Standards of spelling survey

Posted on May 24, 2012 by admin

Did you hear about the recent survey, commissioned by Mencap, into standards of spelling in the UK? It was reported on in national media – radio and press. The results were newsworthy, apparently, but of no surprise to me.

Basically, as a nation we’re over-reliant on spellcheckers and have a poor understanding of grammar, punctuation and spelling. Only one in five adults can spell ‘necessary’, ‘definitely’ and ‘separate’ correctly.

I know standards of English aren’t high, of course, because I spend most of my days correcting writers. But unlike the gleeful press response to the survey, there’s no judgement from me for the vast majority of people who don’t spell well. It’s education that let them down. And in a world where technology spells for us and we hardly ever write with a pen, it’s understandable that standards have slipped.

What is required (and I salute the Mencap survey for raising awareness here) is recognition that people generally don’t spell well. I can’t tell you how many spelling mistakes I notice on websites and in marketing materials and books that the author – often a decent writer – clearly has no idea s/he’s made. Because the spellchecker really DOESN’T CATCH EVERYTHING.

The choice is either realise that you need to perfect your own spelling, and then do so; or, if the writing matters (book, CV, marketing info), hire a proofreader for peace of mind.

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The role of the editorial consultant

Posted on May 14, 2012 by admin

In this week’s The Bookseller literary agent Peter Cox has written an article condemning publishers who are branching out into offering services and courses for authors in an attempt to ‘monetise the slush pile’. He  says that ‘the misconception that anyone is capable of writing a bestseller is not only damaging to aspiring writers, but bestselling ones, too’.

I’m not convinced these publishers are exploiting authors. They’re simply noticing what editors like me are doing, and setting up to compete. No one’s telling authors they’ll write a bestseller, and only the best writers succeed as a result of using writers’ services and courses. And the increase of courses and services – of decent quality – available to writers is surely a good thing. Even those writers who will never sell millions of copies benefit from editorial consultancy and writing guidance.

Most worrying in the article, for me, is this line: ‘[M]any of these offerings are … guilty of being extremely poor value for money – why anyone would pay hundreds or thousands of pounds for advice that’s available in any how-to book is beyond me …’

My high-level editorial consultancy services can cost several hundred pounds, or over a thousand – because they’re reflective of the time it takes me to carry out the work and the level of my expertise. The idea that an author doesn’t need an editor – that they can learn all they need in a how-to book – is laughable to me. It’s like saying we don’t need teachers in schools – just hand a kid a stack of books and he’ll know how to do quadratic equations and conjugate a French verb and write beautiful English. Or that publishing houses don’t need proofreaders and editors – you could just give an author a How to Prep Your Book for Publication book, and he’ll make it word perfect.

I’ve recently finished writing a how-to book for authors, called Writing a Marketable Book (to be published by Troubador later this year). I’m hopeful that the book will help authors to create decent books that sell. But I’m under no illusion that my book replaces the need for The Book Specialist services.

Authors need guidance. Input. Suggestions. Feedback. Opinions. Dialogue. How else can they develop their craft? Reading a book on how to write is useful – but it’s not enough. Some writers are naturally brilliant and need little support, but these are the exception to the rule.

In the seven years I’ve been running The Book Specialist, I’ve worked with countless authors, all of whom have developed their writing as a result of my services. I’ve never once had a complaint that the guidance I give is poor value for money; that a client could have bought a book for £9.99 and achieved the same result. In fact, during a recent mentoring session with a client (for which I charge £50 per hour) he was so excited by the leaps forward he’d made in plotting his book that he declared I should charge £200 per hour. I won’t, because I’m not in the business of exploiting authors, but it exemplifies my point about value for money.

Perhaps Mr Cox would be less negative about editorial services and writing courses if each book that came into his agency had been created by an author who’d had such support. No slush pile then – just a stack of interesting, engaging books.

