Category Archives: Hidden Blog

Manuscript reviews-smart or a waste of money?

I was contacted by an author back about 6 months ago for editing a manuscript, we chatted a bit about it, but she decided to take up her cousin’s offer to edit the book for free. She said she might be in touch with me later to help her with some other aspects of her book.

Last week she contacting me saying that she was looking for a second opinion about whether her book was “good enough.” After learning more, we decided a manuscript review would be her best option to start with. For a small investment, a manuscript review can save you thousands of dollars over the long haul. Maybe her cousin is an excellent editor (after all, my cousins could say that about me! haha). Maybe her cousin is an excellent copy editor but not an excellent content editor, but how can this author know without an objective professional opinion?

A manuscript review will give her a report on the overall effectiveness of the book, its organization, marketability, a determination of whether it needs additional editing or proofreading, etc. Sure, if further work needs to be done on the manuscript, it will cost you more money. But if you reached this same conclusion after you printed 1,000 books, that would be a very costly mistake!

If you think your book is “good enough” to publish, but you’re not entirely sure, a manuscript review is one of your best bets to ensure your book has a fighting chance in the competitive world of book sales.

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Why You Need a Writing Coach

Recently I received an inquiry from a potential client asking if I would do a free sample edit of a few pages of her manuscript. I asked her what her timeframe was for editing, her budget for the project, and some other questions to gauge her needs. She said she didn’t have a budget (umm, okay) and she didn’t have a firm deadline in mind but she knew it would need a heavy edit. So I asked her to send the manuscript.

I took a look and my heart sank. The manuscript was 70+ thousand words. The first 5 pages, while it didn’t have many technical mistakes, were written poorly: clichéd writing, stilted dialogue, and poor descriptions. I actually wondered if the author was in high school. Now, don’t get me wrong—I’ve edited lots and lots of books. Some of them needed a great deal of work, some not as much, but, as an editor, I can only work with the writing quality I’m given (unless I want to rewrite the entire thing, which I don’t!). I was struck by how much time the author spent on this manuscript when the end result should probably be rewritten or scrapped altogether.

She should have hired me as a writing coach much earlier in the game. A writing coach can give you immediate feedback, help nip any writing problems in the bud, and help you make your writing time as productive as possible. An editor can fix errors, point out inconsistencies, and smooth out your writing. But if you have any questions about how your manuscript is progressing, whether your writing is good enough, and if you’re achieving your objectives in your manuscript, bring in a writing coach earlier in the process. You’ll save yourself a lot of time, hassle, and potentially money.

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Fan question: How do I become a self-publisher?

In my last post I addressed the “how do I get published” question, when I then reviewed the various forms of publishing. Cathy’s follow up question is: How do I become a self publisher?

It’s probably easier than you think. And I’ll also give the standard disclaimer that I’m not an attorney, though I do know some good ones if you need a referral!

You need to set up a publishing company. Pick a good name for your company (you need an actual business name, don’t just use your own name, unless you want to name your business “Lauren Hidden Publishing Co.” Do some research to see if there are any other publishing companies with that name. You want to be unique!

Create a logo (or hire someone else to do it) for your company. You’ll put that on your website and on your books.

You need to get any business licenses and insurance. This is a good item to check with your attorney and insurance agents to see what exactly you need.

Get an EIN number (or you could use your SSN as your Tax ID number)

Register to pay state sales taxes

Buy the domain name for your company

Once you have all these beginning steps done, you’ll want to have a website, a shopping cart so people can buy your book directly from your site, and then you need to go through all the process of writing, printing, marketing, and distributing your book. But hopefully this post gave you an overview of the business side of self publishing.

I welcome any input or additional questions!

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Fan question: I’ve always wanted to learn about how to get published. Where do I start? (Part 1)

One of my Facebook business page fans asked how to get published. I thought this would make a good blog post and maybe help out some others too. The first follow-up question I would ask to this is “Define what you mean by published.”

Most people would define “published” as their book being represented by a major publisher. In this scenario, the publisher often handles editing, layout, cover design, ISBN numbers, getting the book printed, etc. Once printed, the publisher secures distribution so the book can get into the major bookstores. The publisher fronts all the money in the process and the author is paid a royalty on each book sold.

Another method of publishing is “true” self publishing. Where an author creates her own publishing company. The author (now self publisher) fronts all the money for the process of getting the book to readers (often this includes editing and proofreading, layout, cover design, printing, marketing, shipping, etc.). An advantage to this system is that you usually receive more money per book sold since you don’t have to share the profits. You also retain complete creative control over the project. The disadvantages are that you front all the money, and have to deal with all the aspects of publishing yourself so you’ll be processing orders, doing all your own marketing, etc. Both of my books were self-published by my co-authors.

Another option is to do Print on Demand. Infinity Publishing, Author House and Create Space are examples of these companies. You usually pick a package, and you pay a rate for them to do the layout, a simple cover design for your book, get the ISBN numbers and barcode, and the ability for bookstores to order your book through their distributor.

Another (bad) option is so-called vanity publishers, that act like a traditional publisher except you pay them a ton of money upfront for them to take on your book. Run, don’t walk, away from them.

