I’m so excited to bring you this interview with an extremely inspiring writer and coach, Emma Dhesi, who helps beginner writers find the time and confidence to write their first novel. I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for an upcoming episode of Emma’s podcast, Turning Readers Into Writers. She also invited me to talk about self-editing during the 20-day August Accelerator event coming up in her Facebook group. (August 2020)
Emma’s motto for beginner writers is: Get Focused. Get Confident. Get Published. Read the interview below to learn more about Emma and how she is helping beginner writers to approach the monumental task of writing a book.
How did you get interested in helping beginner authors to find the time and confidence to write their books? Do you do coaching?
It took me a long time to finish my first novel, over five years in fact. But when I did, it changed everything for me. I suddenly saw myself in a whole new light and realised that if I just put in the time and regular effort I could finish, not just a first draft, but a published novel.
I don’t do one-to-one coaching but do offer group coaching. I strongly believe in having a safe and supportive community and do my best to offer this to all my students. I have an online resource called How To Write Your Novel – A Proven 4 Step Guide For Busy Beginners Who Want To Write Their First Novel. Applications are closed for the moment, but I will be opening it again in the future.
Tell us about your blog. What are some examples of posts you have published?
My blog is aimed specifically at beginner writers. My audience has told me that they struggle most with finding the time to write and building their confidence. Much of my content helps students find ways to find that time and grow their confidence via shared experiences as well as techniques they can try. For example, I’m a big believer in scheduling your writing time. In my experience, if it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t get done!
In addition, I help with aspects of craft, introduce people to debut authors and share resources that have helped me in my writing journey.
Tell us about your free cheat sheet on 30+ ways to find time to write? How can people get it?
Because finding time to write is something a lot of my students struggle with, I have a free guide called 30 Top Tips To Find Time To Write. It’s aimed at busy people who need to fit their writing time in around their existing commitments. It’s not always possible to sit down for a whole hour or two in one sitting. Instead, a lot of us need to fit our writing in when we can.
It was Elizabeth Kostava who inspired me when she said she had to write what she could when she could. This guide is full of practical and simple ways that you can slot writing sessions into your week. You can get a copy of it by going to www.emmadhesi.com/30TopTips.
How long have you been doing the Turning Readers Into Writers Podcast? What is your goal with the podcast?
I mentioned earlier that writing a novel changed my life in many ways, not least that it made me see I could do much more than I ever thought. Launching a podcast is one of those things. It’s new on the block as my first episode went live in March this year.
It too is aimed at beginner writers. I cover the same topics as I do in my blog but offer it here in audio form so that it can be listened to on the go. Again, I interview debut authors and experts in their field; for example editors and other writing coaches. If you are a debut author, and would like to chat with me about your writing process and how you balance writing and your day to day life, I’d love to hear from you. I think it’s so valuable for new writers to hear how other people work. It opens up new ideas about how a creative life can be incorporated into a professional life.
You also have a Facebook group for beginner writers. What are some of the things that you discuss in the group?
It’s free to join and we discuss all sorts in there. It’s a safe community for people to ask questions whether that be on mindset or craft. Members gain not only moral support and encouragement but benefit from a weekly Live Q&A session and visiting guest experts. We recently had Marjorie J McDonald come in and talk to us about how to write for children, as well as storytelling expert Blake Morris on how to structure a story.
You have a big event going on in August. What do you have planned?
August Accelerator is a 20-day event throughout August 2020 during which I have invited a number of experts to come into my Facebook group, Turning Readers Into Writers, to talk all things writing! Not only do I have guests speaking about, amongst other things, How To Write Romance, Non-Fiction and a Series, guests will also be discussing how you can use manifestation or tarot cards in your creative life. And of course we will discuss how you can manage imposter syndrome and procrastination as well as how writing can help maintain balanced mental health.
It’s going to be a wonderful month and I’m really looking forward to hearing what all my experts have to say. If you’d like to come in and listen to any of the talks and conversations, you can do so by going to the Facebook group, Turning Readers Into Writers. The videos will be streamed live and replays will be available for a limited time only.
Is there anything else you wanted to get across?
I cannot emphasise enough how Doable it is to write your first manuscript. With consistency and realistic expectation of what you can achieve in a given time period, there’s no reason you can’t finish your first draft. If it’s something you’ve always wanted to do, I urge you to, at the very least, finish your first draft. Then you will know once and for all whether it’s something that lights your heart or isn’t what you expected.
Novel writing should be challenging but it should also be fun and I also encourage your readers to see writing as an opportunity to be curious about the world. It’s hard to do, I know, but try to enjoy the journey as well as the finished product.
More About Emma Dhesi
Emma Dhesi writes women’s fiction. She began writing seriously while a stay-at-home mum with three pre-school children. By changing her mindset, being consistent and developing confidence, Emma has gone from having a collection of handwritten notes to a fully written, edited and published novel. Having experienced first-hand how writing changes lives, Emma now helps beginner writers find the time and confidence to write their first novel.
The Day She Came Home – Nicola left her husband Ross, and son Sam, to begin a new life on a remote Scottish island. She thought she’d left her childhood and her old life behind her, but the desire to reconnect is too strong. She must find a way to get a second chance.
Ross can’t move on with his life until he knows what happened to his wife. When she turns up out of the blue and asks for a second chance, he’s not sure he can forgive her. Stephen and Mary are devastated when their long-lost daughter returns and accuses them of the most horrific crimes. But as Stephen always said, no one would believe her. When family secrets are brought to the surface everyone is forced to face their past. Can they forgive and forget? Would you take her back? The Day She Came Home is the first in a series of contemporary family dramas.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Are you writing a book set in another country and that uses words in that language? How about cultural elements? Then my guest today, Maria A. Karamitsos, is going to explain why you need a Cultural Consultant! I’m sure you’ll enjoy reading Maria’s informative post full of tips on how to write about other cultures.