Posted in Books, Consultancy, How to get published, In the news, Preparing for submission/publication, Publishing industry, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged , , | Comments Off

The cost of editorial services: You pay peanuts, you get monkeys

Posted on May 10, 2012 by admin

I’ve been providing freelance editing and proofreading services for seven years now, and training other editors for four years, and during that time I’ve given talks and written articles for magazines in which I’ve publically denounced cheap editing. Recently, I’ve noticed a surge of new editors and editing agencies setting up, no doubt to take advantage of the e-publishing sensation. And because of the kinds of rates I’m seeing advertised, I think it’s time, once again, to reiterate the message: you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

The Society for Editors and Publishers sets recommended minimum rates for editing and proofreading services for a reason: decent editors and proofreaders are trained, experienced, skilled professionals who carry out a very difficult job that many people can’t do – and we deserve decent pay for that.

Consider, for a moment, the reality of rock-bottom prices. Say the editor is charging £2.50 per 1,000 words for combined content and language editing. At this level of editing, an editor should be editing no more than 2,500 words an hour, which equates to £6.25 per hour (and the editor may get through as little as 1,000 words per hour, so earning £2.50 per hour). Then you have to consider the editor’s overheads, like rates, energy bills and, if it’s an agency, outsourcing fees. Clearly, this level of profit is madness! (By the way, I haven’t invented this £2.50 rate. It’s being offered now by editors.)

So, when a freelance editor/proofreader or an editorial agency is setting really low prices, before you get excited and sign up, consider why the rates are so low. It’s going to be one, or a combination, of these reasons: 

  1. The editor is inexperienced, and doesn’t realise how long editing takes. This is worrying. Do you want such an inexperienced editor working on your book? 
  2. The editor is rushing. Which means s/he misses lots of issues and doesn’t care much about quality. This is worrying. Do you want such a slap-dash editor working on your book?
  3. The editor doesn’t know how to edit properly. Which means s/he doesn’t know to do half of the editing required. This is worrying. Do you want such an amateur editor working on your book?

I know for a fact that plenty of editors advertising their services aren’t up to scratch. Why? Because:

  1. I read their websites and I find plenty of issues with the text. If a website is littered with clumsy writing, spelling mistakes and random capitalisation, what does that say about the editor’s ability? 
  2. I read their websites and can see they have no, or little, experience in publishing. So the editor has published a book or been in PR or been a journalist. Great; that’s nice. Doesn’t mean the editor knows how to edit, though. PRs and authors and journalists write, they don’t edit – a separate editor edits their writing. An editor is someone who’s trained to edit and has a wealth of experience in editing books.
  3. I check their work and find it to be substandard. Sometimes authors and publishers send me books to check that have already been edited by another freelancer/company, and I root out the issues that remain or have been introduced by the shoddy editor. Usually, my client then goes back to the first editor with the file I’ve marked up and angrily demands an explanation for the state of the book.

Of course, there are plenty of excellent editors out there, with the credentials and experience to edit a book expertly. And all editors make/miss the odd mistake – we’re human, not machines. But I’m talking about a section of the editorial services market that’s demonstrating its lack of experience and attention to quality with daft prices.

So, you can get your book edited and proofread cheaply. But it won’t be done well. Agents/publishers won’t be impressed by your writing. And if you self-publish, readers will find plenty of mistakes. Which rather defeats the object of commissioning an editorial service in the first place, don’t you think?

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How being a book editor affects reading for pleasure

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

I’ve always been a bookworm. As a young girl, I read the children’s section of my local library dry. As a teen, I would remind my father to take several bags on our Saturday trip to the library as we both took advantage of the maximum allowance of ten books per borrower. As an adult, I live in a house cluttered with books and I manage to squeeze one into my handbag/baby changing bag wherever I go.

So, I love to read. But in recent years I’ve noticed a change in how I’m reading.

Once, I read simply as a reader – lost in the world the author created. Then, at university, I began to read more critically – but I was still able to slip away while reading a book. When I first began editing as a job, I found myself noticing features of the book more and getting irritated by the odd mistake, but I was still able to happily devour books. Fast forward a decade through editing, developing and ghostwriting hundreds of books, and though I still read for pleasure every day, I find it increasingly difficult to turn off the editor part of me.

In the past week I’ve read books by Stieg Larsson, Roald Dahl, JK Rowling, and I’ve driven myself crazy editing them in my mind – noticing words repeated in close proximity or phrases like ‘try and’ that should read ‘try to’ or jumps in the logical flow of the text. Now, let me be clear – these books have been brilliantly edited, and I’m not saying they aren’t excellent. Any book could be re-edited over and over again, and different editors have different takes on a book – so it’s natural that I question certain elements. But it does rather interrupt me when I’m trying to get lost in a book.

