THIS is why I do what I do.

This image pretty much represents how I felt reading the recommendation letter below from one of my dear clients, Chad (whose book, I'm quite sure, will be huge success).

"Making the decision to hire Lindsay was by far the best decision I've made in my writing career. I had spent almost five months editing my first draft on my own, utilizing feedback from friends and family, and thought I had it as close to perfect as I could make it. It makes me laugh just saying that now.

With Lindsay's help and guidance I've woven in sub-plots and additional scenes that have completely transformed my book. I didn't even realize how weak the overall storyline was before. There was no central conflict that was being advanced from chapter to chapter, and very little build up of tension toward the ending. She pointed out several inconsistencies that I had missed where things were either confusing or outright contradicted something that had happened earlier in the book as well.

Lindsay also helped me overcome technical flaws in my writing, such as the overuse of adverbs, repetitive sentence structure, grammatical / formatting issues, etc. and forced me to confront things that I knew were shortcomings going in (the beginning was too rushed, things were far too easy for the main character).

She offers candid, constructive advice with improvement suggestions that go far beyond just marking up a manuscript and is a meticulous fact checker. She will challenge you to make your own writing better, and sometimes that can be frustrating, but if you're open to her suggestions and push yourself the end result will blow you away. She is quick to offer words of encouragement and point out things you are doing well, and unlike a lot of freelance editors, she will continue to work with you long after she has sent across her evaluation.

I truly view her as a partner in the development of my novel and will work with her on all of my future projects, even after I'm published. When I go back and re-read passages now sometimes I have a hard time even believing I actually wrote it. I now have a commercially viable novel and a very strong chance of being published, none of which would have been possible without her.”

Follow the Rules!

Fab agent Jessica from Bookends Agency writes about an author refusing to follow the rules - and losing a valuable contact.

"...after explaining that LinkedIn is a professional networking site and not Facebook and that I use it to solely seek to benefit from others the author said, "While I realize you cannot instill decency into people, it disturbs me to have Marquette's name to continue to be represented in such a poor manner." 

And there you have it. I am nothing but a money-grubbing, self-absorbed, indecent human misusing my alma mater. Dang, I'm a jerk." 

Great agents and editors want to find great talent, but refusing to use their guidelines is cutting of your nose to spite your face. 


Edit: Also, head over to Bookends' blog and take notes on their Workshop Wednesday - a wonderful tool for those of you who are querying!

Good News in the Publishing Industry

A glimmer of hope from the New York Times:


"The publishing industry has expanded in the past three years as Americans increasingly turned to e-books and juvenile and adult fiction, according to a new survey of thousands of publishers, retailers and distributors that challenges the doom and gloom that tends to dominate discussions of the industry’s health."


Read the full article here: Publishing Gives Hints of Revival, Data Show

A blast of a summer

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful summer! I know there are a few weeks left in August, but the last of the summer manuscript evaluation slots are spoken for, so we're on to the Autumn schedule!

Available slots for Fall:

September 15: one slot still available.

October 15: two slots still available.

November 15: four slots still available.



Other news from Murdock Editing!

I'm updating the website! Poor www.murdockediting.com's current design and info is four years old, which I believe is approximately 165 in internet years.

The fiverr charity drive continues! We've raised enough to buy 125 books to put a stack of books on every desk in a classroom, but we're still aiming for the big prize: $1,000 for 500 books to start home libraries for a neighborhood of low-income families. Check it out here: http://fiverr.com/gigs/read-your-query-letter-and-tell-you-if-id-request-your-manuscript-or-not-and-why and here: http://fiverr.com/gigs/read-your-first-five-pages-and-tell-you-if-id-request-your-manuscript-or-not-and-why. 

Murdock Editing Website Under Construction

Finally, after many promises, I'll be updating the main, horribly out of date Murdock Editing website over the next few weeks. With Wordpress for Dummies at my side, I'll be *gulp* doing it on my own, at least until I get so frustrated I hire a pro. In the meantime, if (when) the site goes down or for some reason suddenly looks like a disaster zone, please bear with me!

