Rebecca Forster's Blog, page 12

HECK YEAH! E-COVERS THAT SELL

 I doubt this will come as a surprise, but 'pretty' sells. So does intriguing, shocking, soothing and sexy. That's why I spent the last three weeks sweating over cover designs for my backlist romances and redesigning my thriller covers - all of which I hope you'll be downloading to your E-reader of choice someday. But today the topic is E-covers. 

Why, you may wonder, did this exercise in cover design create such angst? After all, nobody will run their thumb over the richly embossed type, check the weight of the stock or touch it in a bookstore. This isn't a 'real' cover on a 'real' book and that is exactly the point. These covers are more important than a paper cover because they will live on in perpetuity.

In this new publishing reality, authors who have backlists and don't own the rights to their covers must now become designers; indie authors who have never had the benefit of seeing their work transformed into a visual face a daunting task of identifying the soul of their books. Bottom line, unlike paper, an E-cover's impact will be farther reaching than any of us can even imagine.

In the old days an author might reproduce their cover image on bookmarks and mugs. In this brave new world, E-covers pop up as thumbnails on Facebook, Linked-In and other social media posts. They are broadcast to readers of blogs and reviewers. An E-cover makes a statement on your own website. An E-cover is brought up full-size and full color on most readers. An E- cover sets the tone for my book in a way that a paper cover never could because I – the author – have designed it and that is the truly exquisite bottom line.**

No longer am I at the mercy of a New York art director working off a synopsis of the book I spent months writing. Never again will I have a cover where Lady Justice had a sex change and became a sword-toting Roman guy. I have seen the last of a beautiful ocean on the cover of my book that is set in the high desert of California. Hurrah! I have taken the beaches of cover design, planted my flag and you can too.

I must confess that initially I was like a young soldier rushing into war without realizing how important the battle was. I lucked out with my Witness Series covers but others looked amateurish, weak and unmemorable. I had that revelation as I readied my romance backlist for E-publication. I was determined to make my covers as easily identifiable as my writing style. Faced with the prospect of creating a minimum of 8 new covers, I made a plan. I studied E-covers of books I admired and those on the top seller lists. I began to experiment. I realized that like a first draft of a book my covers were not perfect the first time out. I began to understand that I had to kick everything up a notch to get noticed: visuals, color, and content.

The new covers now reflect the theme of each book or are evocative of the mood of that work. With the romances and women's fiction in particular I tried to limit the use of full-on portrait photography in order not to inhibit the romantic reader's imagination. For me, blocking and color worked for the romances. For other authors, flowers and pastels might be the key to success. For my thrillers, I decided to go darker with ominous and/or graphic images. Though there are no hard and fast rules, here are some guidelines that worked for me:

• Clean is better than fussy
• People (especially parts of people) are intriguing***
• Experimenting is good. Odd colors and disparate type faces can work together and create drama
• The covers should reflect the tone of the book
• Slugs should be tight and to the point
• Spend a little money on stock photos (I use 'small').
• Plug in image search words that aren't obvious.
• Use PowerPoint portrait setting for your design. The pixel height and width will be perfect for uploading to Amazon, PubIt! and Smashwords.

So, Heck Yeah! Get on top of the the covers. Your E-career will thank you for it.****

*Click here to see romance covers; here for thriller covers.
**Even if you had a designer, they worked at your direction. Own that cover!
***See The Reckless Ones – my favorite partial body shot.
****The same thoughts hold true for E-packaging!

HECK YEAH! A blog is launched

Get out the champagne! Crack it against the hull of my blog! I am launching a new ship-of-state and emblazoned across the bow is HECK YEAH! 

It came to my attention that a truly memorable blog has a theme.  They are like Harlequin romances, each book is different but you know what to expect in the end. Take the blog Brian Drake Explains it All. Nice title. Intriguing concept. You find yourself asking, all of what? And who is Brian to explain it? Most of the time Brian is explaining something about writing (he is a fabulous e-book thriller author). This, of course, keeps me coming back to his blog for more. I have been hoping someone would explain it all to me for a very long time. I just wish Brian would hurry it up. He's only scratched the surface and I'm not getting any younger.