And if I’m like this with superb books, just imagine how exhausted I am after ploughing through a fairly shoddy one…

So, reading – my favourite activity since toddlerdom – has become tricky.

First, I tried to forcibly switch off the inner editor by reading really fast. The result was that I hadn’t much idea what had happened in the book.

Next, I tried reading only late at night, after a long day of editing, hoping that editing overload and tiredness would overcome the editor. Nope.

Finally, I had to accept that this is how I read now. And I made a choice: if a book’s really setting off the editor in me, I put it down or delete it off the Kindle and try another. I give myself permission to read only those books that I get lost in, that I love, that make me remember why I set up The Book Specialist. There are books out there that make me read, not edit. And those, in my opinion, are the very best books in the world.

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Top ten formatting tips for manuscripts

Posted on May 7, 2012 by admin
  1. Start each chapter on a new page. Insert a page break rather than hitting the Enter key several times.
  2. Indent new paragraphs. Don’t use tabs or multiple spaces to create indentations: in Microsoft Word, go to Paragraph, Indentation, Special, First Line.
  3. Only insert a line space between two paragraphs to denote a break in the text.
  4. Don’t indent the first paragraph of a chapter, or after a break.
  5. Don’t use double spaces.
  6. Use a standard, easy-to-read font.
  7. Change any straight quote marks to curly ones, and ensure they’re facing the right way. Here’s a handy shortcut for MS Word: in the Find and Replace tool, search for ^034 and enter ” in the replace box; then search for ^039 and replace with ‘.
  8. Have a clear style for writing that’s offset from the main text, such as bullet points, letters and quotations; for example, a block quote is indented and the font is slightly smaller.
  9. Heading styles should clearly indicate the hierarchy of the headings; for example, Heading 1 is bold, all caps, 16 point; Heading 2 is bold, sentence case, 14 point; Heading 3 is italics, sentence case, 12 point.
  10. Beyond headings, minimise the use of bold, italics, underline and ALL CAPS in your writing. Italics are okay when used sensibly. ALL CAPS work at times but are rather SHOUTY. Bold and underline don’t belong in most books, especially novels.
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Writing tip: Abandoning precision in descriptions

Posted on April 21, 2012 by admin

A common issue I highlight when editing a novel is overly precise descriptions.

Take these examples:

Lost in the jungle, we walked for forty-five minutes before the snake found us. [NB: character has no watch on.] 

I walked along the dark corridor. After fifty metres I came to a door. 

The man lay in a puddle of blood – two pints’ worth. 

The sorcerer’s staff is one hundred and forty centimetres in length.

In each case, I find the precise measurement jarring. How does the narrator know that? I wonder.

When writing, think carefully about the narrator. As yourself:

  1. Who exactly is the narrator?
  2. How much does the narrator know?

The narrator may be the main character, or an invisible person following the characters – either way, the narrator isn’t going to be privy to exact measurements unless a character discovers these in the story.

Plus, does the reader really need such precise detail in order to build a mental picture? I’m not going to whip out a tape measure to check out the size of the staff, or grab a measuring jug to get a feel for the volume of two pints of blood.

Here are some alternative descriptions:

Lost in the jungle, we walked until the sun was high in the sky before the snake found us. 

I walked along the dark corridor. After fifty paces I came to a door. 

The man lay in a vast puddle of blood. 

The sorcerer’s staff stood at shoulder height.

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There’s proofreading, and then there’s proofreading

Posted on April 17, 2012 by admin

Recently, a client came to The Book Specialist for ebook proofreading. He explained that he had already had the ebook ‘professionally proofread’, but had noticed quite a few mistakes upon reading the manuscript again, so wanted another checkover.

I was pleased to see the author taking such care over his ebook – too many ebooks aren’t proofread, and consequently are full of inaccuracies and inconsistencies. But I was concerned to hear that a fellow proofreader had already proofread the ebook, yet left plenty of mistakes.

