Guest Post: Successful Editing Summed Up in a Single Principle

Successful Editing Summed Up in a Single Principle— Err on the Side of Outrageous Posted: 01 Dec 2016 07:00 AM PST by Edie Melson Writers tend to fall into two distinct groups, those who prefer to write and those who prefer to rewrite—also known as editing. I fall into the latter group. I can’t help it. I just love the process of editing. It doesn’t really matter if I’m editing someone else, or my own manuscript. To me, it’s a fulfilling task of taking something good and making it into something great. But the path of getting from good to great can be a difficult one, unless you follow this single principle. I stumbled upon it early in my writing journey and it’s served me well, no matter what type of editing situation I’m in. So what is it that makes for successful editing?  Err on the side of outrageous I can see the puzzled looks from here. But bear with me as I explain. Saying things the way they’ve always been said is, at best, boring and at worst, a cliché. So when you’re going back over what’s been written, look for something new…something different…something OUTRAGEOUS! Places to Plug-in the Outrageous Verbs—first, get rid of the passive verbs that dot the landscape of a first draft. Search for was and were, and be and been. Now go for action. And don’t just stick with boring action, search for something that zings the senses of your readers. For instance, instead of this sentence: He moved across the busy street to reach his beloved’s side. Try something like this: He darted across the street, zigging and zagging toward the one who held his reason for living. Comparisons—we do want our comparisons to make sense to our readers, but within those parameters, be brave and dare to walk on the path of outrageous. For instance, instead of this sentence: Her heart pounded like a bass drum as she watched for her love dart through the traffic of the busy street. Try something like this: He darted across the street, and the staccato beat of her heart beat punctuated each of steps that brought him closer to her embrace. Senses—in fiction, as well as creative nonfiction, all scenes should include the five senses. Look for ways to include the senses that also capture the setting or the character’s emotions. Do you want to give us the essence of a hot summer’s evening in the south? Instead of the cool breeze that kisses cheeks and ruffles hair, what if it carried the smoky taste of the grill from the house next door. Perhaps it clogs your throat with the chemical taste of a mosquito truck that just finished its rounds. Perhaps the delicate lace under a brides fingers promised an enclosing mesh of steel, instead of the soft promise of two lives knitted together? These are the things to look for as you take a manuscript from good to great. Clichés—this is a way of saying something that has become so common place it’s almost invisible. The first few drafts of any manuscript often contain clichés because they’re a good way for the writer to capture the essence of what she wants to convey. Again, good, not great. But the editing phase is the time to tweak those ho-hum sayings and make them great. Sometimes it’s nothing more than turning them on their head. Your reader thinks you’re headed in one direction and at the last moment you dodge and it’s something original. For example, instead of this cliché: She was decked out head to toe. Try something like this: She was decked out toes to nose. The opportunities for outrageous are plentiful at this stage in the writing process. It’s the act of looking for opportunities to surprise and delight your readers that makes them appear. What about you? Have you been surprised by an author’s choice of phrase or word? Have you found a new way to say something common-place? Now isn’t the time to be shy. Share your thoughts in the comments section below. And don’t forget to join the conversation! Blessings, Edie Edie Melson is the author of numerous books, as well as a freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains ChristianWriters Conference and the Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy. She’s also the Military Family Blogger at Guideposts. Com, Social Media Director for SouthernWriters Magazine and the Senior Editor for NovelRocket.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook. Don't miss her new book

Lessons Learned at a Book Signing

by Elva Cobb Martin

Recently we were invited to participate in a book signing at our local YMCA. My first two romance novels won't be released until March and May of 2017. However, I did have a non-fiction mini-book I indie published on Amazon, Power Over Satan, a primer on our authority in Christ. So-o-o I was happy to accept this invitation for my first real book signing. Here's the link to the book:
buff.ly/1NUkfYD

A dear friend, Edie Melson, also accepted the invitation, and I was blessed to share a table with her.  She arrived before I did and set up our table close to the refreshment table the YMCA provided for the event. I told her that had to be a smart idea. 
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I learned several neat things from Edie who has done multiple book signings. She came with a big chart of her book cover of While My Child is Away, which is a wonderful book of prayers and devotions for parents. She also had a neat freebie, her own designed book mark on a chain with a bird charm on one end and a tag on the other that included the title of her book on one side and her social media info on the other side. She brought book holder/picture frames to stand her books up and she loaned some to me.

I ordered a 11x17 chart of my front and back cover from VistaPrint.com. I folded this just like it was a book cover and wrote $5.00 in the corner so everyone could easily see my price. I stood this up on a book frame.

To advertise my coming novels, my prep included making an 8-1/2 x 11 advertising sheet on card stock of my two novels coming out, Summer of Deception (March, 2017, Prism Book Group) and In a Pirate's Debt (May, 2017 Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas). I included titles, release date, and a photo from my file on each book. This also went on a book frame.

