How to Hire a Professional Editor

I work with several excellent editors.

We always come into contact with people who claim to be editors but don’t have a clue what the job entails. I decided to write a short tutorial to help writers learn how to hire an editor.

Why Hire an Editor

A professional editor, whether academic, fiction/publishing, or business editor talks the lingo, knows the trends, understands the styles, and structure demands.

The important thing to remember is that no one can edit all styles, even if they have a BA in English and are multi-published. I work with people who write for academic purposes. They include writing text books, essays for university students, speeches, and content for schools. At the most, editors can memorize 3 or 4 styles: MLA, APA, Harvard, British, New York, Medical, Scientific, Chicago, etc. There are 18 recognized ‘main’ grammar and style in the USA alone. No one can know them all.

There are also various vernaculars. Newspapers and most web writing is written at a grade eight level. Fiction novels have several vocabularies based on the genre.

Thrillers and literary are written at a post secondary level of English. Romance, mystery, fantasy are all written at a high school level. Historical novels bastardise English to mimic ancient dialects.

Structure is vital. Each of the fiction genres have a specific story arc structure that controls the flow of plot and character development through the book. The novel should also explore the human element. A writer who doesn’t have a solid understanding of the trials and pain of human life, different personality types, character archetypes, relationship counseling and shelf growth cannot promise to write a fiction novel which will be received favorably from publishing houses.

Types of Editors

There are different types of editors. A line editor knows all the different grammar styles and can write in several vernaculars. They can fix grammar mistakes without changing the writer’s style. Most of today’s editors are amateur line editors. They will look for tense variations, sentence structure that ventures from the acceptable style, spelling that is ‘wrong’ for the current country of publication, or typos.

Proofreaders do not change grammar, syntax, or prose. They only look for typos, missing periods, homonyms, etc. Most proofreaders can use the tools available with today’s word-processing software and finish a manuscript in less than 3 – 5 hours.

A full length book that is 99.99% accurate can still have 30 mistakes. This is tolerated in fiction, but is not in business or non-fiction writing.

Content editors know all about ACTs and Story Arcs. They can map a novel, outlining the character growth. They know where things should appear, how long conflicts and scenes should be. Ask a content editor who Joseph Campell is and they will talk about the hero’s journey and mythology.

A fiction editor should be a content editor and line editor. A great way to find a good editor is to ask them what story arc they use, do they have a preferred character growth arc, and how many of their client’s books are published.
Never focus on how many of their books are published – because they had a professional editor helping them.

A non-fiction editor should have a basic understanding of the industry. They will prefer the APA or Harvard style of grammar. (Chicago/Showing is for fiction). Just asking an editor what style they use, and why, can separate the pros from the amateurs.

Beauty and health are eternal. Learn how to stay young, healthy, and vibrant and live into your 80s.

Learn more about blogging and making money online at the wealthy-writer website. Find Resources, Reviews, and News

Beauty and health are eternal. Learn how to stay young, healthy, and vibrant and live into your 80s.

Learn more about blogging and making money online at the wealthy-writer website. Find Resources, Reviews, and News

Announcing an E-workshop Yahoo Group!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPIC-eWorkshop/

EPIC eWorkshop is precisely what it sounds like. This is a learning experience for new authors and new-to-e-book authors. List members need not be members of EPIC (The Electronically Published Internet Connection) to join in. We'll be discussing the indie/e industry, publishing in general, submitting, finding an e-publisher, contracts, and any other business aspects of indie/e publishing.

While this is not a critique group, you may post query letters for comment, at any time. When classes involve list members posting excerpts, the excerpt rule will be lifted.

This is not a promotion list. We will certainly share submission successes and heartbreaks, but we won't be advertising anyone's books or services.

This list is for adults only. At the same time, there will be no explicit sexual content allowed on list. This is a workshop for everyone from Inspirational and Children's/YA through erotica, but it's a business/learning group in general and not dedicated to a particular genre. Erotic content is better suited to groups like ERWA (Erotic Readers' and Writers' Association), where the entire group is dedicated to erotic writing.

Please read the full list rules before posting. List cops are available to help you find your feet.


We are also accepting proposals for those who wish to give workshops in their particular area of expertise. Several members, including myself, have non-EPIC-sponsored yahoogroups where erotic content may be presented without offense. If you have an announcement of an online workshop, please feel free to post that as well.

Writing Contest For Those Who Believe in The Good of Mankind

"And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red, brown --in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability....and goodness.....of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth, that we always make it just by the skin of our teeth --but that we will always make it....survive....endure. I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize brain case and the opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes, will endure --will endure longer than his home planet, will spread out to the other planets, to the stars, and beyond, carrying with him his honesty, his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage --and his noble essential decency."

"This I believe with all my heart."

As read by Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation.

If you can relate to this, then there is a short story contest you need to consider.


The Robert A. Heinle in Centennial Short Story Contest

Three prizes will be given for the best original short stories reflecting the spirit, ideas, and philosophies of Robert Anson Heinlein.

$5,000 first prize
$2,000 second prize
$1,000 third prize

If you want a short declaration of who the man was and his works, then go to this link http://www.heinleinsociety.org/rah/thisibelieve.html






Beauty and health are eternal. Learn how to stay young, healthy, and vibrant and live into your 80s.

