Hello Reader!
Another month flies by and I'm wondering what I've been doing with my time. Fortunately I've been able to get back to wrestling with my own book, and am finally having some measure of success after stalling out for so long. At least, I'm writing again- we'll see whether the words are a success or not after I've worked on them for a little longer!
Hopefully you noticed last month I tried something new: an interview with a newly published author. The timing and when I'd promised people things would be out meant that there was an editor interview and an author interview in the newsletter instead of an interview and a writing/editing article for you. That's the case again this month. My plan is to go back to an interview and an article afterwards, but is that what interests you? You'll find a poll in this newsletter asking what you like and I'd love it if you'd tell me your thoughts. After all, the idea here is to provide content you actually care about reading! If you have other suggestions, feel free to email me with them or message me on social media!
Editing Insights Club
Welcome to the Editing Insights Club! Here I'll introduce you to editors and other professionals from all over the publishing world. You'll see we're all here as part of the community that supports writers in their journey to success.
Meet: Heather Hudec
Line/Copy editor & Proofreader
βsimplyspellboundedits.comβ
What type of content do you edit or proofread?
I edit and proofread all kinds of fiction. I specialize in fantasy, but I have experience with Sci-Fi, suspense, most subgenres of romance, and dystopian.
What's your favorite thing about your work?
Oh gosh ... Everything. I love working with indie authors helping them bring their work to a polished level, I love holding the finished product (I always buy a copy of my client's book), seeing my name in the acknowledgements, getting to read the story before most people... It's a pretty great career and I could go on and on about it!
What is one tip you like to share with writers searching for (or working with) an editor?
I would say make sure you get a sample edit and during the sample, make sure you vibe with the editor! You will be working closely with this person, and you want to make sure that 1-they know what they're doing and 2-you enjoy working with them. Editing is a very collaborative process, so you don't want to be working with someone you don't get along with.
What are some of your favorite things outside of work?
Well, reading, obviously. I also really love baking, hiking, kayaking, and all things DIY. My current favorite craft is making stained glass.
What's a book you're reading for fun right now?
I'm currently reading Hexes Go Well With Tequila by LeAnn Ehrsam!
You can also find Heather on her LinkedIn page!
Question Time!
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MEET THE AUTHOR
I want to help authors celebrate their accomplishments! Do you have a book getting published soon? Email me: I'd love to interview you about your experiences to share with fellow writers!
Kiwi Judy L Mohr is a writer, developmental editor, writing coach, amateur photographer, & a science nerd with a keen interest in internet technologies and social media security. On August 1 her latest book, Dancing in the Purple Rain was released. For our complete interview, including more of Judy's tips for writing and indie-publishing go to: https://bit.ly/3HWWHsmβ
Judy Mohr & Dancing In The Purple Rain
Do you carefully plot out every scene or see where the characters take you? What's your writing process?
I'm a planter, with pantser tendencies. This means that I'll start with a vague idea, but I write whatever comes to mind. This allows me to explore random ideas, things that I never would have considered otherwise. However, eventually, enough of the material is present where I need to start "shaping" it into something tht makes sense.
For my fiction, this process normally results in what I call a "barf" draft, where all ideas found the page in one big, jumbled mess. I often need to spend a significant amount of time teasing out the plot, deliberately taking the time to write that full plot synopsis. That's when the real work begins, writing the full scenes and putting flesh on the bones.
Can you talk a little about your editing experience for new writers?
I'm blessed to have worked as a professional developmental editor since 2015. This has given me the tools I need to tear apart my own writing and make it bleed. But my editorial skills are part instinct and part learned skills... and they're skills anyone can learn if they're willing to put in the time and energy needed to learn them.
For a new writer, learning those editorial skills starts with the fearful step of sharing your writing with others. And you can't take to heart anything that anyone says. Learning how to step back and see the comments and feedback for what they really are is a skill that ALL writers seeking publication need to learn. Then it becomes a matter of finding the right set of eyes to read your work to provide you with the feedback you need. And once you have the feedback, it's up to the writer to decide what to do with it. Sometimes, the decision is to "ignore".
Are you a self/hybrid or traditional published author? Why did you decide this was the path for you?
I've elected to be primarily indie-published these days, using my own publishing imprint.
It wasn't an easy decision, and one that took me years to decide upon, but the publishing landscape has changed so much in just the last five years alone. I don't think anyone would disagree with me when I say that Covid changed so many things. But the publishing industry was flipped upside down because of the pandemic. Acquisition trends changed overnight. Bookstores changed how they were purchasing books (assuming they survived the pandemic). And digital format significantly increased in popularity (particularly audiobooks). Add the mess that came in because of the introduction of AI-generative technologies, and the publishing landscape today no longer resembles what it was in 2019. Meanwhile, authors are now required to do the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing, particularly in the online world.
But to be honest, the nail in the coffin for the traditional path for me was to see the clauses that are being added to the contracts of some of my writing buddies. It's in their contracts that the publisher reserves the right to use AI to produce translations and audobooks. Granted, their books would never have been in audio or in other languages otherwise, but I can't trust AI to get English right. How can I trust it to get another language right when I don't speak that language to check on the mess? It was at that point that I just gave up on the traditional path.
I only have so much energy to go around. And I have a certain standard that I hold myself accountable to. I can't be wasting my energy trying to fix other people's messy adventures with AI. I have enough on my plate fixing human-generated messes (including the messes I generate for myself- and I've made quite a few over the past few years).
Can you describe your publishing experience for writers who hope to publish one day?
Everyone's publishing experience is going to be different, because everyone will be bringing to the table a different set of skills that can be leveraged as part of the process. And that's the biggest lesson that I've learned through this journey. I have strengths and weaknesses, and I need to be prepared to hire someone to help fill in the gaps of my weaknesses.
I use the term of indie-publishing, because that is the better way to think of self-publishing. Like independent films, you're not doing this alone. You have a team of people working together, each person leaning into their strengths.
For those writers who elect to head down this path themselves, think of yourself as either an authorpreneur or the executive producer of the project known as "Your Book". You're bank-rolling the venture, but you're not necessarily doing all the work yourself. And that idea makes a huge difference.
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You can find out more about Judy and order her book on her website: https://judylmohr.com/β
Reading Shelf
If you're looking for a new book and a new look at Jane Austen, check out Devoney Looser's Wild For Austen: A Rebellious, Subversive, & Untamed Jane. Austen scholar Devoney Looser smashes (hopefully forever) the image of a mild Jane Austen who did nothing and knew no one of interest. She explores what "wild" meant in Austen's time and how her characters challenged the norms of their times and what being "wild" says about them. She asks how we can approach Austen 250 years after her birth, what new ways we can understand her life, her writing, her characters, and their world.
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J.D. Robb's 61st book in her In Death series is out September 2nd and Framed in Death is another great addition to the series. This time Dallas and Peabody must track down a rejected artist resorting to murder in order to put life into his copies of old masters. Will they find him before he can complete his imagined series? There's a clever trick this time after the original arrest that keeps the race going until the very end. I quite enjoyed this one and if you're a mystery fan I think you will too!
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