But, back to the matter at hand: The christening of my blog-ship. For the last year , my blog has been afloat in a sea of possibilities. I wrote about things that interested me but there was something missing. It was time to anchor it and Heck Yeah! would do the trick.
 
But I must give credit where it is due: Heck Yeah! is not my brainchild; it is a concept that came out of the brain of my child. He wrote Heck Yeah, Redondo! for Patch. Com.  To say I was in awe of this bit of creativity was an understatement. Uttering those two words wrapped me in a feeling of optimism and gave me permission to easily follow his insatiable curiosity about everything. My son's Heck Yeah, Redondo! inspired me to look a little closer at the world around me, comment on what I saw, cheerlead for those who need it – myself included - rejoice in cool stuff, point out something you might not have looked at twice. What, I wondered,  is better for the spirit than a rousing shout out of Heck Yeah!  The answer is, nothing. 

 I coveted the concept, so I took it (but I asked first). Eric Czuleger - playwright, blogger and Peace Corps volunteer - is kindly transferring Heck Yeah! rights to me since he is off to Albania for two and a half years where he will teach English and write his blog, Peace Monger.  You'll be hearing more about this, especially when I'm homesick for him. Lest you think I pressured him into signing over rights, this is simply payback. He usurped a character I had planned to write a book about. He wrote a play. Truth be told, he did a better job with her in his play than I would have done in my book.

So, Heck Yeah! I'm ready to see what develops now that my blog-ship has been christened. I'll write about everything that's cool and positive and wonderful and curious. And Heck Yeah! there will be times when I'll slip in a Heck No! of outrage or chagrin.  

I probably won't 'explain it all' but what the heck, I'll give it a whirl.

* Other cool, descriptive blogs: Two Ends of the Pen (a blog/review site maintained by an author who writes with a partner), Frugal E-Reader (the name says it all), 1 Quirky Girl (don't miss this one – food, fun, and quirky stuff).

Post Title.

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

No Title

FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC: A Terrifying Tale of Backlists

FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC: A Terrifying Tale of Backlists

One of the strangest books ever written was Flowers in the Attic (V.C.Andrews). There is lots to talk about with this book (incest, misguided religiosity, family acceptance and love) but those are topics better left to a book group discussion.

What really terrified me was the premise of that book. A mother locks her kids in the attic and forgets about them. The children languish, nearly dying in that attic, until they rise up and confront her. They are no longer willing to be locked away. And that brings me to the topic of the day: books, backlists and half finished manuscripts locked in our creative attics.*

My friend and fellow author Brian Drake deals beautifully with the subject of discarded manuscripts and whether the are salvageable in his blog Bringing Back the Dead , so I would like to focus on the opportunities and challenges traditionally published authors face when dealing with their backlist.

My own career has been neatly split in two distinct genres: Romance/women's fiction and legal thrillers/police procedurals.  Over 26 years I had my rights reverted to all 23 of my novels as soon as I was contractually able. I had no idea then that rights reversion would turn out to be the smartest move I ever made. In control of my work, I was perfectly positioned to digitally publish, POD or self-publish my literary inventory. I chose to concentrate on digital publishing, taking advantage of the explosion of E-readers.

It took a year to scan all my thrillers, create covers, edit for scanning errors, properly format and upload my 11 book backlist. The effort was worth it. My faith in my thrillers has been rewarded by good sales, excellent reviews and a growing following.  I realized, though, that I had the advantage of name recognition as my fan base moved from paper to IPads, Nooks and Kindles.

Spurred on by this clear opportunity, it seemed logical to follow the same strategy with my early books (romance and single title contemporary women's fiction). Yet when I went to my literary 'attic' and opened the door I didn't exactly find my 'flowers' in full bloom.

