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Post by Deleted on Jan 15, 2020 12:28:57 GMT
Wouldn't you have to pay for that service? I ask my husband to edit my books. He was a journalist and is a much better writer than I am.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jan 15, 2020 21:22:33 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2020 16:17:11 GMT
Yes a professional in any field is a good idea if you can afford him/her. My husband decided to tile our second bathroon himself. Several months later he was so dissatisfied with his work that he stripped the tiles off the walls and hired a professional. The bathroom looks great!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 16, 2020 23:19:55 GMT
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jan 17, 2020 15:50:12 GMT
Marie's rates are in the affordable range, if you have money available to invest in your work.
The other option would be to look up a local college to see if its journalism department has students / faculty that do editing at a reduced rate, because some people have little in the way of discretionary funds.
With the vast fortune I've amassed, I'll have to stick to editing my own work after it's cooled down.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2020 16:10:53 GMT
Yes, I noticed 15 cents a word just yesterday. There are many out there who do it for 2 cents a word. Local journalists, teachers and lit students are a great idea.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Jan 17, 2020 16:41:39 GMT
I believe Marie charges $0.01 per word for proofreading and $0.15 per word for copy editing, which is reasonable since I've seen people charging $0.10 per word for proofing and $0.35 per word for copy editing. The person with the high rate used to work in publishing in NYC and somehow thought the cost of living in Texas was somehow equivalent to NYC.
So if the budget is tight, the other route works as well.
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Post by mockingbird on Jan 17, 2020 23:49:30 GMT
Thank you, Sphinx-Cameron!
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Post by ronmiller on Feb 3, 2020 14:29:40 GMT
I have always stuck to the maxim that it is never, ever a good idea to edit your own work. Objectivity is always going to be a problem, no matter how careful one thinks one might be.
There are two kinds of editors who look for two different kinds of problems or issues. One is the editor, who looks at the content and form of the book. Is it told well? Does it make sense? The other is the copy editor, who goes over the grammar, spelling, punctuation and syntax with a fine-toothed comb. Both of them will find things that even the most careful of writers will have missed.
A good editor is the best friend an author can have...which is one of the reasons you see so many books who either have dedications to their editors or warm mentions in the acknowledgments.
If one cannot afford a professional editor/copy editor, then Sphinx-Cameron's suggestion is a very viable alternative: look up a local college to see if its journalism department has students/faculty that might do the editing for a reasonable fee. This is a gambit that has proven successful with many authors.
Regardless, it is of immense importance to have your book vetted objectively.
I think that there is a very pertinent ethical reason for making sure that a book is independently, objectively edited: If you are planning to sell your work for the same price as a professionally-published book than I believe that there is an obligation to offer a product that is of equal quality. It is not fair to the potential buyer to ask them to make an exception in your case. What one would be saying is "Please buy my product and forgive all of its faults because I could't afford to do any better." I don't think that anyone would buy anything from a car to a toothbrush that had that kind of disclaimer attached any more than they would go to a doctor who told them that they couldn't afford to finish medical school.
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Post by ronmiller on Feb 3, 2020 14:33:00 GMT
Yes, I noticed 15 cents a word just yesterday. There are many out there who do it for 2 cents a word. Local journalists, teachers and lit students are a great idea. Indeed they are great idea! A goal is to not just get good editing/copy editing but an objective eye. (15 cents a word! Yikes! I know of magazines that pay only 3 cents a word for articles!)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2020 16:28:29 GMT
Yes, I noticed 15 cents a word just yesterday. There are many out there who do it for 2 cents a word. Local journalists, teachers and lit students are a great idea. Indeed they are great idea! A goal is to not just get good editing/copy editing but an objective eye. (15 cents a word! Yikes! I know of magazines that pay only 3 cents a word for articles!) Yes, that's a lot of money. I charged 2 cents a word last year and the work was endless. I swore I would never edit again. Kept finding things a year later. Too many pages, too many words for one set of eyes.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Feb 4, 2020 13:38:50 GMT
I have always stuck to the maxim that it is never, ever a good idea to edit your own work. Objectivity is always going to be a problem, no matter how careful one thinks one might be. There are two kinds of editors who look for two different kinds of problems or issues. One is the editor, who looks at the content and form of the book. Is it told well? Does it make sense? The other is the copy editor, who goes over the grammar, spelling, punctuation and syntax with a fine-toothed comb. Both of them will find things that even the most careful of writers will have missed. A good editor is the best friend an author can have...which is one of the reasons you see so many books who either have dedications to their editors or warm mentions in the acknowledgments. If one cannot afford a professional editor/copy editor, then Sphinx-Cameron's suggestion is a very viable alternative: look up a local college to see if its journalism department has students/faculty that might do the editing for a reasonable fee. This is a gambit that has proven successful with many authors. Regardless, it is of immense importance to have your book vetted objectively. I think that there is a very pertinent ethical reason for making sure that a book is independently, objectively edited: If you are planning to sell your work for the same price as a professionally-published book than I believe that there is an obligation to offer a product that is of equal quality. It is not fair to the potential buyer to ask them to make an exception in your case. What one would be saying is "Please buy my product and forgive all of its faults because I could't afford to do any better." I don't think that anyone would buy anything from a car to a toothbrush that had that kind of disclaimer attached any more than they would go to a doctor who told them that they couldn't afford to finish medical school. When it comes to doctors, I've seen more than a few who made it through med-school who you wouldn't want to have working on you, unless you're into misdiagnosis and being essentially tormented for a profit. [These days I tend to recommend a good veterinarian, as they have to deal with patients who can't talk but can potentially cause a lot of damage if mistreated.]