It’s All Greek To Me
It’s all Greek to me. I’m Greek. I hear this phrase often with Greek language and things to do with Greece. This Shakespearian idiom means people don’t understand something and often concerning a foreign language. What does this mean for a writer? Well, if you’re writing a book set in another country and use foreign words and include cultural elements, to avoid errors, you need help from someone who speaks that language and knows the culture.
As a Greek speaker, an avid reader, a book reviewer, and a writer and editor, I’ve seen many books and articles written about Greece, set in Greece, or with Greek subject matter that fall short in this area. But you’re thinking, “A big house published that book,” or “I spent a lot of money on professional editing. What do you mean there are errors?” The truth is, even the best professional editors can miss these issues because they don’t have experience with the language and culture. I see this happening often in terms of Greece, so I’m sure it does with other languages and cultures.
Why Is This Important?
You’ve researched thoroughly. And what did you add to your characters and story to make them believable, to bring them to life? Details.It’s those finer details that lend authenticity. Getting them right elevates your story from good to outstanding.
Who is your target reader? If you’re penning a book set in another country, with characters from another country and/or culture, a good portion of your target market are people from that country/culture. You don’t want to hurt the sales of the book–and future works.
We never want to undermine our precious work, the work we’ve toiled and researched countless hours. That’s what these errors do.
How Does This Happen?
Let’s examine some ways.
The editor isn’t familiar with the language, country, and/or culture.
You’re thinking, “A competent, professional editor, someone recommended, would catch it!” Not necessarily. Many times, editors without experience with a language and culture, rely on the author’s research and knowledge that these things are correct.
Foreign languages are complex. You can’t translate literally.
Languages are nuanced, and sometimes poetic. With Greek, there are on average eight distinct ways to say something. Word usage depends on context. Some will check programs like Google Translate, but the results can be disastrous. While they’re good fora general idea about something (say an article or a post on social media), please do not use these translations in your work.
I’ve worked in Greek-American media for 18 years, and for four, I published a digital magazine. Once, a writer sent me an article for publication. A non-Greek, but a lover of Greece, she sprinkled in Greek words. I flagged multiple instances of incorrect usage. She argued that she looked them up and verified them. For example, she used the Greek verb for charm. She wrote “mayévo,” which can have a negative inference. It was also incorrect in context. The word she wanted is, “ghoitévo.”
Perhaps you asked someone who speaks that language how to say something. While this is a step in the right direction, I’ve seen writers get tripped up here because they didn’t provide context.
The author spent time in that country and listened to people speak.
With a language as complex as Greek with words with difficult pronunciations and sounds, it’s possible to mishear. So when someone said the name for a Cretan spirit is Tsikoudiá and you heard and repeated, ‘tsoukouda’, which stuck in your mind and you used it, you’ve made a mistake. I’ve even observed Diaspora Greeks who don’t speak the language hear a word like koumbaRo, which is a man who has a relationship with you because of a religious sacrament (i.e. wedding sponsor or godparent), and say it and write it as koumbaDo. That’s what their ear hears. There’s no D in there—the Greek character is ρ which makes the R sound. That word with the “D” doesn’t exist.
Years ago, an author friend emailed me while penning a novel set in Greece. She asked, “How do you say, ‘Congratulations’ in Greek?” I asked for context. “A wedding,” she explained.“In Greece someone said synchartia to me when I got a book contract.”
Well, my friend not only got the word wrong (syllables missing) but she also selected the wrong word. Althoughsyncharitiria means congratulations, a Greek would never say that at your wedding.
The choice of character names led to questioned authenticity.
Editors won’t question character names since authors have specific reasons for selecting them. But did you know that the name could trip up a reader? And not just in the “I knew a nasty person with that name” kind of way. A name flub, messes with the authenticity of the character, leading the reader to doubt other elements.
Here’s an example. I read a book with scenes set in Asia Minor in the early 1900s. The protagonist’s last name originated from Cyprus instead of Asia Minor. This distracted me; then I started questioning other things. It’s a fascinating story, the historical elements on point. But every time I read the last name (and it came up often) it took me out of the story. NOTE: Naming your character with a name from another region changes your story.
Selected word(s) makes sentence(s) impossible.
Last month, I read an amazing historical novel set in Greece. The author wrote, “… and the yiayias were nursing the babies.” Greek speaking readers–or anyone with Greek friends–would get stuck on the impossibility. Yiayia is the Greek word for grandmother. So, unless these were young grandmothers who’d just given birth, I’m not sure how this would happen. The book was published by major house and no doubt edited by a professional, but the errors got through because people weren’t familiar with the language.
Cultural misuse.
Another author penned a manuscript for a novel set in Thessaloniki, the protagonist born and raised in that city. She described a character, “…wearing a Sariki, a traditional adornment worn by men in Thessaloniki.” She sent it to me, as a beta reader. I questioned the use of sariki. She said she saw a picture of a Greek man wearing one and it was “intriguing.” Oops. Sariki is a netted scarf worn by men on the island of Crete. Crete is the southernmost Greek island, and Thessaloniki is a city in northern Greece–each with very distinct culture. It may sound minor, but it’s a tremendous mistake. Chances are you won’t see a man from Thessaloniki wearing a sariki–well, unless he’s from Crete or bought one there as a souvenir. But again, that changes your character and story.
A misspelling or misplaced accent mark changed the meaning.
In Greek, you can move the accent mark or even change one letter and it alters the entire meaning. For example, take the Greek word, filo. Accent placement can alter the meaning: FEE-lo (fílo) means a male friend, but could also be the flaky pastry sheets used in many Greek dishes (in Greek characters they have different spellings); and fee-LO (filó), means I kiss you. Big difference, right?
What Do I Do?
You’ve put your heart and soul into your work, labored innumerable hours. Then you (or your publisher) hired a professional editor–but these errors slipped. Or if you’re writing or editing, you’ll want to avoid these mess-ups. They aren’t minor.
So what do you do?
Hire a Cultural Consultant. I know. You’re thinking you already spent–or will spend–a ton on different phases of editing, and now I’m telling you to spend more money on a consultant? Yes. Because you want your story to be the best it can be.
