Yes, I am mentioning Christmas in August. But seeing as Christmas is a popular deadline for launching books (who doesn’t love getting a book for Christmas?), let’s see what’s involved to get your book published for Christmas. I imagine you’re thinking that August to Christmas gives you LOADS of time for publishing, but if Christmas is a deadline you’re working towards, there are several factors to consider. While I am referring to self-publishing your book in time for Christm

When you’re writing a book, at some point you will need to review its structure. This approach varies from writers who do this at the very start of their book process and continue refining it as they write their book, to those who just start writing with a very loose agenda. A well-structured book is crucial to its readability: too much jumbling and flitting from one point to the next and your reader will have a hard time keeping up – at worst they will stop reading the boo

I’m going to start by saying working with an editor doesn’t mean you’re a terrible writer or you are failing with your book. All the best authors out there work with an editor (just take a look at the acknowledgements: the editor(s) is often one of the first people an author thanks!). Taking that first step to work with an editor is a huge one, so well done if you’re thinking about working with an editor to shape and hone your book. Having your book professionally edited wi

Copyediting is your book’s final edit. It’s the line-by-line edit that amends any grammatical or spelling errors, and makes revisions to improve flow and readability. This means once you receive your book back from the copyeditor, you are expected to focus on which revisions you agree with, rewriting or deleting huge chunks of your book. Once your book has been copyedited, the next stages in the publishing process are typesetting (formatting your manuscript into a book) and

Self-publishing is a tricky balance between rushing and procrastinating. It’s all about setting realistic deadlines and understanding how long each part of the publishing process takes, such as how long editing a book takes. Once you’ve found a book editor you want to work with, you need to work out when your manuscript will be ready for editing. Submit it too soon, and you’ll end up paying for extra services like more time needed on the first round or paying for additional

Does your writing bank comprise various blog posts, journal entries, letters, sheaves of thoughts and notes? And are you now struggling to come with some sort of structure or arc to turn these into a book? One option is to STOP forcing this content into some sort of structure and instead let its power come from the composition, message, and intention of each entry. There are two further options within this approach: 1) turn them into a book of essays or letters 2) create a hy

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been sharing my thoughts and advice on how to switch your mindset towards your first draft, so that you can expect less and achieve more. Here, I collate my various analogies and reminders so you have somewhere you can turn to the next time you think ‘This book is rubbish!’. Read on to find out why your book is like a pancake; the difference between a first and final draft; what the first draft is for; why I don’t want to read your first draft,

When most people say something needs proofreading, they often mean editing. Proofreading is a very specific part of the publishing process: the final quality check. Editing, on the other hand, is the time for your writing to be improved, to raise queries and hone your particular style. In a recent poll on both LinkedIn and Instagram, I asked my followers to vote on this question: When you’re writing (or have written) your book and you know you need a professional to go th

The world of publishing can be completely overwhelming when you first enter it: from all the unique terms (‘what is copyediting?') to the different job titles used in the editorial business, it’s no wonder most first-time authors just don’t know where to start, or how long it takes to edit and self-publish a book. Knowing what’s involved in each stage of the editing process and how long each one takes means you can plan for them and allow enough time for each part of the edit

… and why you should write a non-fiction book! Up until early adulthood, I associated non-fiction with fact and textbooks, reserved solely for STEM subjects: reading for pleasure always took the form of fiction. During these teen and early adult years, when I first imagined myself becoming a book editor, I assumed I’d edit adult or children’s fiction. I first enjoyed reading non-fiction in my final year as an undergraduate student and then during my postgraduate master’s degr

1. You don’t have to stick to one genre One of the most common reasons authors decide to self-publish is because they’ve been told (or they assume) the concept for the book crosses over multiple genres[AS1] . If you’re known for a certain niche (due to your business or personal history), you don’t have to worry about fitting your niche into pre-determined genres or book types set out by a publisher. With self-publishing, you can bend the rules of what’s expected from certain

Spellcheck, Grammarly, and other editing programs can be incredibly useful. Professional copyeditors and proofreaders use at least one proofreading program when working with written content (often two or more). Certainly, it’s best to run your written content through one or more of these programs before you press ‘publish’, as they will catch errors that would otherwise have been missed. However, editors and proofreaders don’t rely on JUST those programs. We allow for the won

The most common concern I hear from authors during our discovery call is the worry that an editor will change their book beyond recognition. I’ve spoken to authors who have received sample edits from other editors and been disheartened by the number of changes to their writing, causing them either not to proceed with that editor or not to publish their book at all. First, it’s really important to understand that there will be numerous amends to your manuscript. Many of these

When I finished my first two proofreading qualifications with the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) I thought I had a pretty good grounding in how to discuss a potential author’s book so that we’d both know what the project would involve. But when I started creating my template of questions and wanted to check if I’d missed anything, the only posts that came back when I searched ‘questions an editor should ask an author’ were ‘questions an author should a

How a book editor is like a personal trainer for books One of my specialist subjects in my book editing business is ‘active women and intuitive movement’ (and especially the benefits exercise has for our mental health, rather than exercising for aesthetic reasons). I identify as an active woman: I go running three times a week, plus a weekly Pilates class, and a weekly circuits class. I’m even a member of a Facebook group called ‘CIEP Run On Group’ which is a group for the Ch

Why I’ve decided to call myself a book editor (when I’m technically a copyeditor) Do you know what copyediting is? My business card says ‘Siân Smith proofreader and copyeditor’ because I wanted to distinguish between developmental editing and copyediting. What I’ve learnt since launching my editorial business last year is that most people who don’t work in publishing don’t know what copyediting is. In fact, when I think about it, I don’t think I completely knew what the term

I have had a natural talent for proofreading for as long as I can remember. My first paid job was when I was a teenager and my mum asked me to proofread the end-of-year school reports. The original plan It was around this time that I decided I would go to the University of St Andrews to ‘read English’ (whatever that meant) and after completing my degree I'd either proceed to stage school or ‘get a job in publishing’. Teenage Siân dreams of working in publishing I did, indeed