Learn more about blogging and making money online at the wealthy-writer website. Find Resources, Reviews, and News

Hiring Help: Editors Vs Ghostwriters

Most new writers do not understand the difference between ghostwriters and editors. They hire help, but hire the wrong person. In reality, the cost of hiring a professional is much cheaper than writing a second rate book. Even paying $5 000 or $10 000 for a book can be recouped with a little work. Forget publisher royalties, and a fiction book can earn the author $4 – 5 each. All money is recouped by selling 2 000 or less copies.

A non fiction writer can pay their editors and ghostwriters up to $20 000 and still make the money back within the first six months.







Editors

I wrote in a previous article the tasks that an editor does, the difference between a line editor and content editor, and how to ‘test’ the editor to make sure they know what they are doing.

There are legal limitations on what an editor may, and may not do:

• They may not change anything in the book. They only make suggestions.


• They may not rewrite passages for the author.


• They may not fix grammar mistakes.

Most writers think that it is their job to write the first draft. The editor is responsible for turning it into a marketable book. This is a myth. It is not the editor’s job to teach writers their craft, grammar rules, or continually correct the same mistake 100 times in the manuscript.

Editors will often point out 2 – 10 common mistakes, point out structure problems, and then a few glaring problems. They will then kick the book back to the author who must make all the corrections.

Ghostwriters

If you want someone to edit your book, polish it, and do the work for you, then hire a ghostwriter. A ghostwriter can add missing parts to the book, rewrite and completely change entire chapters. They might even write the entire book for you.

The writer needs to discuss whether the ghostwriter needs to discuss changes with them. In many cases, the writer will work as proofreader making changes and correcting typos they find. Few professional ghostwriters will be impressed if a writer sends back a full length page of corrections that took 20 minutes to fix – when the actual corrections would have only taken the writer 2 – 3 minutes.

In this situation, the writer and ghostwriter are a team. Ghostwriters who are worth their fee are very rare. Very rare. If you happen to find one then don’t annoy them and lose their services. A good ghostwriter can earn a professional author a lot of money – leaving the author time to promote their career. Most professional/famous fiction authors have editors and ghostwriters working for them. Almost all celebrity books where ghostwritten.

Unlike editors, you want to look at a ghostwriter’s publishing credits. They can never disclose their client list or mention books they wrote – so you must judge their skills by their work.

There are a few things to know before hiring a ghostwriter. If you submit the book to a publisher, the editor assigned to you may still want a lot of changes. This doesn’t mean the ghostwriter was not worth their fee. All it means is that the publishing house’s ‘in house’ style is different from the industry standard, or the publishing house needs a certain type of book to market.

Writer's Health

I've been writing a lot about health for the last few weeks. There are two elements of health, exercise and diet. The foods you eat, and the amount you exercise, can be used to calculate how long you'll live. Of curse, this isn't 100% accurate, but it does show how important it is to eat healthy and stay fit.

I don't get outside. I've been looking into exercise equipment, treadmills in particular. I want something that will burn fat, give me a cardio workout, and tighten my muscles. I also need something that will not put pressure on my joints.

I use to exercise, but I had to stop because of the pain in my joints. I want something that I can work on through the day. If I can work out two or three times a day for 10 - 20 minutes, I can remain healthy, while still maintaining my work schedule.

Can A Freelance Writer Help You?

Many people wonder why they should hire a freelance writer or ghostwriter. When you look at the industry as a whole, there is no reason to hire a writer. But, if you separate the people who are paying bills from professional writers then you shoud take a moment to see why paying someone to write is a good idea.

SEO and Web Writing

Writers need to be certified in SEO to be able to claim they understand the basics. They should be able to list at least 4 associations, groups, they have been a part of. Search Engine optimization involves balancing keyword phrases, sub titles, word count between sub titles, and even the competitor’s keyword choices.

Pre-Selling

There are so many aspects of marketing and pre-selling that it may be better to hire a writer trained in communication styles, copywriting, personality types, and emotional triggers. A great writer can create a polished draft of an article, but while it may look great, it will have very little effect on the consumer’s ‘decision to buy.’

Branding and Image Building

There is more to an image than bragging about yourself, product, or service. Good Public Relations is a delicate balance. Everything needs to give the same image. The wrong word choice, talking ‘over’ or ‘under’ the client, and ignoring the consumer’s stereotypes can be devastating.

Contract

The contract should cover both the client and the writer. Most contracts state that the client has no rights to the Work until it is paid in full. Retainers are never returned. Good writers ask for a retainer. They don’t have time to waste on people who are not serious.

Fees vary greatly. Articles run $5 - $20.00 for an article. Ebooks or ‘non bookstore’ books coast $1000 - $3000. Full Release/Published books cost $5000 - $20 000 depending on the time needed to write.

A book that makes a business owner look like an industry guru can run $10 000 plus. However, most of these books can be sold for $10 profit and open up public speaking venues. That means the business owner only needs to sell 1000 books to make their money back – the rest is pure profit.

Don’t try to get great writers to lower their price. You just look like an amateur. Good writers cannot get the job done this week. In fact, being over demanding and getting the cheapest writer almost guarantees that the freelance writers who bid on your project are all unemployed people trying to pay the bills.

Union Writers

Most people do not need a union writer. Professionals rarely write for less than .10 a word. But, finding a professional can be hard. They usually write for ‘good’ agents who do the bidding for them. Or, they write for associations/companies that protect them from non-payment and abusive clients.

Beauty and health are eternal. Learn how to stay young, healthy, and vibrant and live into your 80s.