 I brought a small basket lined with colorful gemstones (collected with my gemstone-happy grandson) to stash my business cards in. My books were being sold for $5 so I also brought some change in a bank bag. (At the time I had a Square on order to take credit cards, but it had not arrived.)

So there Edie and I were, all ready to sell our books. We took some pictures, we smiled, we chatted with passersby and we waited. Two hours. 

Lots of folks walked right by our table on their way to the refreshment table. A very few stopped, glanced at our books and most said something like:

"Oh, these are nice but, sorry, I didn't bring my pocketbook into the gym."  (HOW could we forget that most people don't??)

One dear lady told me, "I really need your book. I'm going to the car and get my $5.00."

God bless that dear one! I finally did sell three books.

What I Learned from My Book Signing Experience:

•  Gyms are NOT a good place to sell books.                      
• Books priced over $10 will most likely not sell well these days. One author had a book for sale at $29. 

•  It's good to have a freebie to give away. OrientalTrading.com is a good place to buy trinkets that might go along with your book. Edie got her bird charms there. I can't wait to look for small ships or pirate stuff for In a Pirate's Debt. I will have tea bag freebies for Summer of Deception which is set on a Charleston Tea Plantation. And I will have an antique tea pot or cup on the table!          
•  Even with low sales, I felt I made some good contacts.                                                                            
• I enjoyed fellowship with other authors.

Thanks  for stopping by. Have you suggestions or insights for a book signing?  I  have another coming up in December. . .

Onward!
Elva Martin

Blue Ridge Writing Conference

by Elva Cobb Martin

Today I am heading to the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers' Conference at Ridgecrest N.C. From the line up it looks like Alton Gansky and Edie Melson have done an excellent job bringing together the 2015 conference. Thanks, Alton and Edie! I am praying for you today and all the talented faculty who are probably stashing great handouts, breath mints and water bottles in their carry alls along about now. (:

Yes, it's an expenditure to go to this we have to plan for, but hopefully, it will bring forth some blessings. How about an agent contract? And every editor I am pitching to gushing over my package and asking for more? This expenditure also, I hope, confirms how serious I am about my writing. It takes a huge investment of time and some money to write successfully, I am finding out.

If you are not going to the conference, all is not lost. Their web site has a ton of great articles from the speakers to bless you and help lift you to the next level.

This year I have really put Edie Melson's "Notebook" idea into practice. I will carry this notebook in my tote bag everywhere I go. It's a 2-inch binder with sections for "pitch packages" for each of my three books that I will hand to agents and editors. There is a response sheet for my notes for each agent and editor I am pitching to as well as a list of the classes they are teaching stapled behind that. My pitch "package" is actually three sheets stapled together:

1)  A Cover Sheet giving fast pertinent info about the book (title, genre, completed word count), my social media addresses and home address, phone number, email, etc. and a 100-word bio and photo below that.  

2) The FIRST PAGE of my novel (don't they really just want to know if you can WRITE?)

3)  A One Sheet with pitch, back cover copy, brief synopsis, marketing ideas, endorser possibilities, market comparisons and my contact info,photo and one photo related to the novel. Boy, my One Sheets are stacked!

If you are coming, I hope to see you at the conference. If not, keep tuned to my blog. I will be sharing the highlights of what happened.

If you would like copies of my cover sheets and One Sheet. Send me an email at elvacmartin@gmail.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! Do leave a comment and tweet this if you think it will help others.

Elva Cobb Martin

Things Successful Writers NEVER Say

Guest Blog by Edie Melson 

                                                       Writers are an odd lot.

I can say that, because I am one. So I speak from experience, not judgment. Like all creative people, we tend to feel things more deeply, reacting poorly to criticism.

We also have no perspective at all when it comes to our own creation. Because a lot of us begin writing as a hobby, we tend to have a lop-sided view of the publishing industry.

So today, I’d like to clear up some common misconceptions and share some things that successful writers never say.

1. Uh…I guess…uh…I write. So…I suppose that makes me a writer…sometimes. CUT. IT. OUT. If you are serious about writing, even if you don’t get paid, you can call yourself a writer. So repeat after me. “I am a writer.”

2. I’m a much better writer than the majority of the published writers out there. This is for the small percentage who don’t have trouble telling everyone, “I am a writer.” Some of you believe you know more than everyone else. I hate to break it to you, but you don’t.

3. Sure, I don’t need to write today. I’ll go to lunch with you. Successful writers make spending time putting words on paper (or a screen) a priority. If we want to be taken seriously and have our time respected, we must set the example.

