Harry Dewulf of Densewords is a content editor. He tells me things about my story that I didn’t know; where it succeeds, where it fails and why and how to fix it, amongst other things.\u00a0 When I asked him what category he thought my novel was in, Harry told me that I had written a suspense novel with feminist underpinnings and when I asked him why, he said “because women are generally portrayed as being passive but in No Name Key,<\/a>\u00a0 Elle is the gardener and not the garden”<\/em><\/strong> and I knew I was hooked on Harry. I never would have known this and sometimes when a piece of information like this comes to light it has the power to shape the final edit.\u00a0 Although he doesn’t mention it much on his blog, he understands categorization, reader expectations and the complex universe of publicizing the work.\u00a0 Harry says that he “likes to see about 10k words from the middle of the ms, and I sample edit about 3k, free of charge.” Query him at harrydewulf@densewords.com<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Then the manuscript goes to Laurie Skemp,\u00a0 my take-no-prisoners grammarian. Laurie will proffer her opinion when asked and her opinion is a learned one. She comes from a long line of editors. Here’s a sample of what she emailed me when I asked her if she actually “liked” an earlier version of No Name Key:<\/a><\/p>\n “The story was good, but honestly, I think parts of it could have been developed more to draw in the reader, and some of the narratives (especially when she is by herself, deciding how to get rid of Billy’s body when she returns from the trip with Jim) were repetitive, especially when she can’t bring herself to properly dispose of Billy’s body.”<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n Although it was upsetting to get this because I thought I was done with the novel,\u00a0 I suspected that she was correct and after sulking for a day or so,\u00a0 I was smart enough to actually listen to what she had to say. In the end I was grateful for her honesty.<\/p>\n What Laurie does best is a line by line edit of the entire manuscript, sniffing out everything from capitalization errors to punctuation to tense shifts and so on. I have hired other editors and one actually missed a protagonist name change midway through a short story, so finding a good editor is a major accomplishment. And if you want to judge the quality of her work,\u00a0 request a five-page free sample edit at laurie@bookeditingpro.com<\/a><\/p>\n There is nothing better that the luxury of discussing your story with professionals who know what to look for. And because I pay for the privilege, their time belongs to me. And because they have integrity, their thoughts are considered and honest. They want the best work from me. The most precious gift a writer will ever receive is intelligent attention from someone with the ability to discern good from bad work and who will let you know.\u00a0 And their rates are beyond competitive.<\/p>\n The money: Aside from about $250 I recently spent on a modest promo campaign, editing services were the only other expense.\u00a0 I absolutely refuse to hand over rights to my work to a publisher who will do a far worse job that this when these resources are easily accessible, once you know where to look.<\/p>\n Not gonna lie – there is a learning curve, but once done, you are rewarded with eternal and sole\u00a0 control over your own work, something incredibly delicious.\u00a0 I can also set the price and time the promotions.<\/p>\n For example, I have just received a fantastic blurb from T.D. Allman author of\u00a0 Finding Florida.<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Here’s what he wrote about No Name Key,<\/a>:<\/p>\n “In this book you learn trees as well as mean men and hurricanes can kill you. Elle, the book’s protagonist, is as tough and amoral as the crabs that crawl and consume their way through Jessica Argyle’s narrative. \u00a0As one particularly startling gustatory scene demonstrates, that’s not all she has in common with the crustaceans. \u00a0One blustery night in France, I read No Name Key,<\/a> cover to cover, glad I’d locked the door and closed the shutters.” <\/span><\/p>\n Am I pleased. Oh boy! But the point is – even the very generous TD Allman may have dashed the book to the ground if I had been disrespectful to ask him to spend his time reading a badly edited novel.\u00a0 Don’t miss out because you get stingy at the finish line and end up with something you are not proud to show.<\/p>\n![\"SuperGrammar_CompletionTeam\"](\"https:\/\/argyle.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/SuperGrammar_CompletionTeam.jpg\")
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