And if you hear the sound of yelling/books flying across the room/computers being smashed coming from the general direction of South Boston, it's okay. We'll get there! Thanks for your patience!

In Which I Brag for Charity: Fiverr Reviews So Far

We're still going full steam ahead on the Fiverr for First Book drive. Give me your first five pages and we'll give a kid a book!


Check it out: http://fiverr.com/gigs/read-your-first-five-pages-and-tell-you-if-id-request-your-manuscript-or-not-and-why

1. brilliant very constructive as always :) thanks so much
2. fantastic advise agreed 100% and am in the process of changing my beginning based on her comments...well recommended.
3. I was amazed at the depth and detail that ME Boston provided me for only five dollars in his detailed critique of the first five pages of my novel. He caught every error in grammar and punctuation and warned me about trying to give too many early details. This was easily worth ten times what I paid.
4. Thanks for the pro feedback. Although some might find the highlighted passing delicious (like a Beta Reader of mine) others may indeed find it "too much" especially if they're a beleagured agent's assistant "looking for a reason" to reject and move to the next submittal. So I may omit to avoid risk.
5. Thanks for the advice
6. This is a good gig, especially if it's your first attempt at writing something, good constructive feedback
7. Thanks again Lindsay for all your feedback. It was worth way more than 5 dollars! I would definitely use you again as the book goes through rewrites.
8. Awesome! Would recommend highly!
9. Thank you so much for your feedback! Great to hear! And it also means I have a lot of tweaking to do!! Julie
10. Thanks so much for this awesome critique, Lindsay! I appreciate your honesty and great editing. I, too, was worried about her first seeing him at school. I don't want my Ms to resemble Twilight at all. I will try and find another way to introduce her visions. Thanks!
11. very good feedback, and an excellent help with my novel. Would recommend to anyone needing a little extra help. Thanks again!
12. Great job! Very happy! Bravo!
13. WONDERFUL critique. Extremely insightful and helpful. Thank you.
14. Very helpful, thanks Lindsay!
15. Thank for the advice - recommended gig.
16. Great Job. Would definitely recommend!
17. As usual, the advice was extremely valuable. It made me consider what I was including in my letter and why.
18. Advice was very helpful - thanks!
19. Great comments and suggestions for improvement! I will definitely buy from you again.
20. brilliant feedback, would absolutely work with her again!
21. I'm very happy with the critique and I definitely recommend this.
22. Such helpful feedback! Will definitely use MEboston again as I re-tweak my query letter. Thank you!!
23. amazing!
24. Thank you for the helpful insight.
25. Thank you so much for your notes! I got some great feedback from you!
26. Hands down, this is the best $5 I have ever spent! Super helpful!
27. Thank you so much for the critique. I am elated that this new query works!
28. Lindsay was wonderful, helpful and honest. It's what I needed!
29. The work was professional, timely and most of all helpful! Thank you so much, will definetally recommend and use again.
30. Editor provided a meaningful critique that I can use to rework my query.
31. Fast response, outstanding service! Exceeded my expectations.

Why Do You Need to Hire an Editor?

Straight from the (wonderful) BookEnds's Agent's mouth:

Your Book Needs Editing

I will reject any query that tells me your book needs editing and I suspect most agents will agree that this is a red flag. But why? Don't all books need editing? Why is this a red flag?

For me this shows that you're not ready to query and that your book isn't complete; that you're not sending me a query because you feel your book is ready for editors and readers to see, but because you've done all you can, hit a wall, and want someone else to help you fix the problems. That's not an agent's job; in fact, it's not an editor's job.

Sure, every book needs editing and an author needs to be willing to edit, but an agent's job or editor's job is to help you reach deeper than you've ever reached before to find ways to take what's already a great book and make it phenomenal. When submitting to an agent you need to look at it, sit back in your chair, and say, "Yes, edits are done. It's ready." Not, "Well, it still needs work, but I'll query anyway."


Jessica

http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2011/07/your-book-needs-editing.html