On the tolerance of writers
I am not a big fan of diatribes against editors. But I can definitely see the point when I read something like this bit from this month’s Chicago Manual Q&A.
Q. In the sentence “I thought more people would be interested in knowing what happened to XXX, but I see that his fate, his life, doesn’t seem to bring folks together the way the water did,” would you use “don’t” instead of “doesn’t”? Or does that comma after “his life” keep the verb singular? The author will not tolerate the insertion of “and” between “his life” and “his fate.”
Good for the author!
Admittedly, it can be hard when your editor works for a publisher. But often, even when you’ve hired an editor yourself, it can be hard to remember: the editor is supposed to make your life easier, not harder. Our job is to provide you with new ideas, new information that will help you create exactly what you want to create.
If I’m doing my job, responses to an edit I suggest (yes, suggest) will be like these:
- Thanks! I was having trouble describing that.
- I can see where my original was unclear, but this doesn’t quite work either. How about… ? and occasionally…
- That doesn’t work. I’m keeping it the way it was.
What I really love is how the writer and I almost always come to agreement on each change, because we’re both working toward the same goal: helping the writer’s ideas come through. I question them, they question me, and we both learn things.
If you have an editor who thinks their ideas are more important than yours, or doesn’t want you to challenge their edits, run!
In case you’re curious, here’s the answer the terrific Chicago editors gave.
A. “Doesn’t” is correct, and “and” would change the meaning of the sentence. “Life” here is a gloss on “fate,” a parenthetical explanation or extension of it, not an additional item. Your author is right—but you have left us hanging about the curiously unifying properties of this water.
Subscribe to the comments for this postPromoting Your Book
Once in a while, a novel is published that seems to have wings. It takes off, without anyone really having to work at it. But most of the time, a novel takes off because the publisher and the author are energetically and enthusiastically promoting it.
There is no end to the books you can read about how to market your book. I’ve studied stacks of them, and here distilled down a bunch of the pointers. The result is a pretty easy checklist of things you can do to make your book a success. Do you have to do all of them? I’ll tell you what my dentist used to tell me.
“You don’t have to floss all your teeth, you know,” he’d say with a twinkle. “Just the ones you want to keep.”
You don’t need to promote all your books. Just the ones you want to sell.
Before your book is published
Identify authors who might resonate with your work, and experts in your field. Email them, asking if they’d be willing to read your manuscript or galleys, and consider writing a short review. Be brief, and professional, but not stuffy. If you’d be honored to have a quote from them on your cover, it’s ok to say so.
Create a web site for your book (if your publisher hasn’t)
A website for your book is where people will go to find out whether it’s worth buying. Here are some of the things that can go on your book’s web page.
- Cover art
- Description or summary
- Excerpts
- Information about the content. A timeline, for example.
- Links to related sites with reviews or excerpts.
- Purchase information
- A link to your author page. And speaking of that…
Create an author web-site for yourself
“Unless you’re already a superstar, don’t make your Web site about you. Make it about the reader. Provide compelling content that solves problems, entertains, sparks curiosity, or inspires. Everything else will follow.” — Steve Weber, Plug Your Book
Center your author website around the blog
- Find a theme to write about. Some ideas:
- Write about your life, your cat, your writing, your remodeling project. Only do this if you’re naturally funny.
- Write about “this week in Spanish history” or “This week in Ancient Rome.” Write about the period and locale that your book covers.
- Review books by other people that are similar to yours.
- Write consistently, at least once a week. Better: 3 times a week, or daily.
- Allow comments on your blog, and respond (in a friendly way) by commenting back.
Stuff to include in the sidebars of your website
- A contact form, so visitors can get in touch with you.
- Be sure you answer emails right away, and be friendly. Assume the person is considering buying or recommending your book!
- (End your emails to people who’ve read your book by asking them to write a short review on Amazon.com. Tell them it doesn’t need to be fancy. “Just write what you told me in your email.”
- Your Bio, with picture
- Your schedule of appearances. Pictures and reports of how much fun an appearance was.
- Suggested interview questions and answers (reporters can use them to get ideas for interviews, or to quote you).
- A link to your book’s web site.
- Short stories, and previews of stuff you’re working on.
- A form for visitors to sign up for your announcement list.
Spend time on Amazon.com
Amazon.com sells 15-20% of all books. Even people who don’t buy on Amazon.com will do research there, and then buy locally. Make sure your book is presented in the best possible light.
About Your Book
Make sure you and your publisher do what’s needed to place a cover image on Amazon.com. Provide a copy for their “Search inside” feature. Let users browse comfortably, and they’ll be more likely to buy
Tags
Anyone who looks at a book’s page has the opportunity to place “tags” on that book. The easiest way to bring up the tagging window is to press “tt” quickly, but you can also scroll down on the page to find it.
Figure out what best descibes your book, maybe “historical fiction,” and tag it. Ask people who tell you they’ve read it to tag it too.
Your Profile Page
Everyone who has ever purchased from Amazon has a profile page. You’ll find yours at amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile.
Your Author Blog
Create an author blog. This is separate from your “real” blog. It only needs to contain one or two posts: just friendly messages from the author. Look here for more information. See an example of a book page with an author blog entry here.
Reviewing
Develop your reputation by reviewing other people’s books. Be thoughtful and honest.
When someone tells you they’ve read your book, ask them to write a quick review on Amazon. Assure them that it doesn’t need to be long or fancy.
You can also look at the listings for books similar to yours, and see who has reviewed them. Contact some of those people and ask if they’d be willing to review your book. You might want to offer to send a free review copy.
