Download or read book Developmental Editing written by Scott Norton and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2023-11-10 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The only guide dedicated solely to developmental editing, now revised and updated with new exercises and a chapter on fiction. Developmental editing—transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells—is a special skill, and Scott Norton is one of the best at it. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Norton offers his expert advice on how to approach the task of diagnosing and fixing structural problems with book manuscripts in consultation with authors and publishers. He illustrates these principles through a series of detailed case studies featuring before-and-after tables of contents, samples of edited text, and other materials to make an otherwise invisible process tangible. This revised edition for the first time includes exercises that allow readers to edit sample materials and compare their work with that of an experienced professional as well as a new chapter on the unique challenges of editing fiction. In addition, it features expanded coverage of freelance business arrangements, self-published authors, e-books, content marketing, and more. Whether you are an aspiring or experienced developmental editor or an author who works alongside one, you will benefit from Norton’s accessible, collaborative, and realistic approach and guidance. This handbook offers the concrete and essential tools it takes to help books to find their voice and their audience.
Download or read book The Book Proposal Book written by Laura Portwood-Stacer and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2021-07-13 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A step-by-step guide to crafting a compelling scholarly book proposal—and seeing your book through to successful publication The scholarly book proposal may be academia’s most mysterious genre. You have to write one to get published, but most scholars receive no training on how to do so—and you may have never even seen a proposal before you’re expected to produce your own. The Book Proposal Book cuts through the mystery and guides prospective authors step by step through the process of crafting a compelling proposal and pitching it to university presses and other academic publishers. Laura Portwood-Stacer, an experienced developmental editor and publishing consultant for academic authors, shows how to select the right presses to target, identify audiences and competing titles, and write a project description that will grab the attention of editors—breaking the entire process into discrete, manageable tasks. The book features over fifty time-tested tips to make your proposal stand out; sample prospectuses, a letter of inquiry, and a response to reader reports from real authors; optional worksheets and checklists; answers to dozens of the most common questions about the scholarly publishing process; and much, much more. Whether you’re hoping to publish your first book or you’re a seasoned author with an unfinished proposal languishing on your hard drive, The Book Proposal Book provides honest, empathetic, and invaluable advice on how to overcome common sticking points and get your book published. It also shows why, far from being merely a hurdle to clear, a well-conceived proposal can help lead to an outstanding book.
Download or read book The Subversive Copy Editor written by Carol Fisher Saller and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2009-08-01 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Each year writers and editors submit over three thousand grammar and style questions to the Q&A page at The Chicago Manual of Style Online. Some are arcane, some simply hilarious—and one editor, Carol Fisher Saller, reads every single one of them. All too often she notes a classic author-editor standoff, wherein both parties refuse to compromise on the "rights" and "wrongs" of prose styling: "This author is giving me a fit." "I wish that I could just DEMAND the use of the serial comma at all times." "My author wants his preface to come at the end of the book. This just seems ridiculous to me. I mean, it’s not a post-face." In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller casts aside this adversarial view and suggests new strategies for keeping the peace. Emphasizing habits of carefulness, transparency, and flexibility, she shows copy editors how to build an environment of trust and cooperation. One chapter takes on the difficult author; another speaks to writers themselves. Throughout, the focus is on serving the reader, even if it means breaking "rules" along the way. Saller’s own foibles and misadventures provide ample material: "I mess up all the time," she confesses. "It’s how I know things." Writers, Saller acknowledges, are only half the challenge, as copy editors can also make trouble for themselves. (Does any other book have an index entry that says "terrorists. See copy editors"?) The book includes helpful sections on e-mail etiquette, work-flow management, prioritizing, and organizing computer files. One chapter even addresses the special concerns of freelance editors. Saller’s emphasis on negotiation and flexibility will surprise many copy editors who have absorbed, along with the dos and don’ts of their stylebooks, an attitude that their way is the right way. In encouraging copy editors to banish their ignorance and disorganization, insecurities and compulsions, the Chicago Q&A presents itself as a kind of alter ego to the comparatively staid Manual of Style. In The Subversive Copy Editor, Saller continues her mission with audacity and good humor.