Can You Make a Career As an Author

It is true that some authors have a hard time selling one hundred copies of their books, while others make $100 000.00.

The main problem starts with the author, and they way they see themselves.
Beliefs that sabotage author’s careers are varied:

• Many authors believe it is someone else’s job to sell their books
• A book is art. No, it is a commodity. It is something that needs to be sold.
• It is the publishing companies job to sell the book
• The only ‘real’ place to sell books is in bookstores
• Real authors sell to a publishing house, even a small one.
• On the flip side, self-published authors are not real authors.
• Authors are nothing more than slaves to the publishing houses, currying favor, and scrambling for the crumbs they are tossed.
• It costs hundreds of dollars to be self-published
• An author needs to be paid for every word they write.
• An author’s job is to write.
• Being an author is a hobby
• The truth is, authors are in charge of their own career. They are the master of their destiny.
• A publishing company can help me earn a steady income.
• They wonder why crappy books are published when their work is rejected. Publishers are more likely to choose a manuscript written by authors who have sold hundreds of copies, and promoted themselves as public figures.

A problem arises when authors do not take the time to learn how to steer their own ship. This means they are holding a bank key, but do not know where to find the lock. Unsuccessful authors spend all their time trying to get into bookstores. Their mistake is focusing more of their efforts in feeding their ego than their bank account.

What is the message that can help other people? Even fiction novels have a message that has a message. What value is your book? How will your book benefit other people?

Writers do not look at themselves as a businessperson, a professional. Authors need to look at themselves as having value and skills that are valuable, and something people will pay for. The authors need to ‘brand’ themselves. They need to package themselves.

It isn’t until writers start finding authors who make more than 100 000 from a book, and comparing them to authors who make no money, that they start looking. Unfortunately, many authors do not look at their lack of knowledge as the problem. They blame a lack of talent, opportunity, and money as the difference between rich and poor authors.

All authors start with the same problems. It is how they solve their problems that divide the successful and unsuccessful.

Truths about traditional publishers:

1. It is almost impossible to make a good living except through bookstore sales.
2. The publisher pays you only a few pennies a book. That does not include the books publishers sell at a discount, or returned to the publisher. The author makes no money on these.
3. It takes luck to become a bookstore success. The authors who do sell successfully in bookstores invest thousands on publicity.
4. Publishing houses are in business to make their own money. They contract books that will meet their agendas. They are not interested in author’s careers.
5. Competition in a bookstore is brutal. Each book only has a few weeks, about eight, shelf life in a bookstore, then they are returned to the publisher, and the store will not want the book again. Most publishing houses do not pay royalties on books sent to clearing houses.
6. Publishers do not promote books. They have a front list, about five books; they expect to make money on. The publishers do not promote books, because they see a book as a tool to advance an author’s career, and it is the author’s job to advance their careers.

Authors need to take control of our own path to success. The first thing authors need to understand is where the money comes from. To do this they need to start viewing the book as a tool that can open doors.

Here are some principals that will take any author from a few sales to hundreds of sales.

• Successful authors see their book as a tool that will launch their careers. Newsletters, groups, T-shirts, e-courses, talks, seminars, and other venues are where the income comes from. The going rate for a professional is $2000.00 for a one-hour speech.
• Many authors write books as a tool to book events or earn public speaking engagements. The book is not the business, it fuels the business.
• A successful author writes a book to build credibility, not to earn a living.
• Successful authors make repeated sales. They build a fan base, newsletter list, or other ‘sticky’ method of collecting addresses and email addresses. They use one book as a springboard to sell the next book.
• Successful authors do not send their book out to be sold. They use the book to build a fan base that can be used to sell products – even a one hour MSN chat with the author.
• They offer specials that will appeal to the people on the list.
• Authors can sell coaching sessions for $100 + an hour.
• Successful authors build websites that receive thousands of hits a month. A website that does not earn 100 000 hits a year is a waste of time.
• Successful authors write free web content articles to earn hundreds of hits, and sell more books. These articles are not given away free, they are valued at the cost of all the hits earned.
• Customers buy coaching and kits more often than they buy books.
• Free information sells. A website that does not include a group, articles, and tips, is a wasted opportunity.
• Successful authors have an estimated income, and a viable plan that will produce the results needed.
• Successful people learn how to present themselves. A person will pay for something that benefits them. Readers are not there to support authors, the author is there to benefit the readers.
• Successful people focus on meeting and smoozing with people who can promote their career. Meet the distributors, the storeowners, etc..
• They look for unusual places to sell books.
• They look for an audience who wants their information.
• They learn how to market themselves. They learn how to become marketing professionals and learning how to drive their sales forward.
• Learn what successful authors do well.
• There is some way in the book that offers the reader a way to contact you. There is an offer for another product. Large publishing companies always have a form in the back of the book offering more books at less money. Most publishers will not argue if you put your website url and email addy in the book

These are proven methods. Each of us need to sit down with books, coaches, or friends who have succeeded, and build a platform to help them rise above the crowd. The problem that freezes the careers of most writers is that they do not know how to make money. They see stagnant methods of advertising, like magazine ads, and buy an ad. Then, when they make no sales they consider advertising a waste of time. Unfortunately, they wrote the ad themselves. This is stupid. Would you do your own surgery? People who are not successful believe they know enough to be successful. They never realize that they are poor because of this very mindset.

Once you learn how to think like a successful person, the profit level rises considerably. You may have an advertising budget of $100 a year, and earn $150.00. However, once you learn what the professionals know, you can invest $100 and make $500.00. There is no magic formula. You just need to learn what the consumer wants.