4. I don’t need to read books. I’m a writer, not a reader.

Besides, I don’t have time to read. I am not kidding. I’ve actually had writers tell me this. We need to spend time reading, and reading widely. Read outside your genre and learn what works and what doesn’t.

5. I don’t need an editor. I have a sharp eye and can catch anything I need to in my writing. Yes, many of us do have an editor’s eye. That’s a good thing. But that is NO substitute for an editor. We are blind when it comes to our writing. We see what is supposed to be on the page, not what is.

6. I can’t afford to attend conferences. I know conferences are expensive, but they’re also vital to moving forward in your writing career. There are a lot of ways to fund a conference—from asking for money from family and friends instead of gifts for holidays, to writing small articles for pay and saving that money. Conferences do three MAJOR things for writers:

·       They provide a place to learn the latest industry standards and techniques.

·       They provide a place to network and talk to writing professionals, like editors, agents and published writers.

·       They provide a place to network with other writer.

7. I decided to self-publish because traditional publishing just

takes too long. I’m glad to say that self-publishing—when done with professionalism—is now a respected option. Beyond that, there are a lot of good reasons to self-publish. But using self-publishing as a short cut is NOT a good reason.

8. I don’t have a target audience, everyone loves what I write. Every book has a primary audience. Yes, there are books that a lot of people enjoy. But if you write to a specific audience, you’ll have a much better finished product. Not to mention the fact that book stores will know where to shelve your book.

9. The rules don’t apply to me. Yes, I’ll be the first one to agree that there are exceptions to almost every single rule you ever hear about writing and/or publishing. BUT we can’t look at ourselves as that exception. Follow the rules and let the exceptions be a wonderful surprise if and when they happen.

10. The first part of my book is just information the reader needs, the story starts on page 70 (40, 60, 90, etc.). I really have lost track of the number of times I’ve had an author say this to me. Here is my response. If the story starts on page 70, that’s where your book needs to start. Trust your reader, and trust yourself, and skip the background information.

11. I’m not a marketer, I’m a writer. If this really is true and you absolutely refuse to market your work, then be prepared to pay. You’ll have to hire someone to market your book because marketing is a joint partnership between the publisher and the writer. That’s just the way publishing works today.

12. The publishing industry is dying. No, not really. It’s definitely changing, but it’s not dying. There’s a difference. Learn to adapt with the changes, but realize books and people who write them aren’t going anywhere.

13. I already have a book contract, I don’t need a literary agent. Now you need one more than ever. There are those who will argue this point, but here are my thoughts. Because of the rapid changes in publishing, contracts are brutal. You need someone in your corner, advocating for you. After the contract, you still need someone to help with possible (really probable) hiccups in the publishing process. If you don’t like your cover, or the copy editor isn’t doing a good job, your agent can be the bad guy and go to bat for you. This makes it possible for you to stay on good working relations with the publisher.

14. I don’t need to work on social media until after I have a contract. This is another that makes me cringe. Editors and agents award book contracts based on a lot of things. Now days, one of those things is whether or not an author has solid online presence. The lack of a presence may not always keep you from getting a contract, but it will affect the way you’re viewed by prospective buyers. Smart writers build an online presence while they’re working on a book, so everything is in place when they begin pitching.

15. Published authors don’t need to take classes or read books on writing. Successful writers know there’s never a point when you’ve arrived. Lifelong learning isn’t just a buzzword, it’s vital to stay current in the publishing industry.

Even though I slanted a lot of the points toward books, all are equally applicable to writers of shorter works. These are things that I believe you’ll never hear a successful writer say. I’d love to know what you’d add to this list. Be sure to leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

Don’t forget to join the conversation!

Blessings,

Edie Melson, Vice President, ACFW-SC Chapter

Hey, thanks for stopping by. Hope you've had a great Thanksgiving and enjoyed Edie's guest blog today as much as I did. Please leave a comment and share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Blessings,
Elva Cobb Martin, President ACFW-SC Chapter

Guest Blog What is a ONE SHEET Anyway?

So What is a ONE SHEET Anyway?

Guest Blog By Edie Melson

Today I welcome Edie Melson as our guest blogger on a timely subject, One Sheets. As co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers' Conference she has seen quite a few and written many herself. Do leave a comment or question and I'll pass it on to Edie!

Guest Blog

For those of you getting ready for a big writers conference, you may have heard about the need for a One Sheet. This tool is also known as a Pitch Sheet. It's a one page presentation of the project you're pitching to an editor or agent. Today I'll be explaining how to put one together.



Click here  to see an example of my cozy mystery, DEAD RINGER one sheet. This sheet led to multiple requests for proposal and full manuscripts. To answer your question, no, it's not been published. I sent it out too soon and killed my chances -- but that's fodder for a future post!