Use Lists
- Listmania (More info here)
- “So you’d like to…” lists (More info here)
- Ask Amazon to assign your book to the right categories. (More here)
- Add tags to your books, and encourage readers to add them too. (See here)
Tags and Categories
Other on-line promotion
Your Contacts
Collect the email addresses of all of your friends and acquaintances— everyone —, and provide them to the publisher for publicity mailings. Write content for these mailings if you’re asked to.
Forums and Discussions
Visit on-line forums on topics related to your book. Be an active, interesting participant, and mention your book in your sig line.
MySpace and Stuff
Create a page on MySpace and Facebook. Figure out how to add friends and send out bulletins. Send announcements when you create a blog post, when you get a great review, and (obviously) when your book comes out.
Talking and Writing, Plain and Clear
“Plain language” is a movement away from legalese, and toward clear language that people can understand. It turns out that contracts and laws don’t have to be written in gobbledygook afterall.
My friend Cheryl Stephens has been a pioneer in the plain language movement. She’s on a blog tour this week, promoting her book, Plain Language Legal Writing.
I had the opportunity to ask her a question, so I gave it some thought. I’m a big fan of plain language — I think of myself as a plain language editor — but there’s one question I’ve been asked that’s been really hard to answer. So I picked that one to ask her. And apparently it was a good choice!
Q. “You tell me to write naturally, the way I would speak, but the truth is that I even talk this way — what you call “stuffy.” I have to struggle to avoid using complex sentences and big words, even when speaking. Does plain language apply to speech, and if so, can you suggest a manner in which I could revise my speaking to be more in keeping with plain language ideas?”
Guest answer, from Cheryl Stephens:
Plain language in oral discourse encompasses many of the plain language principles used in written communication, with added emphasis on the importance of considering your audience. Additional concerns are how people listen and process information and techniques you can use to be sure the message you intend to communicate is the one being communicated.
- Short sentences.
- Start with a human subject.I will, You do, He went, The doctor will…
- Use transition words and signal words, creating a word map.
“There are 2 things to remember. First, … Second, …so that’s 2 things to do, then.”- 3/7/15 rules.
* Don’t use more than 3 examples or 3 items in a list. Break a longer list down to groups of 3 items.
* Wait through 7 seconds of silence for a response so the listener can process your information and develop a reply.
* While you won’t count your words as you speak, in oral presentations, a short sentence is less than 15 words.- Watch your pronouns.
Avoid using too many 3rd person pronouns (“He was her worst enemy.”). Listeners get lost trying to keep track of who you mean. Restate the original noun. Use personal pronouns to speak directly to the listener. “You are ……”- Be positive.Beware of negative prefixes that get lost in the process of speech or hearing: illegitimate, impossible, unlikely and so on. This is a particularly important consideration if your listeners have English as a second language.
I discuss these and other tips on my website at CherylStephens.com.
Thanks for that, Cheryl! I think paying attention to plain language in speech is an important part of learning to write in plain language. And learning to write in plain language is vital to learning to write well.
I’m going to start doing a Q. and A. as a regular feature here, though I’ll usually answer the questions myself. Send me your questions, and I’ll answer as many as I can.
Avoid cliché in your writing
Writers who defend their clichés on the grounds that "they wouldn’t have become clichés if they weren’t good" may have a terrific point. And they should enjoy that, because what they won’t have is successful writing.
How to outline a novel
Outlining is not just for non-fiction.
Should you outline your novel? For some writers, the idea of an outline feels stifling, like it will suck their creativity away. But an outline is really just a map of the novel — a way to see the big picture. A good outline shouldn’t feel constricting. It should flow and change with your writing.
Writing Non-Fiction: Write an Outline
Clean, Effective Articles and Exposition
At the coffee shop where I like to work in the mornings, you can get whatever you want for breakfast, as long as it’s either a scramble, or an omelet. I tease them, “Can I choose which one?” See, in my house, you ask for an omelet, and you might get an omelet, or, if things aren’t going as well, you might get a scramble. Same eggs and cream, same veggies and cheese, but in the end, an entirely different shape.
What Counts as Correct English?
The Conspiracy
Editors get a bad rap. When I meet someone new and mention that I’m an editor, I’m likely to get a suspicious look, as though I’m part of a conspiracy to make English too difficult to leave to amateurs. Read more »
Remember to always split infinitives.
Remember to always split infinitives.
Well, ok, not always. But often. Whenever it works.
We have this handed-down wisdom that says an infinitive, a verb of the “to form” — to walk, to amble, to mosey — must always be preserved intact. Rules like this cripple writing. Even the esteemed editors of the Chicago Manual of Style agree with me.
In this day and age, it seems, an injunction against splitting infinitives is one of those shibboleths whose only reason for survival is to give increased meaning to the lives of those who can both identify by name a discrete grammatical, syntactic, or orthographic entity and notice when that entity has been somehow besmirched. — Chicago Manual Q&A
Concern yourself first with clarity and a pleasing sound. We do need grammar rules, but only when they help us achieve those things. When they get in the way, they should be ignored.
Avoid Passive Voice
Why was the road crossed by the chicken?
When a sentence starts with the thing being acted upon rather than the thing doing the acting, that sentence is in “passive voice.” For example, if you ask me where the hat is that you lent me, and I reply, “It got lost,” I have used the passive voice. A more honest and direct answer, using the active voice, would have been “I lost it.” Read more »
Samurai Editing
It’s said that a good editor is like a samurai. Proficient with both the pen and the sword, he—can’t really call a samurai “she,” can I?—slices with precision, but without hesitation. And slicing is the first step in editing your manuscript. Read more »