Readers do not buy a book because they want to read the story. There is an experience they need. In many of today’s success stories, the author becomes the embodiment of that experience. An hour with a marketing or book-selling professional can reap thousands of sales just by rewriting an ad, recreating an image, or branding the author.

If there is a secret, it is this – ‘Successful people learn from successful people, failures learn how to fail from other failures.’ As obvious as this seems, many writers do not understand the concept. They join groups and organizations where hundreds of other writers attend conferences where they are awed by the gurus, but they all remain unsuccessful.

No one who attends university expects to graduate at the top of the class and remain unemployable. Writers expect to invest ten years of their lives learning to write, and then ‘hoping’ they will become successful. Others, start writing and make a living within a couple of year.

When I started writing, I made twenty friends, most had been writing for more than five years. Today, only myself, one of those other writers is making a living. Is that because we are talented or lucky? No. We did not buy into the program. We did not run to the conferences hoping for a publisher to toss us a scrap. We did things different. I ‘branded’ myself, and my friend went into e-books before it was savvy to do so.

The first thing I did was buy a book on selling books and I never looked back. Today, I have writers come to me and learn how to make a living as an author, and they learn in a couple of hours what took me years to learn. In hindsight, I was stupid. I kick myself for not getting a book coach and saving myself years. The coach would have cost me $200 - $500, and I estimate I lost more than $55 000.00 in sales and promotion. My failure to act was the most expensive investment I have ever made.

This information is commonly taught to self-published authors and self-help authors. Few marketers try to find ways to apply these techniques to fiction authors. They want to make $50 000.00 a campaign.

Many fiction authors would be happy if they profited $20 000.00 a year. Even though this is too low to attract the ‘big names’ it will enable many authors the chance to quit their jobs and write for a living. Does a romance author know anything about finding true love and avoiding ‘frogs’? Of course they do. Can a fantasy author entertain at a women’s conference? Without a doubt. Can a homemaker who cannot work out of the home use the internet to earn a $50 000.00 a year income? Yes.

Visit my website for more hints and that will help all authors learn to turn their passion of writing into a profitable career. www.inspiredauthor.com/
Have fun.

Beauty and health are eternal. Learn how to stay young, healthy, and vibrant and live into your 80s.

Avoid RSI

If you don't suffer from Repetitive Strain Injury, then you are not a full time writer. If you do type until your wrists hurt, there is a pain in the back of your head, you feel exhausted, and your back hurts, then you have the first signs of RSI.

This is nothing to laugh at. I currently have two friends who are visiting chiropractors, on pain meds, and cannot type for more than 10 minutes at a time - once a day. They have RSI. One has been suffering for 8 months. This is one injury that you don't want to take lightly. I've written a few dozen posts on the symptoms, causes, and prevention.

Good back support combined with an ergonomic keyboard are the best defence against RSI. The first thing you need is a posture corrector support. This will keep your back straight, and hold your shoulders back so they do not continually pull on the back muscles.

No one has the back muscles to keep their spine perfectly aligned for 10 hours while typing. It is foolish to think you can. That is why you need a support. This is your career. Writing is a lifestyle. Don't take your health for-granted.

Get Paid to Write: Anthologies

1. Shattered: Life After A Child's Death Stories of inspiration, strength and determination surrounding the challenging loss of a child. Pay for this project is $50-$200. Piece length 800-1400 words. Submissions, queries and questions can be directed to submissions.shattered@gmail.com.

2. Angels on Earth Stories of Angels found in everyday life. Pay for this project is $50-$100. No stipulations placed on length currently. Submissions, queries and questions can be directed to submissions.bythefire@gmail.com.

3. Everyday Heroes Stories of the ordinary doing something extraordinary. Pay for this project is $50-$100. No stipulations are placed on length. Submissions, queries and questions can be directed to submissions.bythefire@gmail.com.

Website development is currently underway for By The Fire and Shattered. Pieces accepted could appear online or in print. The preferred method of payment is through paypal. Other arrangements are welcomed.Link: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=98549

Get Paid to Write Fiction

The Drabblecast: Takes fantasy, sci-fi, and horror. Pieces
should be humorous, and, as they put it, "bizarre, gross,
and disturbing." They buy flash fiction of up to 2,000 words,
paying 3/4 cent/word.
( http://web.mac.com/normsherman/iWeb/Site/Submission%20Guidelines.html )

Dred: A webzine published three times a year. Requires dark,
character-driven fiction of up to 4,000 words. Pays a flat
fee of $25. Buys first electronic/audio rights. Does not take
reprints. ( http://www.dredtales.com/Guidelines.htm )

Clonepod: Takes fantasy and science fiction from 2,000 to
7,000 words. Pays flat fee of $25.
( http://www.clonepod.org/submission-guide-lines/ )

Well Told Tales: 2,000 to 4,000 words in the genres horror,
sci-fi, and crime/detective. Flat fee of $20/story.
( http://welltoldtales.com/content/writers/ )

Shimmery: Takes speculative fiction of up to 5,000 words.
Payment is one cent/word, with a minimum of $10 and a maximum
of $30.
( http://www.shimmerzine.com/submission-guidelines/fiction-guidelines/ )

Life of a Writer

I've been doing a lot of writing lately about the life of a writer. I've been writing 'shorts' lately -mainly because I know they will sell and I've kinda over stretched my credit. I'm not really worried - winter is usually slow.