Likely part of your target market are readers from that culture, and you don’t want to turn them off. You may be viewed as a cultural ambassador, and you don’t want to provide inaccurate info! You publish a book to make money. And you want to grow your audience and publish more books.You don’t want to give anyone a reason to stop reading or to discount your otherwise amazing work.
What Do I Look For?
Hire a person who speaks the language, knows the culture, and the country.
Choose someone of that culture. Someone who has lived in that country for many years can also be helpful. Language and culture are multifaceted.
Check their qualifications.
Have they done this work before? Discuss past projects and their experience with said language, country, and culture.
Send the entire manuscript.
Discuss the story with the consultant. He or she needs to know the story, the setting, the character dynamics, your goals, the context, etc.
This service shouldn’t break the bank either. Consider it cultural proofreading.
While this may seem nitpicky or you believe that readers won’t pick up on the errors, you don’t want to be the author that writes, “I’ll have some krazi” instead of “I want some krasí.” Krasí is the Greek word for wine. Unless you want some “crazy.” But that’s a whole other story.
If it’s all Greek to you, work with a Cultural Consultant. And oh yes, don’t skip the editing.
Maria A. Karamitsos has been a positive voice in Greek media since 2002. She was the founder, publisher, and editor of WindyCity Greek magazine. For 10 years, she served as the associate editor and senior writer for The Greek Star newspaper. Her work has been published in GreekCircle magazine, The National Herald, GreekReporter, Harlots Sauce Radio, Women.Who.Write, Neo magazine, KPHTH magazine, XPAT ATHENS, and more. Maria has contributed to three books: Greektown Chicago: Its History, Its Recipes; The Chicago Area Ethnic Handbook; and the inaugural Voices of Hellenism Literary Journal. She’s a sought-after book reviewer and enthusiastically promotes books set in Greece, those with Greek subjects, and books by Greek authors. As a Greek Cultural Consultant, Maria helps authors with Greek references in their work. She’s currently editing her first novel. Learn more at mariakaramitsos.com.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
I know that many writers are having trouble tapping into their creativity during the pandemic. Thankfully, Allie Pleiter has a book that can help with this problem, and I asked her to share some tips about writing under stress. Read on for some helpful advice from Allie. You’ll also learn more about her valuable book, How to WRITE When Everything Goes WRONG—A Practical Guide to Writing Through Tough Times.
Allie’s Tips For Writing Under Stress
As the author of How to WRITE When Everything Goes WRONG—A Practical Guide to Writing Through Tough Times, I’ve been getting a lot of cries for help from writers these days. The crisis we find ourselves in right now can squelch any writer’s creative energy. New words can feel impossible, the focus to revise eludes us, and we’re just plain stressed.
How to write…right now? Believe it or not, there are several things you can do to help yourself. Here are a few of my favorite tips:
#1: Try Small Batches In New Formats.
The trick is to pick a word count that feels doable–even if it must be tiny. One hundred words, for example, can fit on an index card. I suspect even the most traumatized of writers could manage six imperfect sentences that can be edited later. That work, once accomplished, can become the foothold for more. Can you tuck three or four cards into your pocket and set yourself the challenge to fill them? Your smartphone, a small notebook, or even email can help a small task feel small. All you need at first–maybe all you need at all–are baby steps.
#2: Change Locations.
Give yourself time in a different location in order to compartmentalize your brain space. You may not be able to go far—maybe only to the next room—but even that shift can make a difference. Ritualize it if it helps, saying: “At two p.m. I go out on the balcony with a cup of coffee and do my writing,” or “After lunch I make myself a cup of tea and write.” Remind yourself this is your time to work, and you can be fully present to whatever problems are facing you when you are done with your writing.
#3: When You Feel You Can’t Escape Your Situation, Start By Describing It.
Many books—fiction and nonfiction—have been born of personal difficulties. Writing about where you are right now can “prime the pump,” proving to your creative self that writing is possible. As a bonus, you may also discover the seeds of a new project in the process.
Brilliance is likely beyond your reach—even if you discover you work great under pressure. Tell yourself: “It doesn’t have to be perfect; it just has to be written.” You can revise and polish your draft at another time once you get through the difficult stage of putting the words down on paper no matter how inelegant they feel. As best-selling author Nora Roberts famously said, “You can’t fix a blank page.”
#5: Set A Timer.
Pick whatever span of time feels possible—even fifteen minutes. Most of us can stand fifteen minutes of almost anything. Once or twice a day, set the timer and have at it. During those minutes, give yourself permission to “be a writer” rather than someone ill, caring, or coping. Starting is often the hardest part, and you may discover you can work longer than you think.
#6: Try Dictation.
Chances are you won’t need any special equipment for dictation because most computers and nearly every smartphone comes preloaded with some form of basic dictation software. If typing feels beyond you—or if you have a physical limitation such as carpal tunnel syndrome, eyesight issues, a bad back, or a broken wrist—close your eyes and dictate a scene, a setting, or even a character description to get you started. Carry on dictating as long as you can. An added benefit of dictation: You can’t edit or see mistakes, so there’s nothing to impede your progress.
Creativity is possible. You are just going to have to go about it in different ways for a while. The gift of writing God has given you hasn’t gone away…it may just be in hiding. I hope these tips will give you help to go find it. The world needs your stories!
As the author of The Chunky Method Handbook, I’m passionate about creative people be more productive. If you’d like to join my Chunky Method mailing list and get many more writing productivity tips, simply text the word CHUNKY to 22828.
Buy The Book
How to Write When Everything is Going Wrong: A Practical Guide to W riting Through Tough Times by Allie Pleiter – Is your muse yelling “SOS”? How do you keep the words pouring onto the page when your real life feels like it’s under attack? Every writer knows how stress and personal crises can strangle your creativity. Help is on the way in this brilliantly practical guide. Inside, you’ll find advice that: – Gets you through the thick of your crisis – Gives you tactics that will energize you to keep writing – Teaches you to use your stress to inspire your writing – And much more! As the author of over 30 books and the creator of The Chunky Method of time management for writers, Pleiter has met deadlines in the midst of some imposing traumas. With candor, insight, and the wisdom of experience, she shares practical and inventive strategies for how to stay afloat and creative amid life’s stormiest seas.
