Book Editors
Friday, July 29th, 2011
 While hiring a professional editor is a great route to take, perhaps that isn’t an option easily available to you. Or perhaps you want to edit your own work before it goes to your professional editor in order to get the most out of the money you invest in editing. No matter the reason, knowing how to self-edit a book is an essential skill for all writers.
Self-editing can sound intimidating. After all, a writer isn’t automatically an editor. In fact, most writers have the hardest time editing their own work. Below are a few tips for self-editing your book.
1. Proofreading versus Editing. Often times, writers assume that giving a book a final “once over” looking for grammar and spelling errors is an edit. In actuality, that would be considered proofreading. While proofreading is valuable and essential, just checking for minor typographical errors isn’t enough to constitute a true edit and revision of your manuscript. Self-editing is a much more detailed and thoughtful process.
2. Take your Time. Slow and steady is the way to go with self-editing. As mentioned above, you’re not proofreading, you’re editing. Editing means really thinking about what the writing says. It means taking your time and really evaluating each paragraph, each sentence, each phrase. You’ve gotten through the hardest part—getting the words on the page—now you just need to make sure that those words are saying exactly what you want them to say. Nobody knows better than you do that your manuscript deserves the appropriate amount of time and energy.
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Tags: editing, Proofreading, self editing, writing
Posted in Book Editing, Book Editors, Editing Books | 6 Comments »
Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
 Track Changes are the best feature in Word. Found under the Review tab, this icon is an editor’s best friend. These allow us to see the changes that we have made, as well as allowing the client to review and choose the changes they would like. Why is this so special you may ask – this blog will tell you why.
This is an example of the Track Changes work. The black is the original text and the changes can easily be seen in red (it doesn’t have to be red – it can be many different colors). The line at the left-hand side of the page also shows the reader in which lines changes have been made, and this is useful where only minor changes, such as a comma, have been made in a paragraph.
Rosy was a little girl, who wore red ribbons in her hair and liked to wear dresses.
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Tags: editing, Proofreading, track changes, writing
Posted in Book Editors | 2 Comments »
Saturday, July 23rd, 2011
 For an editor, Track Changes in a Word document are a great tool to use, as both they and the client can see where the changes have been made, as these changes show up in a different color from the rest of the text. The editor and the client can also see if that change was a good one or not. Often, I will make a change in a document and on re-reading it; I realize that the original, in fact, did sound much better. Using Track Changes, I know what the original text was, and by rejecting my changes, I can return the text to its original format and style. But how is this done?
For a quick review on how to accept or reject tracked changes, go to this website, ehow.com, as it’s full of tips to get you started. It gives easy-to-follow explanations of how to use Track Changes and some general information on the overall topic of Track Changes.
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Tags: editing, reject changes, track changes, writing
Posted in Book Editors | 8 Comments »
Thursday, March 31st, 2011
 To shape your manuscript into a polished, publishable piece of work, you will need a book editor: a professional who will collaborate with you and help you reach your publishing goal. Your editor works with your material and helps you to smooth out any bumps or rough edges in your writing so that the final, polished piece catches the right kind of attention. Any changes your editor makes to your work are done carefully and thoughtfully to keep in line with your unique writing style and artistic vision.
With so much competition out there, any author with a good editor on their side has a massive advantage over the many unpublished writers who don’t. Especially in recent times, many people are turning their hands to writing. While many of the stories are great, the variety of amateur mistakes a new writer can make is immense, and publishing experts who do not wish to have to repair a work before publishing it have a keen eye for these – and they will spot them immediately. (more…)
Tags: book editing, editing, professional editor
Posted in Book Editing, Book Editors | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 23rd, 2011
 Academic writing is exhausting. Though you start an academic paper or book with a very clear concept, the incredible nature of the discipline itself insists that you will need research to back up your point. Finishing a research paper, dissertation, or academic/non-fiction book is likely to be something of an ordeal. Synthesizing your investigation into salient points while making sure that your structure and composition are lucid can be tricky. Academic writing isn’t for the slacker; even so, it truly is not an uncomplicated matter to achieve anything near perfection in this regard. Below are some suggestions to assist you in editing your academic book or paper to ensure that your message is spelt out clearly.
The most important tip is to use the spell and grammar check software installed in your word processing program. It sounds so straightforward, but many people assume that it’s unnecessary. Please, even the smartest and most talented writers of academic sometimes slip up! Use the computer software to spot any egregious spelling/grammar errors. (more…)
Tags: edit my academic paper, editing, editors
Posted in Book Editing, Book Editors | No Comments »
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