I wrote an article on my website about the writer's life and how surreal it can be some days. I vacuum the rug. Help with homework. Buy flax seed for heart health biscuits. Hunt for the best acne treatment for my son. Feed the dog.

A few hours later I am writing a story in the dark upper corner of my house that would cause a psychologist serious concerns.

Next morning I am using my son's acnexus on my face and moisturizer on my elbows. Pay some bills. And enter the 'other world.' Some days I stop and wonder 'which one is the real me?'

What Is Up With Kindle

Kindle is only available to US Publishers.

The current Amazon controversy is confusing. I would think that people were more concerned with the fact that Kindle is only available to publishers who live in the USA. This severely limits the books they can list. It isn’t because they cannot deal with people outside of their country.

The Amazon.com POD alternative works with publishers from around the world. If Kindle went through this venue then they could easily list ebooks from publishers residing in the UK , Canada, and Australia without any problem.

Amazon Changes Small Press Rules

There has been a lot of controversy over Amazon’s new rule that books must either be listed through their own POD service, or books must be on the warehouse floor.

Authors are upset because many publishers are refusing to pay to list their books through Amazon’s system.

The confusion is based on a few things. Amazon is a bookstore. And, like any other bookstore, they have a right to choose which books they sell from their outlet.

Being online does not force them to list all books that are in distribution. There are other online bookstores which use the same system of housing books in a warehouse, and few publishers or authors complain if their books are not listed.

The only people who face a serious problem are small POD publishers. They are being forced to pay more money to get their books into channels that sell. While the fee is negligible, in publishing terms, it can severely limit the publishing capabilities of companies that try to release as many books a year as possible.

It has caused a lot of concern for authors. Will their books be removed from Amazon? The answer is probably ‘yes.’ They will need to contact their publishers and find out what their policy will be.

Will it have an effect on books that are listed on the ‘satellite’ Amazon sites such as Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.ca? No, there is no indication that the policy will change how the other Amazon divisions list books.

Third party bookstores list authors books on Amazon. They will continue to list their books on Amazon. So, mid list publishers will continue to have listings on Amazon.

Amazon Changes Small Press Rules

There has been a lot of controversy over Amazon’s new rule that books must either be listed through their own POD service, or books must be on the warehouse floor.

Authors are upset because many publishers are refusing to pay to list their books through Amazon’s system.

The confusion is based on a few things. Amazon is a bookstore. And, like any other bookstore, they have a right to choose which books they sell from their outlet.

Being online does not force them to list all books that are in distribution. There are other online bookstores which use the same system of housing books in a warehouse, and few publishers or authors complain if their books are not listed.

The only people who face a serious problem are small POD publishers. They are being forced to pay more money to get their books into channels that sell. While the fee is negligible, in publishing terms, it can severely limit the publishing capabilities of companies that try to release as many books a year as possible.

It has caused a lot of concern for authors. Will their books be removed from Amazon? The answer is probably ‘yes.’ They will need to contact their publishers and find out what their policy will be.

Will it have an effect on books that are listed on the ‘satellite’ Amazon sites such as Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.ca? No, there is no indication that the policy will change how the other Amazon divisions list books.

Third party bookstores list authors books on Amazon. They will continue to list their books on Amazon. So, mid list publishers will continue to have listings on Amazon.

Pets

Pets are an integral part of society. They feed people's emotions and even have a healing effect. Yet, their presence as friends, healers, and even taking the place of the wise mentor is gone from literature. Pets can make a good secondary character or even the 'entity' of the antagonist.

A pet can be used as a catalist, to cause conflict, to force characters out of their comfort zone, to bond with the reader at an emotional level, for put the character in a conflict, cause a conflict, move the plot forward.

Do some brainstorming, think of all the different ways to use pets to drive your story. This can be done with any item from a candle stick to a job. Don't just sit down for one afternoon and brainstorm. Keep a journal. Sometimes it can take a few weeks, or months, to find the 'break out' idea that sets your book apart from the pack.

Wind Chimes

Windchimes make a statement. They define who a person really is. They bring a garden to life, adding movement and music to the serenity. They can also add fun and turn a yard into a playground.

It only takes a small item, like wind chimes, or a dozen of them, to define a person's sense of fun, their personality, and their fun side.

The world is a fun place. There is no reason to make your environment stale and colorless. Add a little fun and life.

Items Around The Home

There are things around your home that can create striking imagry in your writing. Something as simple as a rose bush, or a statue on a table. All of these elements are lost from much of today's writing.

Creative writing is mroe than the art of telling a story. It is the art of making the story's reader become a part of the story. Props are one of the best ways to do this. The prop can be something as simple as an old kitchen farm house with a pot-filler over the stove. Including something that is not found within the average kitchen - like a faucet over the stove to fill pots - can twist the reader's experience.

These items can be found in most of the luxury online shopping stores. The Internet is an amazing research tool.

Write What You Know

The concept of writing what you know has been lost among today's writers. They are all caught up in writing about mental and physical abuse leaving editors to wonder if there is any way the character can ever make the 'hero's journey.'

There are so many things that people face in their daily lives which make great conflicts. I've decided to write about a few over the next week. Most of these can be found within our very homes. Write what you know doesn't mean that you need to delve into the darkest reaches of depravity to find conflicts for your hero. Instead, the most profound conflicts can be found in our 'real' lives.