More About Allie
Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four books at a time. She is the bestselling author of over fifty titles with a twenty-year career of over 1.5 million books sold. Allie also coaches on productivity and speaks on the creative process. Visit www.alliepleiter.com.
Get a free download of her 15 tips for writing under stress!
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
I recently did a livestream interview on Alina Boyte’s Heart Centered Life Broadcast, talking about How To Write Your First Novel And Get Published. Alina hosts a podcast and YouTube show for busy professionals, entrepreneurs, and educators on living and leading from the heart. During the interview, we discussed how to get ideas and find inspiration for your book, develop characters, build a captivating story, edit your work, and find a publisher. You can watch the episode below.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Below, I’ve listed some resources for writers and readers that I’ve had the time to explore or rediscover during this pandemic. I’m fortunate as my whole family has been able to stay home and social distance. My husband is a high school teacher, so he set up a second desk in my office. The kids are doing remote school work on their Chromebooks. We all have our own separate projects, but have created new family routines also such as playing board games every evening after dinner, baking, and participating in a virtual trivia night hosted Fridays at 6:30 p.m. EST by An Unlikely Story Bookstore & Cafe on their Facebook page while the store is closed.
I’m not writing a book at the moment, though I expect that to change by summer as I’ve been jotting down ideas. For now, I’ve focused on creating content to post on my three blogs and YouTube channel, marketing my fiction books and Book Editing Blueprint course for writers, guesting on numerous podcasts, developing a new online course, working with editing clients, and catching up on tasks that have sat on my to-do list for way too long.
The below resources for writers have helped to keep me productive and distracted during this difficult time. I hope you find them helpful. Please feel free to share in the comments what you’ve been doing during this pandemic and any resources for writers that you’ve found useful.
StoryOrigin is a cross-promotional marketing tool designed to help authors work together to build their email lists, increase sales/page reads, and get more reviews. I’ve been meaning to explore this wonderful resource for months, and I’m impressed! Those who follow me know that my motto is: Let’s make editing simple. Well, StoryOrigin’s slogan could be: Let’s make book promotion simple. Created by Evan Gow, this community is currently free.
You can connect with other authors to swap mentions in one another’s upcoming newsletters, team up with multiple authors to promote your books on a single landing page, collect requests to join your review team and automate review tracking for those you’ve given access, and collect subscribers for your mailing list and automate delivery of a free book or sample. The site has great features including a universal book link that sends readers to your book’s purchasing page at their preferred, country-specific store, automated distribution and review tracking for Audible and Findaway promo codes, and easy downloads for newsletter exclusives, welcome gifts, or ARCs.
So far, I’ve joined several group sale events and done newsletter swaps. A couple years ago, I did newsletter swaps all the time, but got burned out. I arranged them via Facebook and email, and it was a hassle exchanging information and keeping track of all the dates and contact information. Worse, many authors never followed through and didn’t share my book.
With StoryOrigin, you can see on your dashboard exactly what you’ve committed to and gather all the details you need, and you know what date your book mention is slated to appear in someone’s newsletter. Many authors share a link to the published newsletter, so you can see the click rate and find out who is reliable. It’s a user-friendly site, well-organized, and amazingly, it’s free right now!
Lumen5
Making trailers for my books has been on my to-do list for YEARS! Now that I have more time on my hands, I’ve finally sat down to create some videos to promote my books. I used Lumen5, a video creation platform that enables anyone without training or experience to easily create engaging video content within minutes. I use the free plan, which gives you five videos per month with a Lumen5 watermark.
The site is amazing as it offers millions of copyright-free stock images and video clips, not to mention an extensive copyright-free music library. I use some of their images, and some that I’ve gathered from other sites. You have full commercial rights to all the videos you create using Lumen5. You can post your videos to Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or wherever you’d like. I first learned about this site about a year ago, and although I didn’t do much with it initially, it floored me that Lumen5 offered so much for free.
I even sent an email along the lines of, “Really? Am I understanding this correctly? I can use the music, clips, and images, post the video on YouTube, and don’t have to worry about copyright?” Someone cheerfully responded that yes, I was understanding it correctly. I don’t mind having a watermark at the end of my videos as they deserve the credit! With some of the paid plans, you can have access to even more stock photos and videos, but the free plan has met my needs.
I’ve been adding trailers to my Book Trailer playlist on YouTube. Below, is the trailer for my sweet and sassy chick lit novel, Fooling Around With Cinderella (Storybook Valley #1) so you can see a sample.
If you make a trailer using Lumen5, be sure to tag me on social media!
Publisher Rocket
Publisher Rocket is a simple tool that shows you exactly what Amazon book buyers type into Amazon, as well as how many people search for these things every month. Using Rocket’s Keywords Feature, you will learn: what keywords shoppers type into Amazon; estimated number of times someone types that keyword into Amazon; how much money other books that rank for that keyword are making; and how many books are competing for that keyword.
With the Category Feature, you can quickly find pertinent and niche categories for your books, as well as find out how many books you’d need to sell that day in order to be the new #1 bestseller. You can see your potential competitors, their information, reviews, book cover, and even their daily and monthly earnings. Rocket will also help you find profitable keywords for Amazon’s AMS ads.
This software wasn’t new to me, however, I hadn’t used it in at least a year. Since then, it has undergone updates and gained even more features from when I purchased it. I’ve been using it to freshen up my books’ keywords and categories, as well as to create AMS ads. I also recently became an affiliate of the program, so if you purchase it, I’d appreciate it if you used my affiliate link to help support my blog and YouTube Channel: https://stacyjuba–rocket.thrivecart.com/publisher-rocket/
Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur is the creator of the software and has many free tools on his website including:
All authors should make sure they take time to read. First, it’s relaxing downtime. Second, it will help you to become a better writer. Although I buy lots of books, I also enjoy browsing the shelves at my local library and borrowing titles that catch my eye. Well, until the pandemic.
