Tag: self publishing

The Importance of a Second Pair of Eyes: My Interview at Jera Publishing

Imagine my surprise when Camille Wise, intern at Jera Publishing, contacted me for an interview! Camille is a talented high school senior who is completing an internship with Kimberly Martin at Jera, and she kept me on my toes with her insightful questions about my work as a professional freelance editor. I hope you’ll join me for the interview over at Jera Publishing to learn a bit more about me and my work; here’s an excerpt:

One professional who can transform your book into a front-of-the-bookstore kind of novel is Candace Johnson, owner of Change It Up Editing. Jera Publishing highly recommends her, along with several other editors, to clients in need of manuscript revisions. Because I felt authors deserved a better grasp of editing, I called Candace on a Monday afternoon to learn why it’s such an imperative part of the writing process. If you’re an up-and-coming writer, the following interview is just for you.

Read the rest at https://bit.ly/2uxJBvm.

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Candace Johnson is a professional freelance editor, proofreader, writer, and writing coach for fiction and nonfiction. She works with traditional publishers, self-published authors, and independent book packagers. As an editorial specialist, Candace is passionate about offering her clients the opportunity to take their work to the next level. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of THE MEMORY BOX with a $0.99 ebook and More Great News!

I’m squealing with excitement over here!

Three years ago writer Eva Lesko Natiello contacted me about editing her first novel. I took one look at the manuscript and I was IN!

I’ve written about The Memory Box here and here and here, and I hope you’ve had the opportunity to read it … but if you haven’t yet, here’s your chance: in celebration of the third anniversary of its debut you can get The Memory Box for just $0.99! And you’ll want to read it soon because  Continue reading “Celebrate the 3rd Anniversary of THE MEMORY BOX with a $0.99 ebook and More Great News!”

Crossing Over: Making Peace with Self-Publishing/ Guest Post by Maureen Anderson

“If you knew the world was going to end in two days, what would you do?” the writer Sara Davidson was once asked. “Take notes,” she said without hesitating.

That’s me. The world as I knew it had ended, with a painful divorce I hadn’t seen coming, and I’d done what I’d always done to make sense of things. I took notes.

Many years later, perusing those notes, I could never pull myself away. “What a great story,” I kept thinking. “What an interesting way of putting a life back together from scratch.” By then I’d become a radio journalist, interviewing experts on career change. What struck me, thinking of my own career transition, was how much I’d accidentally done right.

Do-Over: An Accidental Template for Scaling the Abyss is that story. But I wasn’t a licensed career counselor or a celebrity. Getting an agent or a publisher interested in Do-Over would be a haul. Continue reading “Crossing Over: Making Peace with Self-Publishing/ Guest Post by Maureen Anderson”

4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your NaNoWriMo Manuscript

November is history, and so is NaNoWriMo 2016. If you’re like most NaNoWriMo participants, you’re pretty excited about ending November with 50,000 words—maybe you have the first draft of a novel, maybe only a third of a longer manuscript. Nevertheless, you’ve written a bodacious number of words in thirty days, and you’ve accomplished something pretty spectacular.

For thousands of would-be novelists, December means it’s time to start down the path to publishing.

Please don’t be one of those writers who rushes to publication. Instead, try these four ideas: Continue reading “4 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your NaNoWriMo Manuscript”

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: Guest Post by Brigitte Nioche

book coverThe self-publishing authors I work with understand that a professional team of editors and designers are needed to create a quality book that can stand out in a competitive marketplace.

But what happens when the cover you choose hurts instead of helps your book? Do you stick with the cover you and your designer worked so hard to create, or do you go back to the drawing board?

Brigitte Nioche, author of Getting Over Growing Older: A Humorous Memoir of Discovering the Challenges of Aging, faced that dilemma several weeks after her book was published. In celebration of the re-release of her book, she’s agreed to share her story with you:

What happens when the cover you choose hurts instead of helps your book? #bookcovers #selfpub #indiepub Share on X

I believe we all judge a book by its cover! Viewing a book’s cover is like getting a first impression when meeting a new person—that first impression tells us if we want to see more or not.

It is the same when we browse in a bookstore, or even when we scan the pages of Amazon. A cover or title either catches our interest, or we pass over that book.

Several weeks after its debut, I decided to change the cover of my recently getting-over-originalpublished book, Getting Over Growing Older. If you saw it on Facebook, Twitter, or on my blog, you will remember that it prominently featured a picture of me.

The Reaction Wasn’t What I Expected

And the reaction I always got was “Oh, that’s a nice photo of you,” but that was not the message I wanted to convey. By putting my picture on the cover I wanted to show readers Continue reading “Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover: Guest Post by Brigitte Nioche”

Self-Published Book Beats the Odds by Making the New York Times Bestseller List

Several years ago I was lucky enough to work with Eva Lesko Natiello, who self-published book NY Times bestsellerhired me to help her polish her debut novel, The Memory Box, for submission. We were both disappointed when she wasn’t offered a publishing contract, but Eva isn’t one to let rejection stand in her way. Quite the contrary: she set out to learn the business of editing, and she did an amazing job. Her perseverance not only brought her legions of fans (check out her 90+ Amazon reviews!), but also a spot on the USA Today Bestseller list and now a spot on the New York Times Bestseller list! I couldn’t be happier for this amazing writer, and I invite you to read her amazing story:

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When I self-published my book, admittedly, it was the last resort. It was the backup plan if I had failed to sell it to a trade publisher. I promised myself that if I could…

When I self-published my book, admittedly, it was the last resort. #selfpub #pubtip #authors #amwriting Share on X

Read more at Self-Published Book Beats the Odds by Making the New York Times Bestseller List

Eva Lesko Natiello is the author of NEW YORK TIMES and USA TODAY Bestseller, THE MEMORY BOX, a psychological thriller about a woman who Googles herself and discovers the shocking details of a past she doesn’t remember.

