Sunday, August 11, 2013

Lots of Fun During Q&A!

Today was a lot of fun for Rolex and me. Twitter lit up with a few questions and a LOT of comments!



Granted, we didn't have a lot of participants, but those who did, and commented, helped make the time great. Julie, Susie and Joey asked some great questions.


I'm going to put the full transcript here, in case you, our wonderful readers, want to know as well. Knowledge is a great thing, and should be shared.


11h
What if EVERY single time you look at your MS you see things to change? Do you ever stop rewriting?

11h
Yes, but it's hard! I overedit. If you've killed the plot bunnies & characters 3D, work mechanics. Step away.

11h
Or you could sterilize the voice and your work.

11h
should say character are nicely 3D LOL See? Overedited.

11h
who should see MS first, a reader or an editor?

  Definitely send to your critique partners & beta readers first. They generally catch a lot you might not have seen.

11h
Agreed. Good CP are a blessing!

11h
I <3 mine like family. I couldn't do it w/out them! Not to mention what they catch LOL

11h
Yes! I have one cp who's like a writing sis & 2 more like big brothers who pick on me (nicely).

11h
I always give my Cheer Squad a thank you in acknowledgements. & try to return the help :)

11h
What are the most cringe-worth editing mistakes you see?

10h
the author sends rough draft instead of doing revisions/edits 1st. Missing words, misspelling, bad

10h
It can take 100+ hrs to clean it up.

10h
For me, wordiness. A sentence going on 9-10 lines. Sometimes it's ok, but a ms filled with them makes it a chore to read.Rolex

10h
These are things the author can do easily, quickly, w/out paying someone else to do it. Pay for the important stuff.

11h
Speaking of pay, what should a writer expect to pay? What is too much?

 
Excellent question! I've seen editors charge from $100 - $1500. Charges depend: word count, subject, time to edit 1/2

10h
Editorial experience. Research, ask ?'s, know what you want. Average is $300-$500 80k words, for a mid level edit.

10h
if they ask more, ask why. Get details.

And well worth it if you're going to self-pub. I've seen too many that skipped this important piece!

11h
Especially self publishers. I've seen some do it on their own, & do a good job. But they are diligent to the extreme.

11h
w/rise of self pub, many allow a traditional author to get away w/murder, but nitpick a self pubbed. We have to be very careful.

11h
And that includes me. I pay for someone else to edit my own. ~TJ~

10h
Agreed. Still hard to know when to stop.Many ways to say the same thing, you know?

10h
Exactly. Find what fits your MC/voice/story :)

11h
you said "mid-level". What should an author ask for minimally? (sorry if repeat. I messed up-- had to...edit!)

 
At the very least, a light edit - looking for plot holes, punctuation, spelling, grammar, characterization.

10h
Mid level is along the lines of light plus more indepth with overuse of pronouns, redundancies

10h
a deep, comprehensive edit is content & copy, line by line, word by word.

10h
yes, I read it aloud to see if it feels like me.

 
By doing that, you'll also find the awkward phrasing :)

10h
So true. I hear it when spoken aloud.

10h
I load my writing into PDF file and use the read aloud function on Adobe. Great way to hear it.
































As you can see, we built some connections, answered a few good questions, and started a conversation.

In the future, we have more planned, with prizes, of course, and hopefully, we can really start a great conversation between authors and editors, help put many great books out there for all of us to read!

This week, I have a blog planned for Mistakes I've Made. I'm a writer, I know. Rolex is a writer, she knows. It's hard, frustrating, and can be terrifying. But the best part? It's fun, wonderful, fulfilling, and creative. 

Now, shoo! Go write! One can never have enough books.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

I learned so much, including what a blabbermouth I am! But thank you for patiently answering my questions and giving me a lot of new information if/when I ever publish that book.

Thank you also for the great, and I mean, GREAT prizes. I feel so unworthy. ;)

August 11, 2013 at 1:41:00 PM MDT
Cliffhanger Editing said...

It was a lot of fun :) More is coming, going to try for a once a month type of schedule. Our plans include certain subjects, and with plenty of prizes in the future!

Thank you, so very much, for participating!

August 12, 2013 at 4:09:00 AM MDT

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