Self-publishing fiction

Editors and proofreaders – and why you need us more than ever

You are an incredible storyteller.

You’ve written the book.

Your mum and your best mate have read it through and say it’s “really good”.

You think this is the best novel since Lord of the Rings.

Your budget is limited, so you are just going to go ahead and send your precious oeuvre out into the great wide world as an ebook or print-on-demand to earn your fame and fortune. After all, they say that everyone has a book in them...

STOP!

Is your story really ready for publication?

From a reader’s point of view there is nothing more likely to make me stop reading than a badly-edited book — and if I have paid for it, I will add annoyance to my disappointment.

For starters, there are those tiny typos and glitches that creep in unaided and get left unnoticed, because you, the writer,  know what it was you meant to write - and your eye continues to see just that.

Why might spelling be an issue? You have used a grammar and spellchecker — but your computer cannot tell the difference between “rode” and “road” or even “Rome” and “roam”, and if you happen to be dyslexic, you might not know which is the right one to choose anyway. 

If you are aware that your spelling "leaves much to be desired" then there is no reason for embarrassment. As a former teacher, I have met all levels of writers and spellers: those who could win a Universal Spelling Bee, and those who know themselves to be dyslexic or just never learned to spell well … and believe me, I can interpret pretty much anything correctly.  I might simply query whether you meant to spell something using UK or US spelling. Together, we would develop a 'house style guide', so that consistency will reign supreme.

Do you know your “there” from your “their” or your “they’re”? 

Not to mention "your" and "you're" (or even "yore") 

What about “it’s” and “its”?

Is it correctly formatted? Dialogue attributed? Paragraphs set out properly?

Do you know your hyphens from your dashes?

But by "badly-edited", I don’t just mean words misspelled or sentences wrongly-punctuated and oh, that dreadful grocer’s apostrophe … there are other things to think about :

•       your story should flow —  there should be no surplus ideas that  come from nowhere or go nowhere ;
•       a character that appears in one chapter with one name must not reappear later with another, or with a changed hair style
•       did you mention a ‘gun on the mantelpiece’[i] ?;  
•       if you have placed your story in the real world, sometimes facts need checking;
•       if you have invented your world, have you been consistent ?;  
•       if you quoted from elsewhere, you will need to acknowledge the original writer; you might even need permission to use someone else’s words.

As an editor, my task is to draw your attention to these elements. 

If you need help shaping your narrative, I’ll talk to you about “story arcs” or  suggest ways in which you can make your story readable and page-turnable if it needs it.  Sometimes it could be as simple as helping you identify your reader.

I’ll be kind, but I’ll be honest.

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[i] https://www.nownovel.com/blog/use-chekhovs-gun/

‘Chekhov’s Gun’ is a concept that describes how every element of a story should contribute to the whole. It comes from Anton Chekhov’s famous book writing advice: ‘If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.’

In other words, everything that is introduced in a story needs to have a function.

Not such new beginnings

I've been proofreading over the past 30 years or so ... only for the greater part of that time, I called it "marking". 

I learned to work out what my writers were trying to say. I usually managed to unscramble emergent writing (indeterminate beginner scribbles, to the uninitiated). I deciphered approximate and unlikely spellings and usually ignored errors that we hadn't covered in "today's lesson", whilst gritting my teeth and trying not to tell a young pupil that we had learned that yesterday, and "look at how well you did it there". I explained how to use conjunctions and avoid the use of too many modifiers (a very difficult concept to a 9-year-old who is just discovering the richness of the English language). All this whilst attempting to stimulate creativity and originality in all its forms. Encouragement was all; red pens outlawed many years ago.

I wrote bi-annual reports and checked those of my colleagues before they were sent for perusal under the stern eye of the headteacher. Sometimes (in the days of "positivity at all costs") I even managed to write truthfully and meaningfully. I wrote and developed schemes of work; weekly, termly and yearly plans; letters to various experts, using the right jargon, begging for help for my students with special needs.

Imagine then, my delight in realising that I can indulge my penchant for meticulous spelling, writing and grammar, as well as putting to use the writing and language skills I gained in my own creative writing and English degree. In addition, a recent diploma in proofreading and copy editing enables me to help authors, students and academics to polish their writing, not just by checking the spelling, punctuation and layout, but in suggesting where to reword if necessary and questioning whether what they have written is clear, concise and really what they meant.

My next step: to register myself as "profession libérale",  and get "JRMproofreading" up and earning money.