Editing Secrets of Best-Selling Authors


Book Description

Successful writers spend a lot more time editing than they do writing. They know that first drafts need extensive revisions to ensure their stories or messages come across clearly and effectively. In this book you'll find a wealth of suggestions from best-selling authors who have studied editing techniques and implemented them in their books, which have touched the hearts and lives of readers around the world. If you're an aspiring, beginning, or intermediate writer, this book will help you polish your manuscript and get it ready for publication. If you're an established author, these tips can help you edit other writers' manuscripts, either in a critique group setting or as an editorial freelancer.




Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors


Book Description

Learn how best-selling authors proofread their manuscripts to avoid typos, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, and errors in punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling. Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, by professional freelance author, editor, and proofreader Kathy Ide, is the essential go-to tool for aspiring and experienced writers and editors. This book includes all of the material from Ide's popular Polishing the PUGS book (now out of print), with added PUGS guidelines and helpful tips from multi-published authors on how to catch typos and other common mistakes. In Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors, Kathy Ide identifies the industry-standard references for books, magazines, and newspapers (which are different from the guidelines for other types of writing, such as college term papers). Using these official references, she highlights the most common mistakes writers make in the areas of punctuation, usage, grammar, and spelling (for which she uses the acronym PUGS). She also includes guidelines from The Christian Writer's Manual of Style for authors and editors who work in the inspirational market.




Becoming Bestsellers: John Grisham and Danielle Steel (Sample from Chapter 2 of THE BESTSELLER CODE)


Book Description

This sneak peek teaser - featuring literary giants John Grisham and Danielle Steele - from Chapter 2 of The Bestseller Code, a groundbreaking book about what a computer algorithm can teach us about blockbuster books, stories, and reading, reveals the importance of topic and theme in bestselling fiction according to percentages assigned by what the authors refer to as the “bestseller-ometer.” Although 55,000 novels are published every year, only about 200 hit the lists, a commercial success rate of less than half a percent. When the computer was asked to “blindly” select the most likely bestsellers out of 5,000 books published over the past thirty years based only on theme, it discovered two possible candidates: The Accident by Danielle Steel and The Associate by John Grisham. The computer recognized quantifiable patterns in their seemingly opposite, but undeniably successful writing careers with legal thrillers and romance. In Chapter 2, Archer and Jockers analyze this data and divulge the most and least likely to best sell topics and themes in fiction with a human discussion of the “why” behind these results. The Bestseller Code is a big-idea book about the relationship between creativity and technology. At heart it is a celebration of books for readers and writers—a compelling investigation into how successful writing works.




How to Write a Novel


Book Description

Author and former literary agent Nathan Bransford shares his secrets for creating killer plots, fleshing out your first ideas, crafting compelling characters, and staying sane in the process. Read the guide that New York Times bestselling author Ransom Riggs called "The best how-to-write-a-novel book I've read."




Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t


Book Description

There's a mantra that real writers know but wannabe writers don’t. And the secret phrase is this: NOBODY WANTS TO READ YOUR SH*T. Recognizing this painful truth is the first step in the writer's transformation from amateur to professional. From Chapter Four: “When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, you develop empathy. You acquire the skill that is indispensable to all artists and entrepreneurs—the ability to switch back and forth in your imagination from your own point of view as writer/painter/seller to the point of view of your reader/gallery-goer/customer. You learn to ask yourself with ev­ery sentence and every phrase: Is this interesting? Is it fun or challenging or inventive? Am I giving the reader enough? Is she bored? Is she following where I want to lead her?




Capitalization Dictionary


Book Description

"Do I capitalize north or not? When should church be capitalized and when should it be lowercased? What about earth? Or master's degree?" If you often find yourself asking such questions while proofreading your manuscript or someone else's, you'll find the answers right here. Kathy Ide's Capitalization Dictionary is an alphabetical list of words that writers and editors often wonder about when it comes to capitalization rules. Different reference books sometimes have different guidelines, so the Capitalization Dictionary identifies whether a word is capitalized or lowercased according to these industry-standard reference books: - The Chicago Manual of Style - Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary - The Associated Press Stylebook - Webster's New World College Dictionary - The Christian Writer's Manual of Style