There are three basic components of a one sheet -- the project blurb, specifics about the project and the author's bio -- including a picture and contact info. We'll take each component individually and explain what's included.


An Image to Illustrate Your Concept

A lot of one sheets include an image to set the mood. This isn't a requirement, but we're seeing it more and more. You can buy an image, upload one of your own, or use one that's copyright free.

The Project Blurb

For this section, think back cover copy. This is NOT the place for a full synopsis. You want this section to read like the blurb on the back cover of a book. You should give more information than just a hook. Make sure you include enough for the editor or agent to get a good sense of the story.

Project Specifics

This is where you give some of the details and they're slightly different for fiction and non-fiction.

Fiction

Genre -- like Romance or Suspense.

Manuscript Length -- this doesn't have to be an exact word count, just an approximation.

Target Audience -- every book should be written with an audience in mind. I know, we all think our book will appeal to a wide range of readers -- and that may be true. But this tells the potential editor or agent how to market the book. It will help sell a publishing house on your manuscript by defining the reader you're writing for.

*There isn't a section here for completion date because it's understood that a manuscript must be complete before it's submitted. It's okay to pitch an uncompleted manuscript with a one sheet, but it's rare for anyone to look at it as a submission until it's complete.

Non-Fiction

Projected Completion Date -- the reason you don't have a non-fiction manuscript completed is because publishers like to have a say in the overall concept.

Manuscript Length -- since it's not completed, this is just an estimate.

Target Audience -- just like in fiction, you need to focus in on who specifically you're targeting with this manuscript.

Similar Titles, also known as Comparables -- you don't have to include this, but it's nice if you have room.

Author Info
This is where you need to include a recent picture, personal bio, contact information and social media information.

Picture -- this should be a professional headshot. That doesn't mean it has to be stuffy, but it needs to be of professional caliber.

Bio -- keep this short and relevant. The person reviewing your one sheet is going to want to know your experience. That includes writing experience and experience with your subject matter. In other words, why are you the person to write this book?

Contact Info -- You need to include your email address, phone number, and website URL. This is no need to include your physical address. It just takes up valuable real estate without adding anything.

All of these individual components will give you an effective one sheet. Be sure to post any questions or comments you have.

Edie Melson is the author of numerous books, as well as a freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She's the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference and the social media mentor at My Book Therapy. She's also the military family blogger at Guideposts.com, social media director for Southern Writers Magazine and the senior editor for NovelRocket.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook.

ACFW-SC First Pages Contest Winners

Hello Friends!

Today I would like to share below a photo and media announcement about the winners in our ACFW-SC Chapter Inspirational Novel Contest, First Five Pages.  Get ready for a new fall contest coming soon and you don't have to be a member of our chapter to enter.  Here's the media announcement pasted in FYI.
                                                                               

  The South Carolina Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers is happy to announce winners of their 2014 Inspirational Novel Boot Camp contest, "First Five Pages." Awards were presented at the final session of the boot camp at North Anderson Baptist Church, Anderson, June 28. Attendees of the chapter meeting enjoyed hearing the first three winning manuscript pages and judge's comments read aloud.  


First Place went to Elva Cobb Martin, Anderson, for The Labyrinth, an inspirational romantic mystery set at Lake Junaluska Assembly in North Carolina.

Second Place winner, Debbie Turner of Greenwood, polished her five novel pages with one finger while recovering from a broken wrist. Her entry, a Young Adult mystery, is entitled Written in Red.

Third Place winner, Bruce Brady of Simpsonville, hooked interest with his opening pages of a young man being rescued from a deadly automobile accident. His Y/A novel Thom and the Time Tunnel is sure to be a hit with young readers.

First Honorable Mention winner, Fran Strickland of Abbeville, entered a fast-paced Inspirational Romantic Suspense, The Message at Stone Tree.

Second Honorable Mention went to author Kimberly Pickens of Simpsonville for Molly's Story.

The contest, coordinated by Edie Melson of Simpsonville, mandated entries from unpublished fiction writers, but authors did not have to be members of the chapter. Entries were required to follow strict guidelines regarding content, industry format, and the length limited to the first five pages of a novel. Authors also included a 200-word blurb or pitch.

An acquisitions editor judged the contest, offered comments for improving the manuscripts and remarked that all entries had merit.



Front Row left to right: Fran Strickland, Kimberly Pickens. Second row Elva Martin, Bruce Brady, Debbie Turner

 A fall writing contest is in the plans which will be open to ACFW-SC Chapter and non chapter members. Please call Elva Martin at 864/226-7024 for further information on the contest or the monthly meetings which are open to visitors.

Information on the national organization of American Christian Fiction Writers can be found at www.acfw.com. The South Carolina Chapter blog can be visited at http://www.scwritersacfw.com .

Thanks for stopping by today!  

Elva