I recently discovered Libby, a free app where you can borrow e-books and digital audiobooks from your public library. (Libby works with public libraries that use OverDrive.) You can stream books with Wi-Fi or mobile data, or download them for offline use and read anytime, anywhere. All you need to get started is a library card. The Libby app is free to install from your device’s app store, and all the digital content from your library is free to borrow with a valid library card.
I hadn’t borrowed e-books from the library for a couple years as the previous app I used was a bit clunky. I was impressed with how easy Libby is to navigate and amazed at all the books at my fingertips. Some have been available to borrow and download immediately, and for others, I needed to get on a wait list. It’s always a nice surprise to get a notification on my phone that another book is ready to borrow.
So far, I’ve borrowed: When Life Gives You Lululemons by Lauren Weisberger, The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell, You Are A Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, The Husband’s Secret and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty, The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth, and Picture Perfect, Leaving Time, and Lone Wolf by Jodi Picoult. Yes, I’ve been escaping with a lot of books, lately!
Is your muse yelling “SOS”? How do you keep the words pouring onto the page when your real life feels like it’s under attack? Every writer knows how stress and personal crises can strangle your creativity. Help is on the way in this brilliantly practical guide. Inside, you’ll find advice that: – Gets you through the thick of your crisis – Gives you tactics that will energize you to keep writing – Teaches you to use your stress to inspire your writing
As the author of over 30 books and the creator of The Chunky Method of time management for writers, Allie Pleiter has met deadlines in the midst of some imposing traumas. With candor, insight, and the wisdom of experience, she shares practical and inventive strategies for how to stay afloat and creative amid life’s stormiest seas.
You can purchase How to WRITE When Everything Goes WRONG on Amazon.
Bonus Resource
Book Editing Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Plan to Making Your Novels Publishable – This is my self-paced online course for fiction and creative nonfiction writers, and is the resource I wish I’d had available early in my writing career. Most novels need several rounds of editing before they’re ready to submit to agents or to indie publish. Unfortunately, each round with a freelance book editor can cost you hundreds of dollars.
By going through this course, you’ll get the tools to skyrocket your manuscript to the next level without breaking the bank. This course demystifies the editing process, giving beginner and intermediate writers a practical, step-by-step blueprint for evaluating, rewriting, and polishing their manuscript. It’s like having a professional editor standing over your shoulder as you’re editing the novel. The course will give you a solid foundation while also being something you can reasonably finish. It includes examples, practice quizzes, and bite-sized action steps that nudge you closer toward your goal.
By the end of this course, you’ll have prepared a detailed editorial report outlining your book’s strengths, weaknesses, and strategies to fix the problems, and will be armed with a simple self-editing checklist to guide you through your revisions. It’s a proven system that outlines what every fiction and creative nonfiction author should do before approaching an editor. That way when you’re ready to hire a editor, you’ll get much more value for your money and should receive a high level edit rather than one filled with general beginner advice.
Purchase Book Editing Blueprint here. Since the course launched at the beginning of the pandemic, I decided to extend the $139 sale price and limited time bonuses through May.
Conclusion
If you're an author, be sure to check out the resources for writers described above:
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Are you a published author who would like to get some exposure on the Shortcuts for Writers blog? Then I’d love to have you participate in my guest blogging opportunity, Behind the Rewrite. This is a win-win opportunity as you get to share the post with your readers, giving them a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse of your writing process. And I get to share the post with my writer followers, so they can learn more about self-editing through your examples.
You have three choices for how to approach your guest post. Please choose one of the below options.
Line Editing Before-And-After – Find a section of your manuscript that you did a lot of line editing on (50-150 words). Write an introduction giving a short overview (a paragraph or two) of the type of line edits you made. (i.e. making sentences more active, cutting vague words, using more vivid words, etc.) Then copy and paste the unedited excerpt into the blog post. Beneath it, paste the rewrite of how it reads with line editing.
Top 5 Changes – Rather than pasting a before-and-after with line editing, you can do a post talking about your larger-scale edits. Tell us about five things you changed and why you made those changes. Each explanation should be at least a paragraph. For example, did you flesh out your protagonist? Add more obstacles in the middle? Cut your prologue? Change your characters’ names? Delete sections to improve the pacing? Add more description? Do more research and add authentic details? Give us a summary of five things you rewrote and your reasons for each change.
Deleted Scene – Share a deleted scene (up to 500 words). Preface it with an explanation of at least 3-5 paragraphs. Explain specifically why the scene didn’t work as written and when you realized it. Did you totally delete the scene, or did you heavily rewrite it? If you rewrote it, give us a summary of what you changed and how this was an improvement. If you cut out the section without rewriting it, how did cutting it improve the book? How hard was it for you to cut?
Whichever option you choose, at the end of your post be sure to include the following:
The book must be published and professionally edited. If an excerpt isn’t strong enough to post as a Behind the Rewrite, I reserve the right to reject the post. You can share the title, blurb, and Amazon link at the bottom of your post.
A short bio, link to your website, and links to Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. (if applicable). Please paste this beneath the book blurb.
Send the post to stacy@stacyjuba.com as a Word attachment. In the subject line, put BEHIND THE REWRITE FROM (INSERT YOUR NAME) Also attach a jpeg of the book cover you’re promoting. Size should be 600 by 900.
Is there a specific time-frame you’re hoping this post will run to coincide with a book release or blog tour? I run these posts weekly, in the order they are received, so you will be scheduled for the next available date. Unfortunately, I can’t change the schedule around to squeeze in a blog tour or a book release. However, if your book release or blog tour is a few months away, and you want me to hold onto your submission until then, I don’t mind delaying the publication.
I will let you know when the post will run, and will tag you on social media. I can’t wait to read about the behind-the-scenes of your rewrite process!
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
I recently discovered a valuable Instagram account that offers free writing classes, writing prompts, giveaways, support and community, and other resources. It’s called YouAreHereWriters, and I was honored to teach a 10-minute self-editing class on their IGTV channel.