Upon proofreading the ebook, it became clear to me that the original proofreader simply wasn’t up to scratch. Spelling mistakes, comma splices, missing full stops, misplaced apostrophes – the list of issues spanned two pages.

The author was horrified when I showed him how many mistakes I’d found. I gently questioned him about the other proofreader, and was not surprised to learn that she was not a publishing professional at all. She was a virtual PA.

Now, I’m not suggesting that all virtual PAs who offer a proofreading service are at the level of this particular PA. But I do think it’s foolish to assume that a proofreader who hasn’t been trained within the publishing industry will proofread ebooks at the level required.

Publishing proofreaders know all the ins and outs of proofreading to a professional standard. We know the blacks and whites of language, and the grey areas. We know the mistakes authors commonly make. We spot typos. We spot inconsistencies. We take great pride in our work.

‘But she’s so cheap!’ was my client’s defence in having hired the PA to proofread.

I dare say she is. She can’t charge a decent rate for proofreading because she lacks the skills and experience to do so.

In the end, cheap proofreading turned out to be a false economy, as the author paid both the PA and The Book Specialist to do the same job.

Better all round to stick to the experts, I say. At least then you can rest assured you’ll publish an ebook to be proud of.

 

Posted in Ebooks, Preparing for submission/publication, Proofreading | Tagged , | Comments Off

Checklist for serious self-publishing

Posted on April 15, 2012 by admin

Once a book’s published, it’s out there for all the world to read – so you want to get it right. Take self-publishing seriously: use the following checklist to publish like a professional.

The manuscript

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you sure the idea is good?

Are you sure the idea is original?

Are you sure a market exists for the book?

Have you edited it?

Have you had someone else edit it?

Have you proofread it?

Have you had someone else proofread it?

 

The cover design

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Is it eye-catching?

Does it convey the essence of the book?

Does it convey the genre of the book?

Has it been (or does it look as though it’s been) professionally designed?

If printing, is the quality good enough for print?

 

The typesetting

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Has it been (or does it look as though it’s been) professionally typeset?

Is the layout and style sensible and appropriate?

Have you checked the layout carefully, page by page?

 

The publishing

Is the product good quality (decent print job, ebook works across devices)?

Is the price reasonable and comparable to similar titles?

Is the book available to buy in a wide range of outlets?

Is all info about the book accurate in descriptions online?

 

The marketing

Do you have a detailed marketing strategy?

Have you written the back cover blurb?

Have you lined up reviews?

Do you have a website?

Do you have a blog?

Are you engaging in social media (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads)?

Are you engaging in rich media (e.g. book trailer, YouTube clips)?

Are you exploring local marketing opportunities?

Are you networking?

Are you putting a decent, sustained effort into getting your book noticed?

Posted in Books, Ebooks, How to get published, Preparing for submission/publication, Self-publishing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Checklist for submitting a book to publishers/agents

Posted on April 14, 2012 by admin

You only get one shot at submitting your book to an agent/publisher – so make sure you get it right! Use the following checklist to guarantee a submission that will be taken seriously.

The manuscript  

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Have you proofread it carefully?

Is it formatted sensibly (e.g. a standard font, 12 point, double spaced)?

Are your name and the book title in the header?

Have you included page numbers?

If emailing, is it saved as a .doc or .docx?

The synopsis

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Have you introduced the central theme(s) of the book?

Have you introduced the central character(s) of the book?

Have you shown when and where the book is set?

Have you outlined the story – the key events – including the ending?

Have you written it in a straightforward manner; no blurb/sales pitch attempt?

Have you proofread it carefully?

Is it formatted sensibly (e.g. a standard font, 12 point, double spaced)?

Is it formatted sensibly (e.g. a standard font, 12 point, double spaced)?

Are your name and the book title in the header?

Have you included page numbers?

If emailing, is it saved as a .doc or .docx?

 The covering letter

Is it as good as you can possibly make it?

Are you absolutely sure it’s as good as you can possibly make it?

Have you proofread it carefully?

Have you addressed it to the correct person (not Dear Sir/Madam)?

Have you given the title of the book?

Have you indicated the genre of the book?

Have you indicated the target reader for the book?

Have you described the basic premise of the book (one paragraph max)?

