing group?”
How do I find motivation to tick things off my to-do list? I tell my accountability group I’m going to do them.
I’m currently ticking off my last couple of January goals. 🎯 I said I’d contact eight publishers in Jan. So far I’ve done five, so I’ll do another three today. 🎯 I said I’d attend an in-person creative writing group in Jan. So I’m going to one this afternoon. “I said I’d…” refers to theContinue reading “How do I find motivation to tick things off my to-do list? I tell my accountability group I’m going to do them.”
What is Parkinson’s Law? Knowing this helps me to be a more efficient editor.
⏰ “It is a commonplace observation that work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” Cyril Northcote Parkinson, The Economist,1955. I gave myself the morning off today and I’m really glad I did. It’s been a mad few weeks and yesterday evening when I hit send on this month’s main editingContinue reading “What is Parkinson’s Law? Knowing this helps me to be a more efficient editor.”
Cherry Edits: making in-roads with traditional publishers.
That’s the proofreading test done for the big ol’ publisher. 🤞 It’s just over two years since I finished P3, my third CIEP training course. And it was noticeable this weekend as I was finishing off the test sample how much more confident I felt than when I did the final course exercises at theContinue reading “Cherry Edits: making in-roads with traditional publishers.”
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