Download or read book Story Structure Architect written by Victoria Lynn Schmidt and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-07-12 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Build a Timeless, Original Story Using Hundreds of Classic Story Motifs! It's been said that there are no new ideas; but there are proven ideas that have worked again and again for all writers for hundreds of years. Story Structure Architect is your comprehensive reference to the classic recurring story structures used by every great author throughout the ages. You'll find master models for characters, plots, and complication motifs, along with guidelines for combining them to create unique short stories, novels, scripts, or plays. You'll also learn how to: • Build compelling stories that don't get bogged down in the middle • Select character journeys and create conflicts • Devise subplots and plan dramatic situations • Develop the supporting characters you need to make your story work Especially featured are the standard dramatic situations inspire by Georges Polti's well-known 19th century work, The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. But author Victoria Schmidt puts a 21st-century spin on these timeless classics and offers fifty-five situations to inspire your creativity and allow you even more writing freedom. Story Structure Architect will give you the mold and then help you break it. This browsable and interactive book offers everything you need to craft a complete, original, and satisfying story sure to keep readers hooked!
Download or read book The Magic Words Writing Great Books for Children and Young Adults written by Cheryl Klein and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2016-09-06 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This master class in writing children’s and young adult novels will teach you everything you need to know to write and publish a great book. The best children’s and young adult novels take readers on wonderful outward adventures and stirring inward journeys. In The Magic Words, editor Cheryl B. Klein guides writers on an enjoyable and practical-minded voyage of their own, from developing a saleable premise for a novel to finding a dream agent. She delves deep into the major elements of fiction—intention, character, plot, and voice—while addressing important topics like diversity, world-building, and the differences between middle-grade and YA novels. In addition, the book’s exercises, questions, and straightforward rules of thumb help writers apply these insights to their own creative works. With its generous tone and useful tools for story analysis and revision, The Magic Words is an essential handbook for writers of children’s and young adult fiction.
Download or read book Elements of Fiction Writing Scene Structure written by Jack Bickham and published by Penguin. This book was released on 1999-03-15 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Craft your fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic and readability. An imprisoned man receives an unexpected caller, after which "everything changed..." And the reader is hooked. But whether or not readers will stay on for the entire wild ride will depend on how well the writer structures the story, scene by scene. This book is your game plan for success. Using dozens of examples from his own work - including Dropshot,Tiebreaker and other popular novels - Jack M. Bickham will guide you in building a sturdy framework for your novel, whatever its form or length. You'll learn how to: • "worry" your readers into following your story to the end • prolong your main character's struggle while moving the story ahead • juggle cause and effect to serve your story action As you work on crafting compelling scenes that move the reader, moment by moment, toward the story's resolution, you'll see why... • believable fiction must make more sense than real life • every scene should end in disaster • some scenes should be condensed, and others built big Whatever your story, this book can help you arrive at a happy ending in the company of satisfied readers.
Download or read book Own Your Self written by Kelly Brogan, M.D. and published by Hay House, Inc. This book was released on 2022-01-11 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New York Times best-selling author presents a radical alternative to psychotropic meds: discerning the meaning in your symptoms and your struggle as a way to reclaim your health and your self. For years, we've been telling ourselves that our difficult feelings-sadness, rage, shame, intensity, worry-are somehow "not okay." And, all too often, we've relied on the promise of pharmaceuticals to tamp them down. The fact is, though, that these feelings are a vital part of our experience. They are real. And those of us who feel them most strongly are the canaries in the coalmine-sensitive to things that are seriously wrong in the world today. In a book that's both provocative and promising, holistic psychiatrist Kelly Brogan, M.D., author of A Mind of Your Own, shows us that we don't have to medicate our mental, emotional, and physical pain away-that the best way out is through. She explodes the mistaken belief that our symptoms-from mood changes to irritability to fogginess and fatigue-are evidence that we are sick or broken. Then she charts a new path to get real, get well, and get free. The journey includes: • Coming to a new appreciation of the meaning behind symptoms, and whether you are a canary in the coal mine • Learning the 2 major risks of medication that most doctors are not trained to disclose • Exploring the 5 reversible physical drivers of so-called mental illness • Starting the process of radical physical healing with inclusive details of Dr. Brogan's history-making 30-day protocol • Taking an emotional inventory of energy drains and toxic relationships • Taking a deeper dive into the spiritual awakening and expansion that comes when you reclaim your real self from conventional medicine • Identifying the most likely places you have given your power away • Understanding what the science has to say about psychedelics as a tool for awakening • Navigating health challenges with curiosity and the proper tools • Guidance, support, and many Travel Tips shared from the trenches! Our experiences, Dr. Brogan argues, aren't problems or pathologies; they reflect what we need to accept, acknowledge, and transform in order to truly become who we are. Own Your Self is a journey of healing, and also something more: a journey of coming home to ourselves.