In my mini writing class, I shared five tips to help you whip your manuscript into shape. My tips centered around:
1. Point of View
2. Setting
3. Emotions
4. Passive Words
5. Crutch Words
If you browse through the channel’s past free writing classes, you’ll find workshops on topics such as historical research, writing book recommendations, handling rejection, dictating your draft, book marketing, book launches, writing from both sides of the brain, researching and writing nonfiction, getting published in magazines, and much more. What a gold mine of free content!
Here is the link to my mini free writing class on IGTV.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
You know that feeling of overwhelm when you think of how to revise your novel? Where you wish an editor could sit over your shoulder and keep you from making a ton of time-wasting mistakes? You see the big picture but worry about how to get there. How do you get your book ready for publication or submission to an agent?
Today is the LAST day you need to feel that overwhelm about how to revise a novel. My online course Book Editing Blueprint: A Step-By-Step Plan to Making Your Novels Publishableis now available. If you’re a beginner or intermediate writer, then this course may be the solution you’ve been waiting for to reach the next level in your writing journey.
As a developmental editor, I kept seeing my clients make the same mistakes. I knew there had to be a way to break down the editing process into simple steps. I thought about what helped me to tackle my own rewrites and what issues plagued my clients, leading me to create a self-paced online course that streamlines the editing process.
Freelance editing is expensive, and I hate that as an author. But as an editor, I now know that editing someone’s manuscript is hard, time-consuming work. When you don’t charge enough, freelance editing doesn’t pay the bills despite the time and effort involved. That’s why it can cost you a thousand dollars or more for ONE ROUND of editing.
I wanted to offer a win/win situation: a way to empower beginner and intermediate writers to think like an editor so they can cut down on editing expenses. That way they can do the earlier rounds themselves and only pay to send their best work to a freelance editor. My vision was for writers to save time and money by teaching them how to catch and fix common flaws. Editors could do a higher-level edit rather than act as an expensive private writing instructor.
Editors don’t want to charge you outrageous amounts of money. They want to give you their best work, but if you make a lot of general beginner mistakes, it’s going to take them a lot longer to help you make your book publishable. That means you should give them your best writing. That’s why I created Book Editing Blueprint, so I could walk you through each of the common manuscript flaws and show you how to find and fix them in your manuscript.
Would you rather spend thousands of dollars to get multiple rounds of one-on-one writing coaching from a freelance developmental editor, or take an affordable online course to learn the exact same thing?
I am a freelance editor, so trust me, you'll learn all the same techniques and how to apply them to your manuscript. I'll tell you everything I've told my paid clients during their early rounds of editing and show you how to find weaknesses in your story, and most importantly, explain how to fix them. I won't edit your book during the class, but I will teach you how to do it.
Who This Revision Course Is For:
Beginner writers who have just finished, are working on, or are thinking about writing a fiction or creative nonfiction manuscript.
Intermediate authors who have had a couple of books published, but their editors keep sending them back to the drawing board for multiple rounds of rewrites and the editing process still feels overwhelming. You want to turn in well-developed, polished manuscripts and get to a higher level.
Authors who find hiring an editor too expensive and feel they might be skimping on the editing process.
Authors who don’t want a crazy-intensive course that will take months to get through and that they might give up on. They want a simpler way to get there.
In Book Editing Blueprint, your mission is to learn how to do a thorough developmental and line edit and to create a solid action plan for your work-in-progress. By the end of this course, you’ll have prepared a detailed editorial report outlining your book’s strengths, weaknesses, and strategies to fix the problems, and will be armed with a simple checklist on how to revise a novel.
You’ll learn through 10 easy-to-understand modules that get straight to the point. It’s a proven system that outlines what every fiction author should do before approaching an editor. That way when you’re ready to hire an editor, you’ll get much more value for your money as you’re not paying someone to point out issues you could have easily found yourself. Here’s what topics you’ll see covered:
Module 1: Character
Module 2: Structure
Module 3: Point of View
Module 4: Show, Don’t Tell
Module 5: Dialogue
Module 6: Pacing
Module 7: Line Editing
Module 8: Copyediting
Module 9: Hiring an Editor
Module 10: Putting It All Together
Bonus Module: Foil the Frustration - Motivation Strategies for Authors. (Includes an excerpt from When The Timer Dings: Organizing Your Life To Make The Most of 10 Minute Increments by Katharine Grubb of 10 Minute Novelists)
You can binge through it in about 10-14 days, or take as long as you want. The course includes:
28 video tutorials, most between 4-10 minutes
200 pages of transcripts
71-page workbook with worksheets and cheat sheets
25-page Book Editing Blueprint checklist
If you’re a beginner or intermediate fiction or creative nonfiction writer who wants to learn how to revise a novel so you can lower your editing expenses and become less dependent on editors, then Book Editing Blueprint is for you. Learn how to revise a novel, save time and money, and get that book done. Register here.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
How do you go about rewriting a novel when it’s an absolute mess?
I want to tell you about this editing client I once had. She submitted a manuscript that was the biggest disaster I had ever seen. It would need countless drafts to make it even in the ballpark of publishable.
1. First, it was written 25 years ago when she was a teenager, years before she developed her skills as a novelist. It lacked character development, description, and a strong point of view.
2. Since it was originally done on a word processor, this author hired a company to scan her hard copy so she could work with it again. Unfortunately, the scanning process riddled it with formatting errors and odd symbols that made my eyes glaze over when I was editing.
3. The storyline was so outdated and unrealistic that she had buried the manuscript in a drawer for several years, too overwhelmed to deal with it.
Finally, this client took a deep breath and vowed to give the manuscript a long-overdue rewrite. It was a sequel to a young adult sports novel published in 1992 that still sold copies daily, and readers kept asking her if there was a second book.
As a freelance editor, I’m known for writing encouraging but honest ten-page editorial letters. Some editors have never written a book themselves and don’t understand how awful it feels to have your hard work criticized. Since I’ve been on the receiving end of overwhelming editorial letters, I always make sure to include the positives. However, in this case, I ripped the manuscript to shreds.
