Book Editing Tips

 What should authors expect from a sample edit, and how do you obtain one?

When hiring an editor, you may feel you’d like to see a sample of the editor’s work before you hire them. This may give you a feel for the pace of their work, and how they will present changes and corrections to you.

Before You Start

Before you ask for a sample edit, you should bear in mind it’s rather churlish to ask for a sample if you are not ready for an edit – the editor is doing this free sample as an unsaid agreement […]

As non-native English speaking authors are enticed to the self-publishing industry, what are the challenges for writing a book in English, and how can authors enter the market successfully?

Recently, as an editor, I have noticed a real upturn in the number of non-native authors that ask me for editing services. Many tell me they have been turned away by other editors.

The thing is, because I have been an English teacher in Spain, I speak three languages, and have a qualification in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) it doesn’t scare me (maybe also growing up next to the […]

So you have decided you can edit your own book? It’s a notoriously dicey option, but SPR’s book editor Cate Baum has put together a quick guide to the professional process using digital techniques for proofreading and the general sweep edit needed to complete your book before market.

Firstly, I want to say I don’t condone this idea. Editing yourself is scary and dangerous, and usually starts and ends with a bruised ego. Many writers have done it, some have ended up abandoning it and hiring someone else to finish it, or worse, find out they need to have it […]

Following on from my last article about editing, I thought it was about time we tackled some more bugbears uncovered in my most recent journeys into the self-published world I tend to inhabit these days.

1.  The “s” –  Plural usage vs. Possession

For some unknown reason, some writers grow up and make life complicated for themselves with plurals. Often I walk by stores advertising “tomato’s” and “offer’s”.  When we were kids at school, we all knew to make something plural you add an “s”.  This all seems to fall by the wayside for some of […]

Here’s an opportunity to get a glimpse of a pro editor at work. This blog post from The New Yorker, in 2007, shows the development of Raymond Carver’s classic story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” in the hands of his editor, Gordon Lish.

The following document compares the original draft of “Beginners” with the final version of the story, retitled “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” edited by Gordon Lish, and published in a collection of the same name by Alfred A. Knopf. Additions to Carver’s draft appear in bold; a