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Self-editing for Self-publishers: Incorporating—A Style Guide for Fiction Paperback – April 14, 2020
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A comprehensive modern manual on how to self-edit your book.
Written by a professional editor, this book gives you a clear and easy-to-follow process that mirrors the editing that a traditionally published book undergoes.Broken down into structural, sentence-level and proofreading stages, each section is copiously illustrated with before-and-after edited examples.
In it, you will find answers to all the commonly asked questions, like:
- "Should I have a prologue?"
- "How do I punctuate dialogue properly?"
- "How many characters are too many characters?"
- "How do I write thoughts?"
- "Is passive voice always wrong?"
- How to use beta readers
- How to write a synopsis
- What to look for when hiring an editor
- Pros and cons of editing software
Read what other authors and editors have said about it:
"I have read articles, watched videos etc about writing, but I have learned more from your book than from all of those other sources together. It is also very well-written, precise and with specific examples and makes an enjoyable as well as educational read."
"This is an invaluable resource for a growing subset of writers ... everything I’ve ever wanted to say to self-publishing authors, presented clearly and respectfully."
"An invaluable guide for aspiring indie authors. I will cherish this book."
" I have read it twice now and am reading the first part, the part about developmental editing, for a third time. I expect to read the whole book several more times in the next couple of years."
As recommended by professional editors worldwide.
Note: Self-editing is not a substitute for employing a professional editor. For your book to be the very best it can be, you will still need another set of eyes on it. Diligently following the advice in this book, however, means that your editor will have far less work to do, and therefore charge a fraction of what they would have needed to charge to edit a rough first draft.
- Print length412 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- Publication dateApril 14, 2020
- Dimensions5.5 x 1.03 x 8.5 inches
- ISBN-101838016503
- ISBN-13978-1838016500
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"This is an invaluable resource for a growing subset of writers. This is everything I've ever wanted to say to self-publishing authors, presented clearly and respectfully. There were a number of topics that I found myself considering in regards to my own fiction writing, and others where, as an editor, I wanted to shout an 'Amen!' The section on PoV was enlightening to me as a writer, and I will be applying your advice in my own writing."
"I really enjoyed this book! You have a winner here, a much-needed addition to any writer's resource shelf."
"I think this book will be an invaluable resource for any writer, whether they wish to self-publish or not."
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Reen Publishing (April 14, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 412 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1838016503
- ISBN-13 : 978-1838016500
- Item Weight : 1.14 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.5 x 1.03 x 8.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #453,001 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #133 in Editing Writing Reference (Books)
- #614 in Authorship Reference
- #1,357 in Fiction Writing Reference (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Richard Bradburn was born in Kent and lived in London most of his adult life until a close encounter with a terrorist bomb made him rethink his life's trajectory. He moved with his young family to the far south west of Ireland where he determined to re-kindle a love of writing and books (while renovating old stone farmhouses and planting things, some of which even grew).
He wrote novels (and short stories, some of which were shortlisted for awards and eventually published). He became an editor, training and studying things about the written word that he didn't know he didn't know, learning how to help others to achieve their writing ambitions. He critiqued and edited authors' work on websites hosted by Harper Collins, Penguin, and even the mighty Amazon. He wrote for the national press (the Irish Times) on writing and editing, his articles being picked up by international literary journals (Arts and Letters Daily). He spoke at conferences in the UK and Europe, cajoling and encouraging writers to think about how to write their best work.
Then he wrote a book about self-editing. This is it. In it you will find his distilled experience of the pitfalls that most self-published authors fall into. All the most common questions are answered, all the most common problem areas explored, with copious before-and-after edited examples. If you need one book to move your first draft from amateur to professional, you could try this one.
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Also, regardless if you work with an editor at a traditional house, using this wonderful book to sharpen your prose to the best you can make it beforehand should be a no brainer, helping you along whatever route you take to publishing. The fact the author has a great sense of humor only makes this journey even more enjoyable and worthwhile.
If you want to gain priceless information on how you can evaluate your writing while your writing it, then this book can help you avoid a great number of mistakes in the first draft. It will then show you how to approach improving later drafts. For a hobby writer such as myself, this was a great addition to my writing education.
For those who are newer to the writing game, author Richard Bradburn covers all the basics, based on what he’s seen as a book editor. He examines the most common errors all writers make, and then provides clear instruction and easy-to-implement advice.
The book is split into three basic parts: the first part explains exactly what’s involved in self-editing, which is a little different than simple revisions. Bradburn encourages writers to put themselves in the place of an agent, a publisher, or a reader to distance themselves enough to work effectively. The second part focuses on the big-picture items like plot, character, and pacing, giving examples in abundance. The third part takes the writer to the sentence level and shows how to find, analyze, and fix what’s wrong or what’s weak.
This book explores differences in the many varieties of English used all over the world, and gives examples across the board. There are six appendices to help with everything from point of view issues to the use of editing software.
Whether you plan to self-publish or get your manuscript in tip-top shape to query an agent, this resource can help from every angle. Consider it the updated, even-more-thorough version of Browne & King’s Self-editing for Fiction Writers—a terrific book on its own, but now sixteen years past its release date, leaving writers in need of something more current and applicable in today’s market.
Self-editing for Self-publishers is a book I’m not only happy to recommend, but glad to have on my own resource shelf.
Top reviews from other countries
Some of the viewpoints aren't to my taste. The author is fairly obviously not a computer expert and is a bit of a Word fan. Their view is very much that of a traditional editor, they don't seem to have that strong a grasp of the economics of self publishing. Some of the advice might apply if you are going to sell 100,000 units but realistically that's very unlikely to happen and if you spend money on professional editing up front on the assumption your going to hit the 1000 to 1 jackpot, you'll lose money. The flexibility of e-books and print on demand mean as long as you do a good job of self-editing you can wait and see what kind of money the book is earning before spending a few thousand on a professional editor.
The bottom line is this is a very useful book and one that can serve as a reference for common questions that come up when self-editing after the initial read through.
If you're writing and learning to write, two things which mean the same, then you know that self-editing is vital. Unless you're already making millions from your work, you need to know how to edit yourself before your books are even good enough to hand over to a professional.
Learning how to edit makes you a better writer, of course.
This book is so dense and full of the things you need to know that I have read it twice now and am reading the first part, the part about developmental editing, for a third time. I expect to read the whole book several more times in the next couple of years.
It is a handbook that mimics the only possible logical process of going from the general to the particular - from why your villain is so pathetic, to noticing the sun rises twice that day, to whether or not to use the Oxford comma.
Also, I forgot to mention, the book is nice and easy to read.
But don't be misled by the title, this is for EVERY author to read; be it fiction, non-fiction or memoir.
Keep it near your laptop or journal - full of useful information that is easy to take on board.
Excellent
Written with a chatty, informal and often humourous tone, the book doesn’t assume any technical knowledge of writing, punctuation and grammar or publishing and explains the concepts clearly using some really helpful metaphors. Each section has a summary at the end, summing up what you’ve learned so far, letting you see where you are – and where you need to go next.
I know that I will be referring back to this book time and again as I work through editing my own novel, and I have already recommended it to many other authors!