What is an author's editor?
Used by scientific writers for years, an
author's editor is an experienced writer and
copyeditor hired by the author to polish a
manuscript before submission. This ensures
less work rewriting for the author and for
the publisher, as well as more control over
the manuscript for the writer.
Why do you need an editorial service?
As more writers submit more manuscripts
and media superstores phase out the mid-
list books in favor of best sellers, publishers
have more books to choose from for fewer
slots. If you want to succeed in this market,
your manuscript has to be competitive. 96%
of editors surveyed by the Romance Writers
of America would reject a promising
manuscript for grammar errors that the
publisher's editors don't have the resources
to fix themselves. For the work that you
put into writing your manuscript, doesn't it
deserve to make it past the initial reading at
a publishing house?
What does an editorial service do?
Traditionally, author's editors will help
you analyze the overall plot, character
development, dialogue, grammar, and any
trends or recurring problems. A critique
would not mark the manuscript itself, but
would consist of several pages of
manuscript analysis. A line edit would do
this in detail, on the manuscript pages
directly. Line edits also correct punctuation,
spelling and format problems.
Back to the Sounding Board.
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Phone: (716) 837-3230
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