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Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Denise Barker, Freelance Copy Editor, Calling All Self-Published Indie Authors

UPDATED JUNE 2018.

I'm a copy editor, which means I'm the spelling and grammar police, using Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (Web11) and The Chicago Manual of Style, Seventeenth Edition (17CMS) as my guidelines for US publications for fiction and nonfiction.

But I am so much more. I've expanded my list of writing criteria to become the Nine Cs of Effective Writing, listed below:

  1. Continuity
  2. Clarity
  3. Conciseness
  4. Communication
  5. Consistency
  6. Coherence
  7. Correctness
  8. Chronology
  9. Credibility

I'll address each in my next post, as I'm looking at those nine elements in every manuscript I copyedit. But here, let me get into the details of why I am so good at what I do.

First, I am an Indie author too, so I know this biz basically from soups to nuts.

Second, I worked for patent and trademark attorneys in my first career, which knowledge is as helpful here in my second career as are my skills.

Third, I believe in teaching authors to become better authors. So my work serves as my platform to educate, to share. This makes for a more professional presentation of each book, even at the copy edit level and most assuredly after I've worked my magic and the book becomes ready to upload.

Remember, even when submitting in the trad-pub world, manuscripts are returned in the blink of an eye based on any one of these snafus: poor knowledge of punctuation and grammar, messy presentation, incoherent writing, etc. Don't think that Indie authors aren't held to the same high writing standards that trad-pubbed authors are. In a way we are held to higher standards, thinking we have to prove ourselves. It follows that a pristine draft with a coherent communication style was most likely done by an articulate author. Make sure you are making the proper presentation to represent you too.

Fourth, as authors, we all have our blind spots. When I copyedit a manuscript, most authors are surprised to find that their 50K WC baby needed 5K edits. And that's in what I consider a "clean" and well-written document. My authors tell me that they didn't know they were even doing "that" in their writing.

Fifth, I'm like the cleanup batter on a baseball diamond. I catch the errors (including plot holes) missed earlier, by the author himself/herself, by the beta readers, by the developmental editor.

Sixth, I look at every jot and tittle that makes up your MS (that means, all spaces, periods or semicolons or colons or commas or other punctuation marks), as well as watching on the individual word level, and graduating up to full sentences, paragraphs, scenes, chapters, and the overall book itself. It's daunting. I'm not daydreaming while I do this. I don't have any background noise to disrupt me from my process, not even music playing.

Seventh, I have a real heart to make each Indie-pubbed book the best it can be. After all, each of you Indie authors represents me on my Indie trek as well.

Eighth, I have worked in both traditional publishing and Indie publishing, freelancing 5.5 years for Harlequin, then spending 2.5 years freelancing for an Indie-author clearinghouse. Ever since I've been independently working directly with authors. So I've seen the inside of both arenas. And the same thing rings true in both worlds: be a great writer to become a great author and write from your heart.

But remember to have fun while you are doing that too.

Two important things to share here: (1) I do two complete read-throughs for each manuscript to catch as many errors as humanly possible. (2) I reserve the right to refuse any project (and will return any money prepaid) if the dialogue punctuation is so massively wrong that it would entail a third read-through by me to fix it. I worked a project like this once, and just to fix the mangled dialogue punctuation alone took fifteen hours. I'm not doing that again. Not even if paid $1 million. Whether in cash or gold or bearer bonds. Ha!

My new, improved June 2018 copyediting rate is $0.012/word. So a 50K WC manuscript (MS) would run $600, prepaid via PayPal before any work commences on my part. I work within Microsoft Word, using Track Changes. I'm not able to work on Mac docs. I'll share my special business PayPal address once we agree upon terms and your project is accepted. I can do a free 250 WC sample edit for you, if you like, as my schedule allows.

At that time I can give you my estimated deadline for the return of my Track Changes document. I build in a few days' leeway for unexpected interruptions (like the Internet being out, getting sick, etc.). But I always prefer to turn in my work early, with only about four documents in the last eight years being turned in on the actual due date. And I do two complete read-throughs. That's just how I roll.

Also, if you wish for me to work on one book from an already on-going series (where I did not work on all previous books published in said series), please provide me with a series bible for same.

I am efficient and reliable. I've never missed an MS deadline since I've been a copy editor beginning in 2007/2008. Whether you use me or another copy editor, I wish you all the best.

NOTE: I reserve the right to reject any submission, due to the nature of the topic being written about, my work schedule, etc.

NOTE: I also reserve the right to charge more (yes, more than $0.012/word) for a particular project where I'd be wearing at least three hats to work that document, where I'd serve as the developmental editor, a copy editor, and as an English schoolteacher, implementing basic writing rules. Or I may not accept such MS at all.

#copyeditor+

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)


What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. Ralph Waldo Emerson
When you give someone a book, you don’t give him just paper, ink, and glue.  You give him the possibility of a whole new life. Christopher Morley
The best inheritance you can leave your kids is an example of how to live a full and meaningful life. Dan Zadra

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