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Candace Johnson is a professional freelance editor, proofreader, writer, ghostwriter, and writing coach who has worked with traditional publishers, self-published authors, and independent book packagers on nonfiction subjects ranging from memoirs to alternative medical treatments to self-help and on fiction ranging from romance to paranormal. As an editorial specialist, Candace is passionate about offering her clients the opportunity to take their work to the next level. She believes in maintaining an author’s unique voice while helping him or her create and polish every sentence to make it the best it can be. Learn more here, and follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

 

When DIY Doesn’t Work: Guest Post by Anne Uemura, PhD

Does “DIY publishing” mean you do everything yourself? Anne Uemera thought it did—until she learned that publishing a book takes a team:

In August 2015, I started to write a book that I eventually published a year later. The project gained momentum in June 2016 when Jim Britt and Jim Lutes, who were creating the international bestselling series The Change, invited me to write a chapter for The Change: Insights into Self Empowerment. While focusing on and creating the content of the chapter with the inspired title Listen to the Cries of Your Heart, I realized I had a whole book to write.

Unlike many authors, I never had dreams of writing a book, and I knew little about how to do it. I didn’t know what an immense project it would be nor the time and effort it would take, and naively jumped in. My lifelong strategies of independence and self-reliance never allowed for any thought of doing it other than DIY, from writing to publishing.

Looking for Help on a Budget

My assumptions that I could do it myself were wrong. Continue reading “When DIY Doesn’t Work: Guest Post by Anne Uemura, PhD”

Remember to Live in Your Moment: Guest post by Andrew Hiller

writers self-doubtToday’s guest blogger, Andrew Hiller, is a reporter, radio host, editor, producer, playwright, and novelist. I had the pleasure of working with him on his urban fantasy novel, A Halo of Mushrooms, which will publish on December 1 and is now available for preorder. Read a preview here.

If you’re a writer, you know the self-doubt connected with publishing a book. (Now imagine seeing your words brought to life on the stage in front of a live audience—oh my!)

That self-doubt can keep even the best writers from sending their work out into the world, but Andrew has some advice for anyone who fears they aren’t good enough:

Long before the curtain rose, I felt the jitters begin. The stage remained dark, the chairs empty, and the carpet felt hard. I arrived four hours early. I needed to experience every moment of this first night . . . my first play on Broadway (okay, 78th and Broadway)!

Can you imagine it? First, the custodial staff came in and I worried about them . . . if my play flops, what happens to them? Then, the stage crew arrived, and I felt my hands shake. I knew each by name. We worked together. They quizzed me. They dreamed with me. I saw the director and producer arrive. They smiled. I think I manage one. Then, it was the actors’ turn, and some of them looked nervous while others exuded excitement. By the time the audience arrived, I was a mess. Continue reading “Remember to Live in Your Moment: Guest post by Andrew Hiller”

4 Tips for Surviving Your First Edit: Guest Post by Kristen Otte

When I invited author Kristen Otte to share her experience of working with her editor (that would be me—*waves*), she graciously accepted. I’ve been lucky enough to edit three of Kristen’s books: The Adventures of Zelda: The Second Saga, The Adventures of Zelda: Pug and Peach (coming soon), and The Photograph, which releases today.

As an editor I’m used to being invisible in the final product, but as Kristen writes, I am anything but when a manuscript comes to me for editing and I get my red pen out. Kristen is a dream author from an editor’s point of view: she is receptive to suggestions, thoughtful in her approach to edits, and eager to put what she learns into practice. At this rate, I may be out of a job in another book or two! 😉

Here is Kristen’s take on working with me . . . and a few comments from my side of the table:

It was nerve-wracking when I sent my first manuscript to an editor. I knew my novel was far from perfect, and I needed an editor to clean up the flaws. But it still wasn’t easy to send the manuscript away. It took me over a year to write and revise my first novel. I poured my heart and soul into the project, and the editor was one of the first people to read the entire novel. [ED: I’m a writer, too, and I understand just how difficult it is to send your “baby” out into the world.] The good news is that even though the editing process was nerve-wracking, I survived my first edit. From my experience, I compiled a few tips to help you survive your first edit.

Continue reading “4 Tips for Surviving Your First Edit: Guest Post by Kristen Otte”

Happy One Year Blogging Anniversary to Me!

I received official notification from WordPress that my blog is now a year old:

Wordpress

Thank you to friends, followers, and everyone in this wonderful writing community for your friendship and support. I love working with writers, and my goal for my blog posts is to provide useful content that will help you whether you write for publication or “just because.” In honor of this auspicious occasion, I’m listing links to some of my most popular articles and guest posts from the last 12 months, and I hope I’ve grouped these in a way that makes searching topics a bit easier for you. Feel free to add a comment on any of them—your comments are always welcome.

Self-Editing

Struggling with Revisions? Try Playing with Paper Dolls

Self-Editing Checklist for Fiction Writers Part I: Macro Issues Continue reading “Happy One Year Blogging Anniversary to Me!”