To prespective writers

My book is getting close to the end—of the first draft, of course. Thanks to my critique group, I have had reader input through the whole manuscript. (Thanks, Marlene and D'Norgia.) I am looking forward to re-writing the book. When the second draft is done, I will be looking for an editor. “But, Linda,” you say. “You're a good editor. Can't you do your own?” The answer is an emphatic NO! Everyone needs a good editor. Only an independent brain can pick out the problems in a ms. After all, I know what I intended; my reader doesn't.

Positively everyone who wants a quality product. And this is especially true of self-publishers. Because of the ease and economy of publishing on your own, millions of so-so books are languishing in the marketplace. Readers want good reading. If we don't give it to them, we're out of luck. Readers notice the flaws and typos. As a reader, it turns me off, discouraging me from buying more. I don't have a big budget, so I tend to be more discriminating in purchasing books—even e-books.

If you're thinking about writing a book, there are some important things to remember. Hire the best editor you can afford. Second, send that editor a clean copy of text, double-spaced, 1” margin manuscript. Don't try to make it look like it will in book form. Yes, put in footnotes and things like that, but the less formatting the better. For instance, I recently edited a book for someone who tried to make the ms look like the book she envisioned. I had to copy and paste and reformat the ms so I could edit it. She kept asking me about covers and fonts and stuff like that. That's not an editor's job. Our job is to make your text as effective and entertaining as possible so you can find an agent. Publishers will take care of the book design with your input, but what they're buying are the words. So, ask your editor how she wants to receive your ms and in what form. I prefer electronic mss in plain word processing form, double spaced, one inch margins—PERIOD. I have to print them out, so they need to be in a word processing document, such as Word 97/2000. I just spend half the day trying to format a document to double space and left justify so I could print it out and have room on the pages for comments and corrections. (Note to self: make a check list of formatting for all prespective clients.)

If you find any typos or misspellings, you'll understand what I mean when I say, "find a good editor."

In the meantime, my protagonist, Mary Fletcher, has had a parting of the ways with Sam Terwillager. The bad news is, she is still in the hospital and still in danger. She's going to have to find a way to forgive Sam so the murderer will be caught. 

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