All About Copyediting


Book Description

Want to add punch to your prose? Follow these 55 simple edits and improve your writing forever! Getting readers past page one, despite your ‘explosive, fast paced hitting-the-ground-running opening’, is what this guide is all about. Applying the 55 easy editing steps to your fiction will allow reviewers and readers to evaluate your novel purely on the strength of your story and not on clumsy and weak prose, overuse of adverbs, repetition, and flabbiness. And in the process, you will learn to become an experienced and competent editor. Use these 55 steps to: Find redundant adjectives and overused adverbs Banish boring words Learn dialogue writing Write characters more effectively Discover over thirty overused words and phrases such as that, it, up/down, was/were, had, even, got, etc. Reduce overuse of exclamations and the ellipsis Use italics, quotations, and capitalisation properly Target word pairs and homophones Improve your proofreading and editing skills Handle numbers and time effectively ...And discover more about flow, show not tell, writing tenses, dialogue handling and more. All About Copyediting will not tell you how to write a novel, nor how to write like Tolstoy, or any other author. It will certainly not explain how to write bestselling fiction, how to make money, or guarantee you marketing success. What it will guarantee, is to give your novel the best chance it can get in a tough, competitive, and new publishing world. BUY All About Editing and edit your way to success! REVIEW EXCERPTS "An indispensable guide for amateurs and professionals of any theme of word-based creation." "This is a very useful and easily understandeable guide for new writers trying to self publish" "A very useful tool to have on hand." "A must read for any writer to avoid sending a clanger of a draft to a reviewer or publisher! Great value." "The style is clear and accessible. This is a book that I have found invaluable as I rewrite and revise my fiction drafts. Highly recommended" "...gives you simple, clear rules and 55 easy steps to check your book for. It won't turn a poor writer into a great one, but it will help you avoid common mistakes and give you tools to turn telling into showing" "An extremely useful guide for editing manuscripts, written as a set of editing tips." "This is a great resource for authors. I have used it and it works. I highly recommend this book. Great!"




Putting My Foot Down


Book Description

"My books spent 5 years on the New York Times Best Seller List. They got there through endless hours of hard work. If only Brent had been my marketer, I could have done it in 5 minutes with a simple picture. I'M SO STUPID!"- Tucker Max, 3x #1 NY Times Best Selling Author "Like all good art, this book--and it is definitely a book--exposes a little bit about how society works."- Ryan Holiday, author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Trust Me, I'm Lying: Confessions of a Media Manipulator "Brent Underwood's book shows the inner workings of the publishing industry and its desire to be the "best". Brent helps create a path toward ending the madness."- Matthew Kepnes, author of the New York Times bestseller How To Travel The World on $50 a Day "Unputdownable! Hop don't walk, to your nearest Kindle and download it now! The footnotes alone are worth the cover price!"- Brooke Unger, Americas Editor, The Economist "Putting My Foot Down will keep you on your toes at all time."- Young & Sick, musician/artist "Brent Underwood's foot, a more accomplished author than you or I."- The Paris Review "...status is meaningless, and can be bought for just a few dollars."- BoingBoing "Amen, Brent. Amen."- The Daily Dot "A man put a photo of his foot on Amazon."- Gothamist "The game's definitely afoot!"- Neil Gaiman "Amazing how much perception creates reality today."- Nick Bilton, Columnist, New York Times "...had me from the moment this guy takes a photo of his foot."- Laura Bennett, Senior Editor, Slate "Brilliant."- Martin Robbins, Columnist, VICE "...nails the 'biggest lie in publishing'."- Richard Lea, Books Reporter, The Guardian