Work

One of the best conflicts is the hero arch type, the true hero of a man. Every woman wants to marry this man. He is kind. He is at the top of his career. Money is no object. He is romantic - and he has absolutely no time for romance.

This man plans the perfect dinner. It is the most romantic night of the heroine's life and the hero's pager goes off. One of the most common conlficts and emotionally racking would be to have the hero's pager go off in the middle of the 'almost sex' scene or first climax.

Food

There are foods in our world that can cause conflict. A character who refuses to eat a good diet and leads to heart problems. This can be a powerful conflict as it opens up the opportunity to explore emotions and relationships.

A character may eat to feed their nerves. This can include eating peanuts or candy all day, or snacking on unhealthy foods, or just eating when there is no reason. This is a weakness which can be used to push the plot forward and

Hoodia

Hoodia is an african plant that looks like a cactus. It is a conflict in itself that can fill 1000 pages. Is it dangerous? Does it help? It all depends on where you look for information.

Like most herbs, there are healthy forms of hoodia which work, and extracts, compounds and mixtures that don't. This is one of those products that no one researches, but everyone has an oppinion on. Hoodia is an appetite suppresent. The problem is wether the diet pills contain legally exported hoodia (or poached product).

What most of the urban legends do not take into context is the fact that the Sans tribes of Africa have been eating Hoodia for centuries. It is as much a part of their diet as celery is in our diets.

How to Write for the Web

Web writing is the best way to promote a web site, sell a product, or attract attention to a service. But, most web content is ignored by people who are reading and Google. The first thing a writer needs to do is build credibility. To do that they need good content; This means content that Google and web readers consider good, not what a university professor considers good.

This information is based on studies and research that I found on the web, as well as my own experience. If you want to read the statistics, then go to this page: http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/. There are a few dozen articles for people who are truly interested in mastering the art of web writing.

People do not read web articles. They scan web articles. To make the most of this, a web writer needs to do a few things that print writers do not need to do.

Highlight Keywords

Highlighting keywords is the most misunderstood. This doesn't mean that you make every keyword bold. Trust me, I have seen this. Just highlight the keywords with the most important information in the same paragraph.

Sub Headings

Magazines and books need clever titles and sub titles. Web articles need short, clear and conscience titles.

Lists

Lists are good, but you need to keep them neat. I prefer to use sub headings and allow the reader to pick and choose what they need. Unless, the list is so short and brief, or there is almost no supporting information, then I'll use lists.

Inverted Pyramid

This is a journalism style that starts with the conclusion first. Web readers are impatient. A web article needs to follow this pattern:


Conclusion
Why the reader needs to read the article
-Solutions to problems
-methods of improving performance
Important points
-information
-samples and examples
-outbound links to research
Summary
Author Credibility
Links to more articles

This is considered the inverted pyramid style of article writing.

Word Count

Web articles should be half the size of print articles. If they are long, they need to be broken into several smaller sections.

A print article released on the web receives few reads,
A short explanation with a bulleted list receives 124% more reads,
This article will receive 45% more reads than the print article,
A summarized article will receive 28% more reads.

Long articles should be divided. No reader is going to scroll endlessly down a page. They would rather have one large article divided into several 400 - 700 page segments, each page should be labeled to indicate the information available in that part of the article.

Voice and Style

Web writing is not the platform for writers who want to impress with their industry lingo, vernacular, and education. Web articles should be written at a mass market level: grade 7 English, simple sentence structure, no industry jargon, basic explanations.

Navigation

Writers do not want to search for content. They want the answers on the page they arrive at. This is why Second Page Articles are detrimental to success. Second page articles are ones where the first page sets the reader up for more information, but the rest of the information is on the second page. Most readers will skim the first page, but they will never arrive at the second page.

Make it easy for readers to find different sections of the article. Never assume that Google or Yahoo will bring the reader to the first page of the article, so each page of the article should have links to the other sections. Also, the links to these other parts should not be listed part 1, part 2, part 3. Instead, each link should use a keyword that lets readers know which part of the article has the information they are looking for.

Most Common Complaints or Concerns

I went through the research and found some of the most common complaints. These complaints were collected by the company doing the study.

Information is hard to understand
The web owner's credibility was in doubt
The web writer's credibility was in doubt
Lack of outbound links to research sites
Adding humor increases reader's experience
Took too long to find the information
Could not scan the articles
Article didn't start by telling me why I should read further.
Prefer hypertext that leads to more information
Sounded like they were trying to sell something

Google and Web Content

Many writers feel that they only need to change an article title and a few words and they can resubmit the article. Or, they change the sentence structure and release the article. They send their work to review sites and content sites, but wonder why it is rejected. The reason this work is rejected is simple. Google is smarter than most web writers are.

Google knows there is article writing content out there. So, it has learned how to recognize sentence structure and content similarities between articles. That is why it recognizes the following two sentences as the same:

the white cow jumped the blue fence
the purple dog bit the purple person

So, if you want to post several versions of an article on the net, the best thing to do is rewrite each one from a different point-of-view, focus, and audience.

Further research can be done by searching for Web




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Do Not Buy Directory Links for Your Blog

Buying links in directories, for a few pennies may seem like a good bargain. You’ll get more traffic, but at what cost? September 2008, when Google decided that buying links was illegal, webmasters were in a rage. Blogs were dropping from PR4 to PR0 over night.

