Make Mine Mystery
March 5,
2018
L. Lee Kane
I have to
admit I’ve been in a tailspin over my latest two books, ‘Death on the Vine’ and
‘Clyde to the Rescue’ (a children’s book). Over the last three years, I’ve been working steadily on both. In
the first, I researched grapes,
harvesting, and I used Grammarly and of course, found errors, so like any good
writer, I edited, reedited, and reedited it again. Next, I hired an editor, actually two. I wanted both of these works
to be perfect. I received it back and put it through Grammarly again and found
1203 errors. This particular person thought I was ripped off by the first
editor. I paid both upfront, and unfortunately, Death on the Vine was put on Create Space (I decided to go rogue
and publish my own). After reading the book over again, I found more error. Did
I pull the book down? Oh, yes! I sent Death on the Vine to another editor (at
first you don’t succeed…) that I used for my children’s ooks, and I finally feel good, progress is being made. She knows
me; she knows how I think and the message
I’m trying to get across.
The last two
months blogs wee about happiness and being positive-that’s because I havn’t
been. I’ve paid quite a bit of money over the years to editors who I believe
were professional and knew so much more than I did. In some ways that’s true
but for many your writing is just a job-they get it done in a week or less,
charge you thousands of dollars and you’re left
with something that isn’t your words, nor your voice.
I’ve learned
a valuable lesson, know one knows you as well as you do or cares about what you
sent to the public as much as you do. I’ve had to learn to empower myself and
learn to belief in myself.
Death on the Vine and Clyde to the Rescue will be out this week. My words-my voice.
5 comments:
Linda, sounds like you've had a miserable time finding a decent editor.
I've been editing since 1998, as well as writing my own books. If you're game for another try, I can offer you a free 1,000-word sample editing to let you see what I can do for you.
If you decide you don't want to work with me, no problem. If you would like me to edit your book for you, I charge $8/1000 words. Thus a 50,000-word manuscript would cost $400.00.
Whether we work together or not, I wish you the best of luck with your books.
Elizabeth Delisi
edelisi@myfairpoint.net
P.S. You can feel free to delete my above comment when you've read it. Wanted to send the message privately but couldn't find a way to do so.
Linda, I've paid out way more money than I care to admit for things that didn't work as they were supposed to--rip-off editors, crooked publishers, promotion that did nothing. But I kept on writing.
It's not easy finding a good fit. Also, self-editing is a pain, which I endure. There's always something missed. At least I still have a chance to fix mistakes after the book is out, since I self-publish.
Morgan Mandel
I appreciate the feedback. Yes, I have had a miserable time with publishers, and with editors. I decided to just go it on my own with publishing. I'll keep your information Elizabeth for my next book.
I agree Marilyn, you can't give up but I just hate the cost. I do love to write though and I have had the opportunity to meet amazing people like all of you.
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