The truth was that some of my work should not be resurrected. The very first book I wrote was creatively tentative, predictable and descriptively overwrought. This was a far cry from the intricately plotted books I penned later in my career. In short, it was clear I had learned a lot between the first book and the last. I tried to convince myself the craft didn't matter. Books were books and someone would like these. But I also realized many more people would be put off by these early efforts. That would impact both my reputation and my sales. I might never be able to convince those readers to give me another chance. When I weighed the pros and cons it came down to this: would I be proud to have these first books in the hands of an avid reader?  For three books, the answer was no.

 I want to make it perfectly clear, I am not ashamed of anything I have written. All my books were published by respected New York publishers. Each represents my best effort at that stage of my career but some of those books are not representative of the author I have become.  When a reader chooses to sample my early work, I want them to hear my unique voice (I had no POV in the three I will not re-publish). I want the reader to be engaged in a multi-layered story (my early work is linear). I want a reader to get to know well-drawn characters that live in a complete universe (my early characters were two dimensional and their universe limited).

In my memory, I believed my attic was full of fabulous books. In reality, I had stored away my building blocks. I am wise enough now to recognize that the reader's experience is more important than my ego. Just because I wrote a book twenty years ago does not make the work viable today unless it clearly shows emerging strengths. If I republish my initial stumbling as I tried to find my literary feet, I run the risk of alienating a reader rather than piquing their curiosity. I want each book to show how I have grown as a writer. Bottom line, if any of my work might waste a reader's time or money it should be set aside.  

So, as much as it pains me to admit it, as hard as it is to close that door, there are some flowers that need to stay in my attic.  I am ever so grateful that they are there to remind me of where I've been and how far I've come. I might visit them once in a while but, like V.C. Andrews has shown me, sometimes there are reasons you need to lock the door and walk away.

*These thoughts can be applied to any creative effort: painting to pottery, music to manufacutring.

POKING DEAD THINGS: Confessions of a Romantically Challeneged Author

 
A dear friend sent me a T-shirt for Christmas that declares, "I love poetry, long walks on the beach and poking dead things with a stick".

I adore that shirt because it so totally sums up my outlook on romance. Poetry is okay if it rhythms, beach walks are good if it's not too hot, but poking dead things with a stick rocks. Please do not take this literally*; realize this is a metaphor for my romantic soul.

All this brings me to the question of the day: why am I not romantic? More specifically, why the thought of poking things with a stick accompanied by the person I love is more exciting to me than walking on the beach in the moonlight with a poetry loving guy? Or even more precisely, as an author, why don't I love writing about – well – love?

I began my career writing category romances. There were many things I liked about the genre – a clearly defined format and story parameters, brilliant marketing, loyal and supportive readers – yet, when I tried to write sex scenes, I embarrassed myself (not to mention my mother, children, siblings, husband, etc.). Worse, I agonized over whether I was doing it right. Good lord, I'd been married for years and had two children, you'd think I would know how to write about 'IT'.

I tried writing more delicately about romance only to find myself disinterested. I never cared for whispered sweet nothings. I have a wee bit of trouble hearing and there's nothing worse then asking to have a sweet nothing repeated. Longing looks make me nervous. I once dated a guy who liked to stare into my eyes and all I could think of was that game 'blink'. I remember that guy didn't blink and it freaked me out. Long walks are fine but inevitably I find myself hungry and cranky if the walk lasts too long.

How, I wondered, could my incredibly talented romance author friends pen multiple books a year, revel in the challenge of making characters fall in love again and again while I struggled to get my characters to their first kiss? Romances did not come trippingly off my tongue and I had no idea how to build delicious sexual tension. As much as I admired true romance writers, as much as I wanted to be one of them, my heart was different.

The final blow came when I was fired from romance writing by an editor who suggested I was cut out for something different. "You cannot," he told me, "kill everyone before you get them into bed."