The only blog I had that dropped was a PR3, it went down to PR0 – and has never started to climb up. I looked at all 30 blogs I manage, and the only thing that made this blog stand out was that I had bought $500 worth of directory links.
This has made me afraid of listing in the directories – just in-case Google sees the website as ‘suspect’ and drops the PR. It is very frustrating. Google has made it almost impossible to follow their rules.

It is making me so frustrated with Google that I am starting to favor RealRank, at least they are honest about their algorithms.

Three Time Management Methods

The biggest misunderstanding about time management is the concept of managing time. Time passes, whether it is managed or not. There are people who can write all day and finish one page and others who write all day and finish three.

The results of poor time management on a writer can be devastating. The causes of poor time management are not found in a person’s organization skills, but in their attitude toward life. It is easy for a councilor or coach to say ‘prioritize.’ It is much harder to prioritize in an effective manner.

Two Methods

Work First

When prioritizing effectively determine what is the most important task, by the consequences of neglect. Start keeping a journal. Chart the amount of time spent on tasks that do not generate an income and those that do. A productive writer sits down and writes for a pre-determined length of time. They trained themselves to do this. It doesn’t come easy. At first, a writer will sit and stare at a blank screen, doing creative writing exercises in an attempt to fill the time. In the short term, this solution can be justified.

A better solution is to pick a subject and start writing. It doesn’t matter if there is a market for the article. A professional writer knows that every article and short story can be rewritten and resold a hundred times. The first attempt is never the last. This in this case the writer is putting the need to be productive ahead of their personal need to feel comfortable and satisfied with their writing.

However, this method is not the best one for all writers.

Self Actualization First

The writer who puts their own needs first, the job next, and the success third is not always counter productive. If satisfying their needs is important to their self-actualizing, the person should set aside time aside to focus on each task, preventing their personal needs from overriding their goal of publication.

The danger for this writer is that they will never write anything unless they receive what they consider fair compensation, or the affirmation of a large publisher. The likelihood of this writer ever reaching their goals without a schedule is slim.

Once you pick a method of managing your day, stick to it at least three months before making any dramatic changes.

Prioritizing for Procrastinators

Many people waste more time managing and organizing their time than they would loose if they just took each day as it came.

List your tasks in order of the consequences if the task is not completed, not the greatest importance. Starting a list with the tasks that bear the greatest consequences, if not finished, causes a dramatic paradigm shift. The tasks you thought were most important, probably because they represented a personal need or goal are near the bottom. The tasks near the top, earning an income, become the focus of the day.

The next step is to start – and finish – each job in order. For some, this may mean allowing the answering machine to pick up the phone. For others it may mean viewing your writing job as if it were a position with an employer. You could not stop work in an office to do laundry, run errands, or catch your favorite show. Why stop writing to answer the phone?

Finish One Job Before Starting the Next

“A job worth doing is one worth doing well.” Many people are confused by the concept of finishing a job. A job is not finished until it can be put away, or delivered, without needing to rework the task. The household laundry is a good example. People drag all the laundry to the basement and sort it, then go do something else. Then, they return to wash a couple loads, and then leave the clean laundry in baskets. Eliminating the interruptions, and finishing one task before starting another, is more productive. After a routine is established, the familiarity will reduce the time needed to finish the task.






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Cheap Travel

I'm always telling writers they should travel. Most of them say they cannot afford it. I found a cheap site that anyone can afford. They have everything from cheap flights to a weekend at Vegas.

I found hotel+flight for less than $400 per person. It's just a weekend, but it is a start. After visiting one place you can write enough reviews and articles to earn another trip. I've heard that travel writers only need a few magazines on their list to make enough money to keep travelling.

How to Get Published: Fiction Writing Mistakes

A couple months ago my computer system crashed. Because I had moved to a new town, I took my computer to a new repair technician. An appalling $250.00 later, my computer was returned to me. As I scanned down the list of tasks they had performed, I could not see one thing that I could not have done myself. Not only did they perform tasks I could have executed myself, they used the software I had already installed on my own computer. I sat stunned for a while, then had to laugh. I have been trying to teach my writing students this same lesson for more than four years. With a little knowledge, you can edit your own novels and find out why they are not published.

“How do I get my novel published?” If I had to guess, I would say that ½ of the 3000 students I have taught ask me this question at one time or another. I can usually offer them a quick, easy answer. In many cases, the answer is so easy they reject it as a brush off. But, the truth is, it is often very simple things, and easy to repair problems, that keeps fiction novels from being published by a reputable publisher.

Read over the following list carefully. Learn to understand what these errors are. Use this list as a checklist. I tell unpublished authors to edit their novel for these things, one at a time. Yes, this is a lengthy editing exercise. But, compared to the amount of time it takes to submit a manuscript once, and have it rejected once, the amount of time spent editing will be well spent. By editing this way, one problem at a time, you will learn to avoid these mistakes as you write the first draft, making future novels easier to write.

Learning to eliminate these errors is one-half the battle of becoming a published author. The craft of writing is half learning how to write, and half learning to avoid the things listed below.

I have edited a lot of student manuscripts, both as a freelancer, teacher, and contracted editor for a publishing company and found that the errors listed below comprise at least 90 percent of the problems which keep novels from being published. Most are easy to avoid, if you are aware of them, and can be fixed or avoided easily, once you can spot them.

