Archive for May 2023
What Developmental Editing Isn’t
Last week, I introduced developmental editing and gave an overview of what it is. This week, I’m describing what it’s not. As developmental editing is its own animal, it doesn’t deal with any of the following: Copy editing. This type of editing focuses on word choice, punctuation, capitalization, style, typographical errors, and grammar. Copy editors…
Read MoreConsider Developmental Editing After Writing That First Draft
You’ve completed a first draft of your manuscript. Congratulations! Now you need it checked by a developmental editor. Developmental editing is the process where the editor critically examines the manuscript and addresses all the major issues, including style issues, sentence phrasing, and pacing. The key word is critically because the work can result in substantially…
Read MoreHire 1 Good Ghostwriter — or Don’t Write the Book
You have an idea for a book that you’re sure will be a big hit and reach a wide audience. You also have decided that, for whatever reason, you can’t write it yourself. So, you hire a ghostwriter. Unfortunately, the book you got was pure drek: typos galore, inconsistent style, questionable organizational choices, and words…
Read MoreIn Defense of Humans vs. AI
To paraphrase William Shakespeare: When machines do the work that we’re assigned And create the content that does abound We’ll all be free to do the things we love And leave the dreary work to be done by glove. I say paraphrase because this, I believe obviously, was written by artificial intelligence (I found it…
Read MoreReasons a Book Gets Bad Reviews: The Storytelling Lacks
What makes a great book? A lot of things, actually, but to paraphrase James Carville, it’s the storytelling, stupid. Publishers I talk to are always looking for a story that is compelling, one that’s unique, relates to the reader, puts the reader into the author’s world, and evokes an emotional response. So, too, are ghostwriters,…
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