He was right. I preferred a good murder, a fabulous stalking, an excellent mystery, an angst filled story of emotional betrayal. But did that preclude writing about romance? I think not. I believe every story needs to have a compelling relationship as part of the mix. So how could I satisfy my romantic heart and my thriller soul? The answer was simple. Romance writers had defined their romanticism; I had not defined mine.

For me, fictional romantic relationships were a means to an end and not an end in and of themselves. My characters fell in love so that the plot stakes would be higher. If you love someone and had to choose their life or yours that made for great suspense but it also was the ultimate in romantic gesture.**

What turns me on as a reader is the same thing that excites me as a writer and intrigues me as a woman. I want to be invested in people with a sense of purpose, people who show their mettle in situations bigger than themselves. That kind of story sets my romantic nerves atinglin'. I finally realized my point of view wasn't bad it was just different than a true romantic.

Once I gave myself permission to side-step the bedroom, I became a more fluid writer, character relationships grew from the plot and my storytelling took on a new spark. Now, when my characters fall in love it is because they have prodded one another, talked through problems, worked together and, yes, poked dead things with a stick together. It is their inquisitiveness about the world around them, not their exclusive curiosity about one another that define my romantic parameters. Strangely, I find I write more realistic relationships now that I am comfortable with my own rules.

So, I confess, I will always find a body on the beach more exciting than a walk in the moonlight. I will always appreciate the quirky gift over a dozen roses; I will anticipate with bated breath the first kiss of two people who are caught in the crossfire more than two people headed for the bedroom.

The nice thing is that I know there are others out there who think like I do. There are honest-to-God-stick-carrying-dead-thing-poking- curiosity-seeking folk who will fall in love with the way I see love. When we pass our poetry-spouting-hand-holding-dreamy-eyed romantic counterparts on the beach they will smile, we will raise our sticks in greeting and all of us will be romantically satisfied in our own, very special, very unique way.

So, to all you writers, musicians, artists, husbands, wives, girlfriends and boyfriends this Valentine's day, poke something, walk somewhere, kiss the one you love or watch their back. However you decide to romance that special someone it will be perfect.

*Okay, literally. I do poke dead things with sticks when I find them but I don't find them very often.

**Currently I am polishing my romance and women's fiction novels for digital distribution. I find that, indeed, I had a glimmer of a romance writer in me. Dreams, Seasons, and my mother's favorite, Rainbow's End even brought a tear to my eye and I think a good cry is always romantic.

CHEAP DATE: Does Ebook pricing change reader/author dynamic?

When I was asked out on my first dinner date, my mother gave me some sage advice: "Order Chicken Kiev."

To this day, I don't know if mom  was being considerate of my date's financial status (Chicken Kiev was the cheapest thing on any menu) or was worried that I would be thought of as high maintenance and never be asked out again if I ordered something more expensive. Either way, I ate so much Chicken Kiev in my youth that I thought I might be Ukranian.

Which brings me to the topic of the day: what can you expect from a cheap date? I don't eat Chicken Kiev any longer (I'm not even sure I could look at it) but I do clean my own house, make most of my own clothes and serve leftovers for dinner. Yet, when it comes to books, frugality was never a consideration. I know what it takes to write a novel. It is damn hard work. As an author, I hope that readers realize that they are paying not just for my effort but also benefiting from my imagination in the same way I benefit from the expertise of anyone whose service I purchase. So, when I found a site called The Frugal E-Reader I had a few questions about books and price. 

Enter, Elizabeth Trudgeon Brown, Founder of the Frugal E-Reader: Kindle Finds for Under Nine (dollars), a review site for Indie and traditionally published authors alike whose books are available digitally. I wanted to ask her what role frugality plays in this new age of publishing. In short, why did ebook readers believe digital novels should be dirt cheap?

