Publishers and agents are typically inundated with manuscript submissions from authors seeking publication. And as a result, ‘the authorities’ (as I shall hereby refer to them as) are looking for reasons to reject your book. The standouts are standouts, and speak for themselves. … [Read more...] about Word count by genre: How long should my book really be?
manuscripts
Writing a Synopsis
I am sure it is not surprising, but writing a synopsis is the hardest task for most of our authors. It’s rare to find anyone completely confident in their synopsis and cover letter – even if they think they have written the world’s best book! It’s hard. And we – the industry … [Read more...] about Writing a Synopsis
Editing Part 1 – What is editing?
Editing is a job that is mostly misrepresented and overwhelmingly misunderstood. Behind most great works of literature is a dedicated editor. As an editor one of the most frustrating misconceptions about our role is that we simply fix spelling and punctuation errors. In fact, … [Read more...] about Editing Part 1 – What is editing?
Part 1: Approach an agent or a publisher…what to do?
I get asked this question a lot. And my general response is to say that it is a personal choice. Once you have completed your manuscript (MS), edited it and perfected it (and potentially sought professional manuscript development), there are four pathways (as I see it) open to … [Read more...] about Part 1: Approach an agent or a publisher…what to do?