Article: "An Editor's Tips for Selecting Editors"

745 Views 8 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Anne Victory, Jan 11, 2013

Anne Victory

Discussion Starter · Jan 7, 2013

The website Where Writers Win asked me to write an article / guest blog post for them a couple of months back. It's now published. Granted, this is a brief overview on a topic that it would be possible to write a great deal about, but hopefully it'll be interesting and helpful. Thanks, everyone

Without further ado - the first paragraph and a link to the full article

Indie authors, or self-publishers, have a lot of hats to wear. Not only are they worrying about writing a book, quite an endeavor on its own, they also are assuming the publisher's role. This means the successful indie will make arrangements for editing, proofreading, formatting, cover art, and final-pass readers. Let's take a look at some of the issues surrounding the editing end of things.

Read more: http://writerswin.com/2013/01/05/tips-for-selecting-editors/#ixzz2HJHcGBav
Follow us: @WhereWritersWin on Twitter | WhereWritersWin on Facebook
http://writerswin.com/2013/01/05/tips-for-selecting-editors/#ixzz2H7QzVgbI

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JRTomlin

· #2 · Jan 7, 2013

A subject that is well worth an article or two. Thanks for the link.

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Janet Michelson

· #3 · Jan 7, 2013

Excellent thread. Thanks for the link.

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Anne Victory

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jan 8, 2013

Thanks!

Something that occurred to me yesterday (and if I can find a spot in my article to add this, I plan on contacting Shari about it) - it's a good idea to ask an editor what reference books they use on a regular basis. They should give you a style guide and a dictionary - Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster Unabridged / Collegiate would be my choices for American English. For British English, New Oxford Style Manual and Oxford Dictionary. But seriously - Grammar Girl (though a fantastic resource) is not a style guide and Google is not a dictionary. I am gobsmacked that quite a few people have hung out shingles and don't own a style guide or a dictionary. Seriously perturbed and a little angry, to be honest. That's like a carpenter not owning a hammer.

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Lefty

· #5 · Jan 8, 2013

Arkali said:
Thanks!

Something that occurred to me yesterday (and if I can find a spot in my article to add this, I plan on contacting Shari about it) - it's a good idea to ask an editor what reference books they use on a regular basis. They should give you a style guide and a dictionary - Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster Unabridged / Collegiate would be my choices for American English. For British English, New Oxford Style Manual and Oxford Dictionary. But seriously - Grammar Girl (though a fantastic resource) is not a style guide and Google is not a dictionary. I am gobsmacked that quite a few people have hung out shingles and don't own a style guide or a dictionary. Seriously perturbed and a little angry, to be honest. That's like a carpenter not owning a hammer.

I know I've read that somewhere before.

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Anne Victory

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jan 10, 2013

I've seen offhand comments made that make me suspect that's standard procedure for a couple of people. Horrifying.

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Lynn McNamee

· #7 · Jan 10, 2013

Great article, Anne.

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PeggyI

· #8 · Jan 10, 2013

Arkali said:
Something that occurred to me yesterday (and if I can find a spot in my article to add this, I plan on contacting Shari about it) - it's a good idea to ask an editor what reference books they use on a regular basis. They should give you a style guide and a dictionary - Chicago Manual of Style and Merriam-Webster Unabridged / Collegiate would be my choices for American English. For British English, New Oxford Style Manual and Oxford Dictionary. But seriously - Grammar Girl (though a fantastic resource) is not a style guide and Google is not a dictionary. I am gobsmacked that quite a few people have hung out shingles and don't own a style guide or a dictionary. Seriously perturbed and a little angry, to be honest. That's like a carpenter not owning a hammer.

Excellent point. All writers should list the style guide/dictionary they use when sending a book out for editing. A lot of us who don't do just fiction regularly use a number of different style guides.

The key is to pick one and stick with it.

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Anne Victory

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 11, 2013

PeggyI said:
Excellent point. All writers should list the style guide/dictionary they use when sending a book out for editing. A lot of us who don't do just fiction regularly use a number of different style guides.

The key is to pick one and stick with it.

Yep. Also should have said that depending on the book, a different style guide may be more appropriate. AP Style for periodicals, for instance. Just... not Google, as valuable as Google is

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