Edupreneur: How To Monetise Your Expertise and Profitably Educate Your Market


Book Description

Education is the new currency.Regardless of what business or industry you are in; if you wish to sell what you have to others, your commercial survival depends on you becoming the EDUPRENEUR.Consumers are tired of sales pitches and promises, and instead are seeking information and knowledge. By giving it to them you get to demonstrate your capability and expertise as much as they get to experience it - making you choice number 1 for their needs.Edupreneurs strategically share their expertise in a way that provides unprecedented global reach, immeasurable impact on the lives of others, and unlimited income potential.Every single person on Earth has an abundant and unique set of skills, experiences, and knowledge that could be turned into commercially profitable products and services.In this book, Sarah Cordiner will take you through the fundamentals of monetising your expertise and profitably sharing what you know with the world.Whether you are an absolute beginner in creating and selling information and education-based products and services, or are up-levelling to a serious education-based business operation; this book will help you get there.Inside this book:How to commercialise your skills, knowledge, and expertise and start profiting from what is already in your head.How to create your own unique `funnel of service',so that you no longer need to `sell', and instead have your customers coming eagerly to you for your advice and expertise.A deep dive into the 10 stages of designing and building a highly successful information or education-based business so that you maximise your impact and income.How to price your informational and educational products and services; including courses, consulting, workshops and more.Where and how to sell your educational products for maximum exposure and sales - particularly online courses.The critical elements of an online education based business. What online tools, apps and products you need and how they all fit together for maximum profitability, scalability, and automation. How to use your expertise to become a well-known leader in your industry.




The Frugal Editor


Book Description

The Frugal Editor: Do-it-Yourself Editing Secrets From your query letter to final manuscript to the marketing of your new book Whether you are a new or experienced author, The Frugal Editor helps you present whistle-clean copy from a one-page cover letter to your entire manuscript that will convince those with the power to say "yea" or "nay" to your precious book. The third edition of The Frugal Editor, is the winningest book in Carolyn's multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of Books for writers with accolades from Reader Views Literary Award, Dan Poynter's Global Ebook Award, the coveted Irwin Award, and many others. This fully updated edition includes the new help you need from managing gender pronouns to maximizing the usefulness of front and back matter. Altogether, The Frugal Editor now provides 50% more information designed for the success of your title. "Writers and editors have a true friend in Carolyn Howard-Johnson. Her word smarts, her publishing savvy, and her sincere commitment to authors and editors make The Frugal Editor a must-have resource." -- June Casagrande, author of The Best Punctuation Book, Period and Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies (Penguin) and syndicated grammar columnist "Previous editions of The Frugal Editor were excellent. Nothing could be better... except this book which has an additional 50% new content. The publishing world changes quickly, and this text allows writers to keep up with the ever-changing world of editors, publicists, finicky agents, trends, cultural expectations, queries, and media kits... exploding grammar myths, and possible scams. Save yourself time and money by learning from the best, Howard-Johnson. -- Carolyn Wilhelm, BA, MA, MS and author of environmental content "Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a godsend for writers everywhere. Her new book The Frugal Editor, is part reference guide, part do-it-yourself editing manual, part masterclass on the writing and publishing industry... and all with Carolyn's signature humor and encouraging energy! She is a master at simplifying overwhelming tasks into relevant, can-do information. This book is a must for every writer's bookshelf!" --Dallas Woodburn, book coach and best-selling author of Thanks, Cariss, for Ruining my Life "I am using The Frugal Editor to polish my next book. I've used it for the first edit, the beta edit, and...I'm ready to snuff out excess words. Your tip about adding spaces with the search and replace tool is a timely add to my editing skills. It was easy to weed out abbreviations like AR for Arkansas one of my clients used with the (space)AR(space) feature." --Elizabeth Seckman, editor of Insecure Writers Group newsletter "In the third edition of her The Frugal Editor, Carolyn Howard-Johnson helps authors obtain a finished product worthy of Simon and Shuster. The book guides readers through evolving changes in the English language that has no governing academy regulating it." --Helen Dunn Frame shares her secrets for Retiring in Costa Rica or Doctors, Dogs and Pura Vida and other books." "Use basic computer and editing tricks from The Frugal Editor, to prevent headaches, to save time-and even money. It's well worth your effort to learn them." --Barbara McNichol, Barbara McNichol Editorial "...An important new section deals with using your friends, family, or writing circle as readers [beta readers]. Your book is your baby, but it may have content or pace that make it a loser when other people read it. Once you're sure you have a good product and have done all the recommended editing yourself, it's time to think about a professional editor. The book does an excellent job of showing what a professional can do for your manuscript." --Nancy Famolari, author of the Montbleu Mysteries Learn more at https://howtodoitfrugally.com/ From Modern HIstory Press