This was a very simplified overview of some of the publishing options. Please add your input if you’d like. And if this post sparks any questions, please ask!

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How to add a fan page administrator on Facebook

I’m helping a friend with her online marketing efforts and suggested she add me as an admin on her Facebook fan page. She asked how to do it, and thought I’d share with you in case you were wondering too. Facebook changes their menu setup every other week it seems, but for now, these are the steps to add an administrator to your Facebook fan page:

Log in to Facebook
Look down the left hand side of your screen and click on ‘ads and pages’
Find the fan page and click on “edit page”
Then, towards the bottom of the page, and about 2/3 over toward the right, you should see “Admins”
Click “add” (to the right of the word “admins” and above your picture)
Start typing in the name of the person you want. Click on the picture, then go down on that screen and click “Add admins”

Voila! You’re done. Not a fan on Facebook yet? Join us here.

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2009: A Year in Review

2009 started off busier than ever…what recession? It wasn’t hitting me!!

But then, well, it did. But that’s okay, I’m still here, business is picking up, and I’ve learned a lot over the past year.

This year I edited a few books, did some writing coaching, continued to do content editing on a variety of pieces for a legal consulting team, did some project management, formatted a book for Kindle and did some social media set-up for some past clients.

This year I also served as the Marketing Director for IVAA, which will end on 3/31/2010. That’s been an interesting experience too as I’ve talked to the media, wrote copy for brochures, and represented the association at several events and conferences. The highlight of that responsibility was traveling to Minneapolis to present at the IAAP conference. What a fun group!

This year I got to travel to (either professionally or personally): Phoenix, Montreal, Niagara Falls, Minneapolis, Hilton Head SC, Savannah GA and Charlotte NC. It’s always fun to see new places!

This year I also took the Social Media Marketing Specialist certification course through VA Classroom. I guess it shouldn’t amaze me that services that never existed a few years ago can now be offered to my clients as I’ve helped them set up Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages, blogs, and linking everything together! I really enjoy teaching people a new skill or improving on an old one.

Speaking of which, 2010 will include some changes for me as I test out this fondness for teaching on a new group of subjects—and no, I will not be coaching or training VAs! More details to come.

Above all, 2009 has taught me (and I expect I’m not alone here) some good lessons. Plan ahead, be grateful for what you have, never stop learning, and constantly think of new ways to meet your customers’ needs.

Wishing you prosperity, health and happiness in 2010!
Lauren

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New book review: Mrs. Kimble by Jennifer Haigh (a novel)

This book was given to me some time ago by a friend and had been sitting on my shelf for quite a while. I finally pulled it out and started reading it…I read the whole thing in about a 15-hour span (not including sleeping for the night!). Mrs. Kimble totally engrossed me…the tale of 3 (sequential) wives of the same man…a man charming to all those he meets, yet a chameleon who seems utterly empty. Each woman he marries seems vulnerable for one reason or another (one is naive, one is recovering from a serious illness, another extremely self-conscious). Each woman struggles for explaining her husband’s behavior, even making up excuses for his behavior to others. But Ken made no apologies for his actions.

This book was extremely well-written, and got even more engaging the longer I read it. Ken’s character seems utterly believable–most women I know have run across someone like him. Why did he do what he did? Who knows. But the book is less about the consistent character–Ken–and more about how each of these women entered into a relationship with him, realized it wasn’t as they anticipated, and resigned themself to that life anyway. I found myself wondering what I would have done if I was each Mrs. Kimble.

Highly recommended! One of my favorite novels I’ve read in 2009.

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What new words have you learned lately?

I’m almost embarrassed to admit this, but dictionary.com is often my best friend when editing. Depending on what industry my client is in, I may come across words that are not in my vocabulary. Yesterday I learned the words “gulag” and “paucity.” Paucity I had heard before but could not remember the meaning (smallness of quantity; scarcity; scantiness) and gulag means (the system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union or any prison or detention camp, esp. for political prisoners). What new words have you learned this week?

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Join me on my new fan page for The Hidden Helpers

As much as it pained me to do it, I deleted my first fan page on Facebook. When I originally signed up for my fan page, I clicked on “Local Business” instead of “Organization.” After taking VA Classroom’s new fan page course, I realized that limits my ability to post information about my company and the fields I can have on my page. So please, join me at the new page. I’m learning all sorts of new techniques to make this fan page informative and fun!

The Hidden Helpers: Book Editing, Writing Coaching & Social Media Marketing

Promote Your Page Too

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Why You Need to Give Your Writing a Rest

Recently I was content editing a client’s letter and was having trouble coming up with a good transition between the first two paragraphs. I took a break to take care of some laundry, and in the midst of folding a yellow towel, the solution hit me.

One thing I’ve learned over my years of ghostwriting and editing is the importance of giving your writing a rest. Sometimes when you’re staring at the words on the screen, writing and rewriting over and over, you can’t get it exactly right no matter how long you sit there! But if you give your mind time to rest, the answers will often come.

Just like Dawn and I preached in Write It Right, allow plenty of time for the editing. Don’t be afraid to walk away. Excellence can’t be rushed.

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