The Pre-publishing Process

[Jim]

Regardless of how original an author's ideas and concept may be, no mainline publisher's acquisition department will even consider a manuscript that is riddled with misspellings, poor grammar, incorrect puncuation, and improper sentence/paragraph structure.

A copy editor's job is to spot and correct the occasional mistake; not salvage a mess submitted by an undisciplined or lazy writer. That is the job for a ghost writer.

So, before mailing those query letters - evaluate, rewrite, review, and polish. The time and effort may quite possibly be amply rewarded with a contract offer.

[Lynda]

Jim wrote: "Regardless of how original an author's ideas and concept may be, no mainline publisher's acquisition department will even consider a manuscript that is riddled with misspellings, poor grammar, inco..."

I just wrote a blog post about this very thing. I've had an ongoing discussion with one of the authors I work with, talking about the way so many writers fail to take the final steps with their manuscripts: revision and editing. Going back through the work to strengthen it isn't only to make the editor's job easier; it's (hopefully) with the goal of improving the book.

[Jim]

Lynda, great minds think alike; or at least it appears that you and I do when it comes to blog subject matter.

If curious, when you have absolutely nothing better to do, check out the post on my blog, dated Dec. 6. The title is, "The Pre-publishing Process". What a coincidence!

The blog may be accessed via my Goodreads profile.