Why did you decide to blog about inexpensive (some would say cheap) books instead of books in general?
While I was eagerly waiting for my Kindle to arrive this summer, I spent a lot of time at the Kindle Store and Discussion Forums searching for books to read. I caught a few discussions about $9.99 being the price cap that eBooks are generally accepted at, or that some readers were frustrated about prices being over $9.99 since the Agency Model took affect. I started to search for books that were under that threshold, and was pleased to find that so many were available! I decided to create a place that readers could come to so that they wouldn't have to spend a lot of time and effort researching for themselves. 

Your reviews are exceptionally detailed – nothing frugal there. Do you find your frugal followers lean toward one genre or another?
Mystery, thriller, or suspense titles are generally popular among the readers of The Frugal eReader. Classics are also widely accepted, so whenever I come across a classic novel that is under $9.00, I'm sure to include it. However, I believe each genre has its own following and as long as the specific premise is intriguing, it actually doesn't matter what genre a title falls under to do well. 

Are you setting a new decision matrix by leading with price? 
When I first started to search for books to read on my Kindle, I was thrilled to find that along with some traditionally published books, there is a whole community of self-published authors that offer their books at lower prices. Without my Kindle and the many hours I spent searching for books, I may have never known of these authors or books. I'm not necessarily trying to set a new decision matrix; my goal is to provide one place where readers can discover books and authors at great values.

Do you think this 'frugal' approach creates a new mindset among readers? Will they continue to expect the same quality and length of work for ever lower prices?
I don't believe that quality should always be directly related to cost. Though something may be "frugal," it shouldn't mean that it can't be of great value, and vice-versa. Whether a book is $0.99 or $9.99, readers won't enjoy coming across typos, grammatical errors, or formatting issues.

One of the biggest complaints of digital books (especially Indies) is that there is no editorial oversight. Do you think 'frugal E readers' are more forgiving of editorial mistakes because of the lower prices?
I'm sure readers can be more forgiving of certain editorial mistakes with self-published authors – but to an extent. Though self-published authors may not have the immediate means to hire professional editors, proof readers, or artists, they should still put as much time and effort into proofing and editing their work as they have possible. The big picture is important here; with the expansion of the eBook market, readership and revenue are likely to increase. The possible additional funds should be used for additional editing, cover art, or anything else to improve upon the published work. No matter what the market is, investing revenue to improve upon or expand awareness of a product is essential to increased success.

I have seen discussion boards where readers resent paying for digital books. They believe since they are uploaded so easily they should be the lowest price – free, in the ideal world. What would you say to them? 
In most cases, the eBook version is the lowest price. Although the price may still seem high for a digital copy (say $9.99), you could pay up to $24.99 for the same title if you were to purchase the paperback or hardback version. The higher price is understandable because in printed books, there are additional costs. However, there are rare occurrences where the Kindle price is more expensive than the paperback… this could potentially be due to the high demand of that particular eBook, or the fact that the digital version provides instant gratification.

I can understand how people may feel that the digital versions should be free, especially if they have already purchased the same title as a paperback or hardback. We may see this one day, as we do now with our music or certain DVDs and Blu-Rays. However, readers should also keep in mind that what we are essentially paying for is the story; the time and effort the author took to create it, and the intellectual entertainment that the story provides - no matter what format it's in.

What is your advice to traditionally published and Indie authors regarding price as they enter this market? 
I hope that the authors see the value in maintaining reasonable prices for their work as the market for eBooks continues to increase. They shouldn't fear pricing their books low – especially if they are newcomers to the publishing world. Let me reiterate that price does not always correlate directly with quality. A lower priced book should not mean that it's "cheap" in the sense that it is poorly written, or poorly formatted. When an unknown author enters the market, they should consider pricing their work as a means to develop their brand. Also keep in mind that a reader may be more inclined to purchase the work of a new author at a lower price – less risk. Once the author can establish themselves and the demand for their work increases, then prices can be adjusted accordingly.