Have you conveyed what makes this book special?

Have you explained, briefly, any relevant writing experience you have?

Have you included your name?

Have you included your postal address?

Have you included your email address?

Have you included your phone number?

Is it formatted sensibly (e.g. a standard font, 12 point)?

Does it fit on one side of A4?

The list of target agents/publishers

Have you done as much research as possible into possible agents/publishers?

Are you approaching only those who are interested in your kind of book?

Have you sorted your list by order of preference?

 The approach

Are you following individual agent/publisher’s instructions for submission?

Are you tailoring submissions carefully? (no blanket emails or mail merges)

Are you logging which agents/publishers you’ve submitted to?

Are you submitting to just a handful at a time, then waiting for responses?

Are you being patient, and not hounding agents/publishers?

Are you taking on board any feedback offered?

Posted in Books, Preparing for submission/publication, Publishing industry | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Following in his mummy’s footsteps

Posted on April 11, 2012 by admin

Earlier this week I commented on the article ‘Kids Love Stories, So Why Not Encourage Them to Publish?’ on Publishing Perspectives. I’m proud as punch because my son (age three) has ‘written’ his first story. He dictated it to me, and I wrote it down. Then we spent some time adding in clipart pictures; he was most impressed.

I’ve printed it so that he can take it to nursery for show and tell. However, he’s disappointed that all he’s got is a page of A4 – he tells me he wants it to be a proper, bound book. So I think that’s what we’ll write next.

In honour of my clever, creative little boy – and because he tells me he wants his story published – I’m putting his first work of creative writing online for you all to enjoy.

George went to the zoo and he found a lion. George wanted to be friends with the lion. But the lion said no.

Next George found a rhinoceros.  And the rhinoceros wanted to play with George. And George said yes.

Then George saw a giraffe. The giraffe invited George to his house for tea. George said yes. And he invited the lion and the rhinoceros to the giraffe’s house too. They ate chocolate biscuits for tea.

Then George saw a monkey. The monkey wanted to go to a museum with George in London. George said yes. The monkey wanted to look at the monkeys at the museum, which was called the Natural History Museum. The monkey had a little snack which was a banana, and he put the banana skin on the floor and George slipped on it.

Then the monkey wanted to be friends, and George said, ‘Yes, please.’

Then they went back to the zoo, and George and the monkey saw a cheetah, and the cheetah was running and running.

And then George saw that all the animals were running and swinging and they were escaping from the zoo.

And George said all the animals could come and stay at George’s house for ten nights.

George went to the Natural History Museum with all the animals, and the Science Museum and went to a hotel and went to meet his daddy’s friends.

Then they all went back to the zoo.

The end.

And to finish, I’ll add George’s second piece of creative writing, which he wrote himself on my laptop. Apparently, it’s about a cheetah and an ostrich.

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deewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwqasLLLLLLLLLLLLL

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LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOO9OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONTTTRVTCFFCDFXXDDDDDDDD

ZAWZQXSDCFGVHNJKMNNNMMNJ,JJLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLO

JPPJNH JV CGVF CFGDSZ\Q\ZSAXWAZSFAXSDXSXXXSSSSSSSSXSXZZASS

SCCCCCXDXZFGVFFVRRESQWAEDERDFGGGGGGGYTHJJ

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QAQQWWWWWWWAZQQWSXDCVGBHMIIO[//P.;.PLJ,KNH

JHVDFXSSSSSX\DDSFDGUIUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

IIIIIIIIIIOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIOISZXZZXCVNHK,LK.J,LKOLPI-PL;LPO[;LL[;]OKUUYUYUJUIK90POPO’OIU[POIUYYTEQ                FCDDDTFHUYNJJKKJKJLJJKMNBTBVRVEEECCCCCCCCCC

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JY,MUY,Y.YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY,MHHHHGFGHHT

RDGTFREDWQAZXSwqwwwwwwaqsqqwwdawqwdew

ewqwttrweerwwerwrsefrfegthfjrdeehkjhgfgghhk;;’;lkjyh

tgsasqaqwdel/’’[plonbxszzxcfrdrkm;rgftchfnberseasf3defgyiuyt

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My son George, writer-to-be

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