Want to know why? This “client” was me.
Rewriting A Novel From Scratch
Rewriting my young adult novel Offsides (Hockey Rivals Book 2), a manuscripted penned by my nineteen-year-old self, was one of the scariest, strangest, and most rewarding projects I’ve ever undertaken.
Every single word of that book required rewriting. I think the only thing that stayed the same was the characters’ names. (Wait . . . I changed a couple of those, too.)
I desperately needed a system to break down this monumental editing project into manageable steps.
I made a long list of every possible task I could think of and arranged it in an order that made sense so that I could redraft the novel. Then I dug into my messy manuscript and revised one item at a time.
Now, just like its predecessor Face-Off, Offsides sells copies every day. This one-line review on Amazon filled me with joy. “My 11-year-old hockey player grandson could not put the book down. He loved it.”
I market these hockey books with the tagline “Score a goal for reading,” but I scored a goal for my writing career also by tackling the rewrite of that novel. Through self-editing, I took my disaster of a manuscript and transformed it into a publishable novel that my ideal reader couldn’t put down. You can do it too. I’d love to share my system and revision checklist with you in Book Editing Blueprint.
Your mission is to learn how to do a thorough developmental and line edit, to clean up your manuscript, and to create a solid action plan. By the end of the course, you’ll have prepared a detailed editorial report and will be armed with a simple self-editing checklist to guide you through your revisions. Sign up below.
Have you ever had a messy rewrite to complete? Are you working on one now? Tell us in the comments.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Several years ago, I wrote an article about setting in fiction for a writing magazine. The angle was how research field trips could enrich your writing. As a longtime journalist, hands-on research comes naturally to me. I’m used to picking up the phone, explaining that I’m a writer, and requesting a tour and interview. I’ve done it for hundreds of newspaper articles, so I have no qualms about seeking out experts to research my novels.
I’ve hung out and chatted with interview sources at a hospital emergency room, childbirth education class, dog training school, prison, power plant, Christmas ornament factory, homeless shelter, haunted inn, and at a psychic’s house; during a police cruiser ride-along, on the firing range, and inside a courthouse, to name a few. I never could have created such authentic setting descriptions without being there in person and asking my list of questions.
However, some authors feel hesitant about e-mailing or cold-calling a stranger for research purposes, especially writers without a publishing track record. Here’s my advice: do it anyway.
Agents and acquisitions editors trust writers who strive for accuracy. Readers love authors who plunge them into settings ripe with authentic details. Field trips can expand a writer’s knowledge base and provide opportunities to gather color, atmosphere, and on-scene information unavailable in a research book or on the Internet.
Sure, the adage ‘Write what you know’ has some truth, yet if that’s all we wrote, our fiction would be boring. Next time you get stuck on a scene, put on your reporter’s hat and go out and find the story.
Here is advice and setting anecdotes from five of the novelists I interviewed for the original article.
Lisa Gardner
Bestselling suspense author Lisa Gardner met with the Rhode Island State Police for her novel The Survivor’s Club and even staked out a Providence courthouse to determine the ideal angle for a sniper shot.
For The Killing Hour, she visited the FBI Academy to learn about the life of a new agent, and she spent a week with the U.S. Geological Survey team, checking out remote places in Virginia for an “Eco-Killer” to abandon his victims.
The Other Daughterled her on a hunt to Texas, where she researched execution protocol.
“I need to be able to picture something to write it,” she said. “Actually seeing Texas’s retired electric chair was so much more riveting than simply reading about it. To walk through a maximum security prison, getting the sights, the sounds, and particularly the smell, made the whole atmosphere come alive in a way simply talking about it never would. Then I can take this experience in turn, and make it come alive for the reader.”
Stephen Coonts
Stephen Coonts, bestselling action/adventure author, took a flight in the F-22 cockpit concept demonstrator at Lockheed Martin in Georgia for Fortunes of War. He talked his way into the V-22 Osprey simulator at NAS Patuxent River, the basis for scenes in his novella Al-Jihad. While research is vital, he advises not overloading the reader with information.
“The first requirement for any writer is a good story,” Coonts said. “Once you see how the story is going to go, then do enough research to give the tale the flavor of authenticity. Salt in a little jargon, but only a little. Write around details you don’t know. The easiest and best way to do research is to find an expert and ask precisely the questions to which you need answers. Shotgunning (or scattered) research is a waste of time.”
Jodi Picoult
As part of her research for novels such as Plain Truth, The Tenth Circle, and Second Glance, bestselling writer Jodi Picoult has milked a cow in Amish country and roughed it with native Alaskans. She shudders when she remembers heading out to an abandoned New England mental institution on a winter night with paranormal investigators. Her group trudged across a field where a building had burned down with patients inside.
“I was walking with a sensitive, someone who can ‘feel’ ghosts,” Picoult said. “Suddenly, all the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Before I could even mention this to my walking buddy, he lifted a digital camera and held it up between us backward, over our shoulders. Although there was nothing visible to the naked eye, in the viewfinder of the camera was a white, misty, wraith-like image.”
Janet Evanovich
Anyone who has read the humorous Stephanie Plum series, about a female bounty hunter sleuth with attitude, knows how much detail bestselling author Janet Evanovich weaves into the books. That all stems from research.
“One time I was meeting a bounty hunter for lunch in a crowded Au Bon Pain in downtown Washington and this guy came in dressed in leather,” recalled Evanovich, whose books include the recent Twisted Twenty-Six. “I was trying to find out what he did and how successful he was. He did this arm thing and reached for something on the table, and all you could see was this illegal Dirty Harry gun. The place cleared out and we were the only two people left. It was important for the Stephanie Plum series as it gave me perspective on crowd reaction, and made me think about how I was putting my heroine in this atypical and unsavory job.”
Deborah Donnelly
Deborah Donnelly, author of the Wedding Planner Mysteries, writes so vividly that her books caught the attention of Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. The channel adapted her book Veiled Threats into the movie the Wedding Planner Mystery.