Download or read book Perfect Bound written by Katherine Pickett and published by POP Editorial Services. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Gold Winner, 2014 Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards**Silver Winner, 2015 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards*"All the resources and professional insights needed to take your book from 'written' to 'published.' -D. Donovan, e-book reviewer, Midwest Book Review"Five stars. This savvy book is chock full of valuable information laid out in a very accessible format. ... Don't miss this one!" -San Francisco Book Review"This authoritative, step-by-step, behind-the-scenes tour of the book publishing process is essential reading for new authors. ... Perfect Bound is a treasure trove of practical advice for aspiring authors and others who want to understand what it takes to get a book published." -Warren H. Phillips, former executive editor and publisher of The Wall Street Journal and copublisher at Bridge Works"Perfect Bound is an indispensable resource for anyone who dreams of making it on his or her own." -Adam Motin, managing editor, Triumph BooksThis updated and revised edition of the multi-award-winning guide Perfect Bound: How to Navigate the Book Publishing Like a Pro features new exercises for choosing your path to publication, condensed and updated information on e-book companies, a discussion of hybrid publishing, and an updated Resources section. A new interview with an e-book formatter sheds light on this specialized area of publishing.Readers will also find current costs associated with publishing and even more ways to save money. Additional information on marketing options such as blog tours and article placements will help authors reach more potential readers than ever.Each chapter walks readers through a different stage of production, highlights the major problems that sideline unsuspecting authors at that stage, and carefully explains how to avoid them. Anecdotes from a dozen other publishing professionals illuminate what it takes to publish a book. Defining your audience, performing market analysis, reviewing page proofs, getting the most bang for your marketing efforts, and much more, are covered.Authors will save time, money, and embarrassment when they know what to expect, and what is expected of them, on the road to publication.
Download or read book Revising Your Novel First Draft to Finished Draft A Step By Step Guide to Revising Your Novel written by Janice Hardy and published by Fiction University Press. This book was released on 2016-08-29 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get all three Fixing Your Revision Problems books in one omnibus This book contains Fixing Your Character & Point-of-View Problems, Fixing Your Plot & Story Structure Problems, and Fixing Your Setting & Description Problems--PLUS a BONUS workshop: How to Salvage Half-Finished Manuscripts. A strong story has many parts, and when one breaks down, the whole book can fail. Make sure your story is the best it can be to keep your readers hooked. Janice Hardy takes you step-by-step through the novel revision process, from character issues, to plot problems, to description issues. She'll show you how to analyze your draft, spot any problems or weak areas, and fix problems hurting your manuscript. With clear and easy-to-understand examples, Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft offers eleven self-guided workshops that target the common issues that make readers stop reading. It will help you: Flesh out weak characters and build strong character arcs Find the right amount of backstory to enhance, not bog down, your story Create unpredictable plots that keep readers guessing Develop compelling hooks to build tension in every scene Determine the right way to include information without infodumping Fix awkward stage direction and unclear character actions Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft starts every workshop with an analysis and offers multiple revision options in each area. You choose the options that best fit your writing process. Learn how to: Develop a strong and effective revision plan Analyze your manuscript to find its strengths and weaknesses Spot common red flag words for problem areas (such as told prose) Determine the best way to revise a scene, plot, character, or novel Fix problems holding your novel back Revising Your Novel: First Draft to Finished Draft is an easy-to-follow guide to revising your manuscript and crafting a strong finished draft that will keep readers hooked.