Blog: http://www.thefrugalereader.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Frugal-eReader/101086513289732
Twitter: http://twitter.com/FrugaleReader

What do you think? What is a fair price for an e-book?How does an author put a price on their time, imagination and expertise? Readers? What is your pricing maximum? Are you more forgiving of editorial problems if a book is priced low?

This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

MY MAN JACK: Lessons learned from LaLanne

Jack LaLanneWhen I was eight years old I spent the night with my grandmother, a handsome woman who, as I look back, was probably younger than I am today but looked 10 years older. She was a German lady who wore housedresses and pin-curled her grey hair. She was proper, punctual and particular but when I woke up the morning of our sleepover, I found her holding onto the back of a chair, shoeless and enthralled by the man on the television. His name was Jack Lalanne.

Jack held onto the back of a chair, too, but he wore a skin-tight jumpsuit that showed off his muscles – all of them. I had never seen a man dressed like that. Even at eight, I knew I was watching something extraordinary – maybe even a little naughty.  Watching my grandmother lift her leg ever so slightly, put her arm over her head like a ballerina, bend from the waist so that I could actually see the backs of her knees was awesome. Grandpa was gone. The doors were locked. The only sound was Jack's voice encouraging my grandmother to do things I never thought she could do. I was privy to something I had no word for and I never told anyone about grandma's morning with Jack.

Almost twenty years later, I met Jack Lalanne for real. I was an account executive with a major advertising agency and Jack LaLanne Health Spa was my client. Though I didn't know it then, I was working on an account that was the forerunner of a social and health phenomena of fitness clubs, spas and specialty gyms. Before 24 Hour Fitness, Equinox or day spas there was Jack Lalanne.

We met during a commercial shoot. My job was to make sure we stayed on budget, on schedule, on message and that the client was happy. To this day, I don't know if the client was happy. Jack – dressed in his iconic black jumpsuit – stood apart and managed only a distracted hello.

 He was perpetual motion as he waited for his call: flexing, stretching, moving. And, most interestingly, he talked to himself. Eventually, I realized he was rehearsing his line. He only had one but the man was nervous and that made me curious.

How could a man who inspired my grandmother to take off her shoes and exercise, a man who spoke to people on TV everyday be nervous about delivering one line? It took me many years, and my own journey as a writer, to understand why Jack LaLanne was sweatingthat day: he was not a pitchman, he was an advocate.  Jack LaLanne sold best when he sold in his own language and with his own message. That man not only inspired people to exercise but to be their personal best.

Today I woke up and found that Jack LaLanne had passed away at 96. I doubt he would have remembered me but I will always remember him. I will remember him as a part of my childhood but I will also remember what he taught me about being a creative person. So, here you go. The lessons I learned from Jack.

Write, compose, draw, speak, work with love and focus.

Always exercise: your mind, your imagination, your skill.

Be consistent. Be a brand. Craft your own 'black jumpsuit' so that when people pick up your book or see your picture or hear your song they will know what they're getting.

Plan your career, do not calculate it. Eventually, calculation will override passion and you will lose your 'voice'.

Do not worry about how many people read your work.  Creating something that is meaningful to one person is more important than having thousands know your name but not remember your work.

Share your passion. If you have a chance to inspire, to coach, to encourage, do it. Do it with abandon. Do it with energy. Do it without concern that sharing your knowledge will take something from you. It won't.

Thank you Jack. I was inspired by your energy, your abandon and your goodwill. I will pay it forward and, when I do, I will think of you.

Am I an Idiot? Working with a Freelance Editor

January. We begin anew. We slough off our baggage and leave the past behind. Except when we don't.  Which brings us to the topic of freelance editors.

I have dragged mine into every New Year, every new project,* every new puddle of angst where I wallow in the knowledge that I will never write a decent book again. I have done this for 26 years. My freelance editor's name is Jenny Jensen**. To her credit, she does not roll her eyes as she takes me by the scruff of the neck, shakes off the muck and and points me back to the computer. I use her because she is in my corner. I also use her because I sell more often when I do.

