Line Editing or Copy Editing? Is There a Difference?
Creating a book manuscript involves many steps, from the initial concept to the final proofreading before publication. To a new author, these steps can seem bewildering – especially when we’re talking about editing. If you go online to learn about … Continue reading
Avoid Repetition in Your Writing!
As an editor, on of the most common problems I see in the writing of my valued clients is needless repetition. This manifests itself in either of two ways: Repeating the same idea more than once, or repeating words that … Continue reading
“The Peaceful Man” by Brad Mewhort
Congratulations to Brad Mewhort on the publication of his new book, “The Peaceful Man: Heal Within Yourself the Personal Effects and Historic Patterns of Male-on-Male Violence.” The author, who grew up experiencing family and neighborhood male-on-male violence, and who himself … Continue reading
Developmental Editing: It’s All About Baby Steps!
Clients will often send me a finished manuscript of 40,000 or 60,000 words, which, for various reasons, they’re not happy with. A non-fiction manuscript may be outdated, not well organized, incomplete in its arguments, or just plain boring. A novel … Continue reading
Why Do People Who Use a Ghostwriter Need to Hire a Second Ghostwriter?
On Upwork the other day I saw a job posting entitled “Book Edit/Rewrite.” Part of the job description read, “I’m looking to hire a ghostwriter/editor to rewrite my completed manuscript. Rewrite would include add, delete, and recreate scenes. I worked with … Continue reading
Beyond Grammarly – How a Pro Editor Will Elevate Your Book Above the Ordinary
In the past few years, various software applications have emerged that automatically correct basic issues of spelling, punctuation, and grammar. The most popular is Grammarly, an online grammar checking, spell checking, and plagiarism detection platform developed by Grammarly, Inc. First … Continue reading
Citations in Non-Fiction Self-Help Books – Advice from Ghostwriter Thomas Hauck
As a ghostwriter who has authored dozens of self-help books for both self-published authors and major New York publishing houses, one of the biggest questions that I and my clients must consider is how to credit quotes and research by … Continue reading
Should Your Editor Take One of Those Online Grammar Tests?
On the job site Upwork, I recently saw a job posting by a gentleman from France. As part of the qualifications to bid on his book project – which he did not describe in any detail – he wanted all bidders to take the Upwork “English sentence structure” … Continue reading
“Mastering the Habits of Continuous Improvement” by Al Diaz
Congratulations to my valued client Al Diaz on the publication of his new book “Mastering the Habits of Continuous Improvement.” Rooted firmly in the industrial principles of Deming, Shewhart, Juran, McGregor, Ohno, Shingo, Pareto, Ishikawa, Rother, Sutherland, and Schwaber, this … Continue reading