Download or read book Developmental Editing written by Scott Norton and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-11-30 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Editing is a tricky business. It requires analytical flair and creative panache, the patience of a saint and the vision of a writer. Transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells? That’s the job of the developmental editor, whose desk is the first stop for many manuscripts on the road to bookdom—a route ably mapped out in the pages of Developmental Editing. Author Scott Norton has worked with a diverse range of authors, editors, and publishers, and his handbook provides an approach to developmental editing that is logical, collaborative, humorous, and realistic. He starts with the core tasks of shaping the proposal, finding the hook, and building the narrative or argument, and then turns to the hard work of executing the plan and establishing a style. Developmental Editing includes detailed case studies featuring a variety of nonfiction books—election-year polemic, popular science, memoir, travel guide—and authors ranging from first-timer to veteran, journalist to scholar. Handy sidebars offer advice on how to become a developmental editor, create effective illustration programs, and adapt sophisticated fiction techniques (such as point of view, suspense, plotting, character, and setting) to nonfiction writing. Norton’s book also provides freelance copyeditors with a way to earn higher fees while introducing more creativity into their work lives. It gives acquisitions, marketing, and production staff a vocabulary for diagnosing a manuscript’s flaws and techniques for transforming it into a bestseller. And perhaps most importantly, Developmental Editing equips authors with the concrete tools they need to reach their audiences.
Download or read book Developmental Editing written by Scott Norton and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2023 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "First published in 2009, Scott Norton's book is the only guide dedicated solely to the art of developmental editing. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Norton offers expert advice on how to approach the task of diagnosing and fixing structural problems with book manuscripts in consultation with authors and publishers. He illustrates these principles through a series of detailed case studies featuring before-and-after tables of contents, samples of edited text, and other materials to make an otherwise invisible process tangible. This revised edition includes a new chapter on editing fiction, which presents similar challenges to nonfiction plus a range of additional ones, including issues of premise, setting, plot, and character development. For the first time, the book comes with a set of exercises that allow readers to edit sample materials and compare their work with that of an experienced professional. And it includes new or expanded coverage of basic business arrangements for freelancers, self-publishing, e-books, and content marketing, among other topics. Aspiring and experienced developmental editors as well as the authors who work with them will find a wealth of insight in this new edition"--
Download or read book Read Me First written by Sun Technical Publications and published by Prentice Hall Professional. This book was released on 2003 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: bull; The must-have reference for every technical writer, editor, and documentation manager bull; Provides all the information you need to document hardware, software, or other computer products bull; Written by award-winning documentation experts at Sun Technical Publications, Read Me First! is the most comprehensive guide to creating documentation that is clear, consistent, and easy to understand
Download or read book The Art of Academic Editing A Guide for Authors and Editors written by Cara M. Jordan and published by Flatpage. This book was released on 2024-01-01 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Whether you’re approaching academic editing as an author or an editor, this book will demystify the key stages in the editorial process. The Art of Academic Editing is the first full-length guide to the different types of editorial services and when they happen in the life cycle of a scholarly text. It will facilitate more effective collaboration between authors and editors as the field of academic editing expands. The book covers: Developmental editing Book coaching Working with international authors Working with graduate students Line editing Copyediting Indexing Proofreading The eight contributing authors—experts in their fields—explain the nuts and bolts of their editing practice using real-life models, sharing their tips and advice for both scholarly writers and editors. The book is written in an engaging, nontechnical style to make it easier for all readers, regardless of their background or editing experience, to understand the academic editor’s methods, skills, and training. With a glossary of common terms and an online resource guide, this is the essential handbook both for scholarly editors and the authors working with them. Co-edited by Cara M. Jordan and Leslie Castro-Woodhouse, The Art of Academic Editing’s contributing authors also include Nancy Burkhalter, Cameron Duder, Pamela Haag, Caroline Malloy, Tess C. Rankin, Elizabeth H. Stern, and Maria Snyder.
