What to expect if I edit your book
- Please provide the book in Word. All changes will be tracked using track changes in Word.
- I will return a version with an amended title, to distinguish it from the version you give me.
- On my first pass, using track changes I will fix obvious typos and leave lots of comments about what works, what’s confusing, what could be edited if you want, what directions you might want me to explore, etc.
- After accepting or rejecting any changes I made, adding your own changes, and leaving answers to comments, you will send the book back to me.
- On my second pass, still using track changes, I’ll make edits to fit our comment conversation. At this point I will probably email you with further questions and examples, so I can fine-tune my editing to your writing voice. The file I return to you will probably represent my third or fourth pass.
- I would expect the whole process to take perhaps another couple of quick-fix passes after this, so 6-8 passes in all.
What to expect if I format your print book
- Please provide all documents in Word; please send pictures in separate files, and include instructions on where to place them.
- Please give me the answers to the following questions, if possible. Otherwise we can discuss them later with sample pages, but this will take longer.
- Do you want a contents list?
- Do you want page numbers – top, bottom, center, side?
- Do you want chapters/stories/poems to start on new pages?
- Do you want them to start on right-hand pages?
- Do you want headers to list the book title, section name, chapter/story title, author name…?
- Do you have a preferred font?
- Do you have a preferred font size ?
- Do you have images?
- Do you want me to convert your images to black and white for printing?
- On my first pass, I will combine the files, set up sections and preliminary page headers, insert any images (still in color), and rationalize the text fonts and styles.
- If you have double spaces after periods, spaces or tabs to delineate paragraphs, or blank lines after paragraphs, the process will take longer.
- If you have documents written in multiple different formats the process will take longer.
- Also, if you have complicated requirements for your images, the process will take longer.
- I will send a pdf version of the new file for you to inspect.
- We can make decisions about fonts and sizes at this point – I can send more pages in different styles if you wish.
- We can change the locations of pictures as needed.
- We can discuss headers and footers, contents lists, etc. and anything else you feel needs to be addressed.
- On my second pass, I will make appropriate changes and produce a preliminary version of the final document. This may take more than one pass.
- If you have pictures and need them converted to black and white, I will do that at this stage.
- Once the preliminary document is approved, I will work on removing and rationalizing widows and orphans, cleaning up page appearances, etc.
- Once the final document is approved, you will have a pdf file ready to upload to Createspace.
What to expect if I format your e-book
- Please provide the document in Word.
- Please let me know if you want a kindle or smashwords version.
- Please indicate preferred locations for pictures.
- Pictures will be inserted centered, with text above and below. I don’t have the software for anything more sophisticated in e-book formatting.
- Sections/chapters/poems/etc will start on new pages on kindle, but will be separated by blank lines on Smashwords. (I’ve not done a nook or ipad version yet, but I’m happy to learn.)
- I will test uploading on kindle and view the result on various kindle devices.
What to expect if you ask me to beta-read
- Please provide the document in Word.
- I will read and leave comments to point out distracting typos or word choices, places where I was confused, or places I particularly enjoyed.
- If you want to run any quick changes by me, that’s fine, but I will normally only read the whole book once if I’m beta-reading.
Advertisements
