After Writing Down the Bones
One has written the bones of the message you have wanted to convey to the world. Now what? How do you get it to the world? Suggest eating some chocolate first.
There is the step of editing the work to bring it to a polish. Yes. And then where can I place the work? Do I put it in a print house? Do I self-publish? Munch, munch.
That is where I come in. Editing is a forte. Publishing, I have learned a lot to impart. Mostly, I see writers writing in closets, or writing at the dining room tables, and their work is fresh and original. The work has to be edited and put into book form with additional formatting afterward.
Being a writer, I relate. If I were to go to a print house, I would get a standard contract of 10% royalties. Yes, they would do some marketing if I asked for that specifically in the contract, but mostly book marketing falls to the writer as a foremost responsibility. No one cares more about your book than you do.
By going Print-On-Demand publishing, I retain the rights to my work and can contractually assign the rights out. I can have my mailing list and put together some interesting deals for readers dependent on the platform I choose. For example, I could also go audio and take my works to a whole new level or perhaps translate the work into Spanish.
The choice is yours to make which route you choose. Just know that if you do decide to go it on your own as an Indie writer, the vista is yours and yours alone. You do not have to buy your rights back from a publisher after the fact (if the contract specifies how that is done).
I have edited several books including one written by a radio personality. Each project is wonderful in its own right. One writer chose to have his work published in Thailand and shipped to Canada; another chose to go the Amazon route as an Indie. Being an Indie writer is becoming more commonplace.
Editing involves looking for typos, better word choice, and structural components depending on the type of editing involved. Turnaround times vary as it is a matter of the work, not the speed. One has to allow time for the process in manuscript production. Do you have a manuscript to write? Does your manuscript need an edit? What do people charge to have their eyes on your manuscript?
I know, so many questions. Firstly, writers write. Set some time aside for your writing process to take place. Say in the evening for an hour or during the day. Stay as much as possible to the schedule. If you have a manuscript, you could workshop it with friends or you can get a professional set of eyes on it which might take you further eventually. You could do both. Take the manuscript to what you consider a polish and then send out your baby to someone who understands the work you put into it.
What do editors charge? Well, you can always email me and ask me what rates I charge and compare. What about book covers? Well, again the market ranges from $35 US to $400. I work partly too on what a person can afford and sometimes in-kind depending on the situation. For example, with the radio personality, we exchanged partly for each other’s skills.
I will also do my best to answer some of your questions. I take on only a few clients and focus on the work — yours.
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