Download or read book Information Development written by JoAnn T. Hackos and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2007-01-29 with total page 650 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A revolutionary new resource that brings documentation product management ideas up to date The 1994 bestselling classic Managing Your Documentation Projects set the industry standard for technical documentation. However, since then, much has changed in the world of information development. With this new title, JoAnn Hackos looks beyond the structured project of the 1980s and 1990s. Instead, she focuses on the rapidly changing projects of the 21st century and addresses how to introduce agile information development without neglecting the central focus of planning information design and development around the needs of information users. As an information-development manager, you are expected to reduce costs and project time, do more work with fewer resources and less money, and increase the value of the information you deliver. Recognizing this, Hackos has carefully designed this book to help you do precisely that. She helps you make strategic decisions about information development and directs the discussion of project management toward smarter decision-making. An update of the original 1994 Information Process Maturity Model (IPMM) presents you with a method by which you can compare the state of your organization to others, evaluate your current status, and then consider what is necessary in order to move to the next level. Information Development offers a completely new look at best practices for all phases of the document development lifecycle, including: Managing a corporate information portfolio Evaluating process maturity Partnering with customers and developing user scenarios Developing team effectiveness and collaboration Planning and monitoring information projects Managing translation and production Evaluating project performance Managing for quality, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness The companion Web site includes electronic versions of the templates and checklists featured in the book. Wiley Technology Publishing Timely. Practical. Reliable. Visit our Web site at www.wiley.com/compbooks/
Download or read book Developmental Editing for Non Fiction written by Claire Beveridge and published by . This book was released on 2023-02-06 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you want to learn more about developmental editing of non-fiction resources, this guide is for you. It looks at the skills you need and describes practical approaches you can use, whether you are employed by a publisher or working on a freelance basis. Claire Beveridge is a developmental editor, copyeditor and writer who specialises in non-fiction. In this guide, she focuses on the process of getting a work of non-fiction into good order before it moves on to the copyediting phase. The main purpose of developmental editing is to help the author clarify their message and deliver it to the intended audience effectively. This guide introduces the key things you need to consider along the way.
Download or read book Editors on Editing written by Gerald Gross and published by Grove Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 404 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An indispensable guide for editors, would-be editors, and especially writers who want to understand the publishing process. In this classic handbook, top professionals write about the special demands and skills necessary for particular areas of expertise--mass market, romance, special markets, and more.
Download or read book The Editor s Eye written by B. Vincent and published by RWG Publishing. This book was released on 2024-07-10 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the intricate dance of book creation, the editor plays a pivotal role, transforming raw manuscripts into polished gems that enchant readers and leave a lasting impression. "The Editor's Eye: Crafting Books That Captivate" is an essential guide for editors at every stage of their career, offering a deep dive into the art and craft of editing. Through insightful analysis, practical advice, and illuminating case studies, this book sheds light on the editor's indispensable role in the literary world, providing the tools and strategies needed to elevate narratives from ordinary to extraordinary. Structured to cover the breadth of the editing process, the book begins by exploring the foundational partnership between editor and author, highlighting the collaborative effort required to hone a manuscript's vision. It then delves into the technical aspects of editing, from narrative structure and character development to mastering grammar and style, equipping editors with the skills to refine and polish a narrative meticulously. Further chapters navigate the ever-evolving publishing landscape, addressing the challenges of digital publishing, self-publishing, and global market considerations, and offering strategies for editors to guide their authors successfully through these complexities. Case studies of successful book projects illustrate the transformative power of effective editing, showcasing how strategic revisions, innovative storytelling, and targeted marketing can lead to literary success. The conclusion serves as a call to action, inspiring editors to apply the insights gained and embrace their crucial role with passion and dedication. The appendices provide a wealth of additional resources, including editing checklists, communication templates, recommended reading, and guides to professional development and technology tools, making this book a comprehensive resource for editors seeking to enhance their craft and contribute meaningfully to the literary landscape. "The Editor's Eye: Crafting Books That Captivate" is more than just a guide; it is a celebration of the editor's craft and a testament to the critical role editors play in bringing captivating stories to life. Whether you are a seasoned editor or just starting your journey in the world of publishing, this book offers the inspiration, knowledge, and tools to refine your skills and make a lasting impact on the world of literature.