Read, Read, Read

There is one exercise in my course where writers plan to send their first manuscript. Almost every writer gives me a ‘copy and paste’ listing out of a publisher’s directory. If you have no idea what a publisher is releasing, then how will you know if your book fits their idea of a good book? Read their recent releases. This one exercise can eliminate most of the rejection letters writers receive. Almost unanimously, students who take my advice and read a couple books released by their prospective publishing company, thank me for helping them waste their time. Their book did not fit what that company thought was a publishable novel. Something in their novel was different from what that publisher released. It could have been their grammar style, voice, structure, characters, vocabulary, plots, or missing elements. A dozen things could make that publisher reject your novel. However, it does not mean your novel is not ready to submit.

One truth I have found is; Avid readers make the best writers. This is true, as long as you consistently read novels in the genre, style, and voice you want to read.

If you are an avid reader, then look at the back of the books you are reading. That is the best place to find a publisher.

Are You Ready to Submit?

This is the biggest problem. It is the one reason why I tell authors to have a ‘fiction editor’ critique over their novels. It will cost about $200.00, but can save you dozens of rejection letters, maybe years of submitting and rejections, and a lot of heartbreak. However, it is necessary to find a good editor. Have they ever worked for a fiction publisher? How many published novels have they edited? A BA in English, or an ex-teacher will not help you write a marketable fiction novel. You would not ask a airplane mechanic to fix your car. You would never think about asking your neighbor who installs satellites to ‘take a look’ at your furnace because it is making a funny sound. But, every day people pay academic editors to edit their fiction. Or they ask ‘line editors’ to critique their novels when they should be asking ‘content editors’ to help them.

Most of the writers who send me a manuscript to edit or critique send me a first or second draft. The novel is full of grammar mistakes, plot holes, weak characters, and passive writing – which is different than passive voice. This is easy to solve. You will study the craft of writing, so why not learn how to edit?

Novel Structure

It is easy to learn what a story arc is. It is easy to learn how to map a novel, and write your own story arc based on what is on today’s bestsellers lists. There are dozen’s of courses that teach ‘the blueprint of a novel’ and mapping. First, learn what the elements of a novel are. You can do that from any book. Then, find a few good examples of story arcs. Next, write out the events, elements, plot points, and character growth of the novel you are mapping. When done, make it look like the story arc, or make your own blueprint.

It takes about 20 hours to make your own story arc based on your genre, and current bestsellers. You can map anything, structure, plot, supporting plots, character growth, and sub-plots.

When writers rebel, stating that this is formula writing, or that this takes the creativity out of writing, I reply with this story. You have $15 000 which is earmarked for home renovations. Your best friend approaches you, all excited, and offers to do the work for you. You are confused, because your friend is a hairdresser. Would you give a hairdresser your $15 000 to do renovations on your house? What if friends did not want to know what style you were looking for, did not care about your color scheme, and had their own ideas about comfort and luxury? Would you give them your money? However, people ask publishers to do this every day.

Writers need to understand one fact. You are writing for the reader, not yourself. Reader’s demands drive the fiction publishing industry. If the reader does not like the novel, they will not buy it. And, readers do not want wild and crazy stories, they buy novels which promise a good reading experience.

Passive Voice, Passive Writing

This is the single most common error. New writers do not realize that passive writing creates ‘one degree of separation’ between the story and the reader. Passive voice is easy to catch with your grammar check. Passive writing is a little harder. Passive writing is narrative. Narration takes the reader out of the main character’s Point Of View (POV).

If this is your problem, then you need to take a course. If you are not sure, then look through your novel and ask these questions:

•Do characters actually do something, or does the sentence explain what the character did? Jill picked up her milk vs. Jill lifted the glass and took a sip of milk.
•Do you use these words: was, were, had, that, still, felt, noticed, saw, just, nice thought, up, down, beautiful, dark, tall, almost, very, down, up, behind, and pretty. If you find more than five of these words on your pages then you need to learn how to remove them. In many cases these words can be eliminated if you reconstruct the sentence so the main character’s actions are the subject of the sentence.
•Do you stop the action to explain why a character is doing something?
•Are you telling the reader a story? Or, are you writing down segment of the character’s life, as it happens, describing exactly what you, the writer, sees as it is happening?
•Do you use gerunds, ‘ing’, words instead of verbs?
•Do you use weak verbs? Jill ran vs. Jill’s feet pounded the pavement. Jill was angry vs. Jill slammed the door and stomped across the hall.
•Do you summarize? Look at the example above. You’ll notice that the passive examples are shorter than the active examples.
Passive voice is okay in dialogue. We talk in passive voice, so it is okay if your character’s talk in passive writing.

Summary Narrative

Direct narrative

Jill walked down the hall, descended the stairs, and pushed open the door. She crossed the parking lot and entered Kim’s Café

Summary narrative

Jill went to Kim’s Café.

HeadHopping

One scene, One Point Of View. You are not Nora Roberts. You cannot sell the number of novels she can. So, you cannot get away with writing like she does. Make sure every sentence in a scene comes out of the POV character’s head.

I tell my students to try this exercise. Pretend you are standing at a window looking in at the scene unfolding. Beside you stands a blind friend. You are going to tell her what is happening, as it happens. Do not summarize, paint pictures with words.

This is part one of this series of articles. None of the mistakes listed here are arbitrary. They are all based on rejection letters, discussions with publishers, and personal experience. You can break these rules. You can break these rules, as long as you realize that it will take longer to find a publisher who wants your novel. I do know authors who make these mistakes, and sell a novel or two a year. This is not unusual. The stronger your writing skills are, if you consistently study the craft of writing, and if you master the elements of a novel, then you will be able to break the rules and get away with it.




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