That fact alone should be enough for me to never question my association with Jenny, yet I do. I want to know why, after all these years, can't I edit myself? Haven't I learned anything from her?  I had to know.  Am I an author idiot?

Thankfully, the answer was no and Jenny had a couple of good reasons why I wasn't:

Writing is a fast and furious process when it is going well. Grammar and spelling are not top of mind when an author is 'in the zone'; words and ideas must flow freely.

Self-editing is prone to 'blindness'. The author often sees no difference between her intent and the typed words.  A good editor understands and respects the author's words and voice while cleaning up the grammatical flaws that set the signals – signals that allow the reader to effortlessly navigate the story.

Some writers see punctuation as a bother.  A well-punctuated manuscript will catch the eye of a publisher and so will one that is not punctuated well. Only one will sell.

Finally, some people are writers and others are editors. Like a writer with an instinct for story, an editor has an instinct for a pause, a rolling stop and when to quit. She knows when creativity and inspiration becomes awkward and interferes with story.

Knowing why I use a freelance editor usually leads to the question…

Can Only Rich Writers Afford a Freelance Editor?

Anyone who has been writing as long as I have can tell you that writing is not the road to riches. Most of us write while holding down other jobs and dealing with families. Some write for the pure love of it; most write in the hopes of making it their profession. So, how can the expense of a freelance editor be justified?

First an author must understand that books are business. New York publishers have bottom lines to meet, independently published authors want to sell their books, online retailers want to turn a profit. The way to determine if it is worth spending money on a freelance editor is to first define your writing objective.

If you want to attract an agent, a New York publisher or stand out in the indie market then, in my opinion, an editorial eye is a necessity. Prices range from the ridiculously cheap to the astronomically expensive.  Some projects only need grammatical assistance and others continuity or story editing. Story editing is more expensive but, in my case, is critical. I write thrillers that rely on a trail of clues and red herrings and I cannot assess the effectiveness the webs I weave on my own.

In this roiling market, those who offer the cleanest, most professional product will be noticed. In the e-book market, those who present a flawed product will be called on the carpet instantly and very publicly. That is the worst kind of publicity and hard to recover from.

How Do I Work with a Freelance Editor?

The same way you work with a New York editor attached to a publisher. You respect one another's expertise and perspective. You have discussions, not confrontations.  You understand that while this is your book, her work is also held out to public scrutiny.

The Author:

Do not forward your first draft. Make it the best it can be before offering it for critique.

When the editor returns her comments/changes read them, set them aside and come back to them in 24 hours

Look at your edited work with an objective eye. The editor is the first reader. If she questions something so will the person who buys your book.

Pay your bills, say your thank yous. Even if you don't like editorial suggestions, the work has been done. This is a small community- and getting smaller all the time considering the internet - and an author's reputation is easily damaged.

Ask questions. If something doesn't make sense, talk it out. Most freelance editors offer a certain number of follow-ups. Be succinct. Be focused.

Do not expect continuity editing if you have paid strictly for grammar/spelling edits.

The Editor:

Should be respectful of your work and have no genre preferences.

Should exhibit that she understands your 'voice'.

Should clearly state their fees up front and be specific about what the service entails.

Should have an acceptable turn around time.

Bottom line, if you can afford it, freelance editing makes all the difference in your final product. If you can't spend the money find the next best thing: a middle school English teacher to help out, a wonderful book on grammar or a friend who will be read your manuscript and be honest.

Rest assured, you are not an author idiot if you can't self-edit. You are a writer. Other (wonderful) people are (thankfully) editors. Together, we make books that people want to read.

 *23 traditionally published books, 2 indie e-books, 1 script in development.

**Jenny resides at http://www.e-bookeditor.com. Note the wonderful example on her home page of what a difference punctuation can make.

Visit Rebecca at http://www.rebeccaforster.com for writing tips, reading recommendations, lots of pictures and a sneak peek at her latest book.