If you hire someone to edit, check their credentials.
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Post by ronmiller on Feb 4, 2020 14:23:59 GMT
I have always stuck to the maxim that it is never, ever a good idea to edit your own work. Objectivity is always going to be a problem, no matter how careful one thinks one might be. There are two kinds of editors who look for two different kinds of problems or issues. One is the editor, who looks at the content and form of the book. Is it told well? Does it make sense? The other is the copy editor, who goes over the grammar, spelling, punctuation and syntax with a fine-toothed comb. Both of them will find things that even the most careful of writers will have missed. A good editor is the best friend an author can have...which is one of the reasons you see so many books who either have dedications to their editors or warm mentions in the acknowledgments. If one cannot afford a professional editor/copy editor, then Sphinx-Cameron's suggestion is a very viable alternative: look up a local college to see if its journalism department has students/faculty that might do the editing for a reasonable fee. This is a gambit that has proven successful with many authors. Regardless, it is of immense importance to have your book vetted objectively. I think that there is a very pertinent ethical reason for making sure that a book is independently, objectively edited: If you are planning to sell your work for the same price as a professionally-published book than I believe that there is an obligation to offer a product that is of equal quality. It is not fair to the potential buyer to ask them to make an exception in your case. What one would be saying is "Please buy my product and forgive all of its faults because I could't afford to do any better." I don't think that anyone would buy anything from a car to a toothbrush that had that kind of disclaimer attached any more than they would go to a doctor who told them that they couldn't afford to finish medical school. When it comes to doctors, I've seen more than a few who made it through med-school who you wouldn't want to have working on you, unless you're into misdiagnosis and being essentially tormented for a profit. [These days I tend to recommend a good veterinarian, as they have to deal with patients who can't talk but can potentially cause a lot of damage if mistreated.]
If you hire someone to edit, check their credentials.
Exactly! Just as anyone with Photoshop and access to stock image sites can set themselves up as a "cover designer," so too can someone with access to Spellcheck and Grammarcheck claim to be an editor.
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Post by Retread-Retired-Cameron on Feb 4, 2020 14:35:47 GMT
When it comes to doctors, I've seen more than a few who made it through med-school who you wouldn't want to have working on you, unless you're into misdiagnosis and being essentially tormented for a profit. [These days I tend to recommend a good veterinarian, as they have to deal with patients who can't talk but can potentially cause a lot of damage if mistreated.]
If you hire someone to edit, check their credentials.
Exactly! Just as anyone with Photoshop and access to stock image sites can set themselves up as a "cover designer," so too can someone with access to Spellcheck and Grammarcheck claim to be an editor. Yeah, Spellcheck and Grammarcheck can be problematic, the first has to have a lot of words added and the second has a basic set of rules that doesn't fully address nuances and complexities. It helps to have an unabridged dictionary, a thesaurus, as well as a guide on punctuation.
I would share an image of two storage chests the wife and I built years ago [she's been learning old-school], but clearing a lane is waiting. At any rate those chests aren't beauties [we realize they're very plain] but they have stood up to a lot of abuse from three kids almost unfazed.
Expertise in a field goes a long way toward results obtained.
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Post by ronmiller on Feb 4, 2020 15:22:24 GMT
One of the best things about the English language is its flexibility. I think it was grammarian James Kilpatrick who said that there are really only about a half dozen inflexible rules of English grammar. The rest are more like guidelines. And wee awl no how Spellcheck is knot very reliable.
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