“While researching May the Best Man Die, I toured the Seattle’s Best Coffee roasting plant,” she said. “I explained myself as a mystery writer when I made the tour request, but apparently no one told the gentleman who showed me around. As he dutifully described all the specialized equipment, I kept asking questions like, ‘If one of those sacks of coffee beans fell on you, would it kill you?’ and ‘If this place burned down, would the coffee smell really good?’ He kept edging farther and farther away from me… Eventually, he learned the reassuring truth about my odd profession.”
Arranging Research Field Trips
Are you inspired to make a field trip to enrich the setting in your book? If you want to tour a site or interview an expert, search the Internet for leads. Larger organizations might have a PR department that handles inquiries.
Cold calls are fine, but don’t subject someone to an on-the-spot interrogation; make an appointment so you both have time to prepare. You could also outline your request in an e-mail.
Before the visit, read up on your subject and develop specific questions. Bring a notebook to the interview and ask whether you can call or e-mail with follow-up questions. Afterwards, be sure to show your appreciation with a thank you note.
What type of field trips have you made to research your books? Share in the comments. If your book is published, share an excerpt that reflects your research and a buy link.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Many beginner and intermediate writers find the book editing process overwhelming. That’s where I come in. I was recently asked on a podcast why I’m so passionate about teaching self-editing skills to authors. The thing is, I’m not just an editor. I’m an author who has received crushing editorial letters, letters that outlined everything I was doing wrong. I’d thought those manuscripts were pretty darn close to being publishable, but nope! Evidently not.
Those letters got my heart pounding, my blood pressure rising, and my eyes prickling with tears. Don’t get me wrong. The editors said encouraging things, too, but all I could focus on at first was the overwhelming list of problems to fix.
For example:
“I think in order to make us eager to get back to this place in future installments, you may want to dial it up even more to make the park a true character in the story.”
“We don’t know enough about what your characters want to allow us to get really invested in their story and the outcome.”
“I’m going to make a bold suggestion here. What if there was no Danielle?”
In that letter, I discovered my setting needed to become a character (huh?), my real characters were flat, and I should consider cutting the bitchy ex-girlfriend who drove most of the conflict. And trust me, there was more. Much more!
Good editors also focus on the positives during the book editing process, and this was an excellent editor whose suggestions helped me a great deal. She included paragraphs like this one: “I know these seem like a lot of notes, and I hope I’m not overwhelming you. I really think you have nailed the more critical elements that can’t be fixed as easily. You have a fluid writing style and a good sense of pacing, and most importantly, you write with voice.”
In the beginning though, all I felt was overwhelm. Of course, I thanked her and gushed over how much I appreciated her insightful editorial feedback, because I did appreciate it. She’d saved me from publishing a book that wasn’t ready. Thanks to her, I realized the book editing process wasn’t done yet. That didn’t make the truth any easier to swallow, though. I wasn’t almost finished with the book after all. In fact, I wasn’t even close to being finished.
I survived the rewrite just as I’d powered through the other tough rewrites over the decades. With a leap of faith, discipline, and peanut M&Ms. Plenty of peanut M&Ms!
Eventually, I became a developmental editor, coaching other authors through the book editing process, and found myself writing these kinds of distressing letters. I’d echo the words of my mentors, incorporating lines like, “PLEASE don’t be discouraged. You’re a talented writer and this story has so much potential.” I’d nervously await a reply, praying I hadn’t crushed a new writer’s dreams with my editing feedback.
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that every manuscript has potential, but it takes good editing to transform it into the book it deserves to be.
I wished I had a fairy godmother to transform this early draft of Fooling Around With Cinderella, the book described in the above editorial letter.
And I really wished I could wave a wand and make things easier for my clients.
They were jumping from Point A (finishing their draft and revising as best as they could) to Point C (hiring a freelance editor) with no transition in between.
What they needed was a stop at Point B, which in my world stands for Blueprint. Everything I put into the course and the step-by-step guide that accompanies it comes from thousands of hours spent editing my own manuscripts and my clients’ projects. If you’d like to learn more about how Book Editing Blueprint can transform your writing and editing, watch the above trailer and then visit the course home page for more information. Hope to see you inside the course!
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
FREE CHARACTER-NAMING GUIDE BELOW! Are you a fiction writer who could use some help on how to name your characters?
Then check out this video tour of seven amazing name generator websites for writers. I’ll show you where you can quickly generate English first and last names, find out names popular in certain years, discover multicultural names, and even generate the perfect names for medieval characters, dragons, vampires, unicorns, and fairies.
Do you need a name to reflect a certain ethnicity? Or, would you like to explore what potential character names mean so that it can add a layer of symbolism? These sites will help you with all of this and more.
You can also visit my blog post which has clickable links to each site along with six questions you should be asking yourself before finalizing your character names.
Sign up for a PDF of my Tips for Naming Characters Guide, which includes a list of all the questions and character-name sites in one handy download. Get the PDF here: https://billowing-water-5216.ck.page/f47dd8ffda
In the comments, share the name of one of your characters and why you chose it. Please like this video and share it with any writers who might find it helpful! Have you used any of these sites to help you pick your character names? Do you have others to recommend. Let me know in the comments.
Stacy Juba has written sweet and sassy chick lit novels, mysteries about determined women sleuths, and entertaining books for young adults and children. She has had novels ranked as #5 and #11 in the Nook Store and #30 on the Amazon Kindle Paid List. Her books include the Storybook Valley chick lit series and the Hockey Rivals young adult sports novels.
Stacy is also a freelance developmental editor, online writing instructor, and an award-winning journalist. Join her Facebook group for writers and download the free toolkit 7 Simple Steps To Nailing Your Book Blurb. Also be sure to sign up for her free 5-day line editing course!
Could your manuscript use trimming and polishing? Sign up for the FREE email class: Line Editing Made Simple - 5 Days To More Polished Pages.You'll get bite-sized lessons and assignments to help you kick-start your line editing. Sign up now!
Tell us about your blog. What are some examples of posts you have published?
