It’s a mark of how little things change that I can go back to a list of links I set aside to write about here, find two that are nearly three years old—and they are still timely.
Why? Because folks are still confused or mistaken about how to get where they want to go in the publishing arena.
In the first article (from publishing journalist Porter Anderson’s “Is Self-Publishing a Flying Leap?”) we read:
Some self-publishing super-stars tout the benefits of being independent and show sales numbers from their latest book as results of success. They often fail to show the years of work it took them to build the writing skills, build the audience, and put together the team necessary to publish a successful book. Yes, even self-publishing folks need a team. You need an editor, a cover designer, a web-designer (to make your blog and/or style your author pages on Amazon/Goodreads, etc).
An editor, of course, is first on the list. And I’ll tell ya, friends, I work with some really smart, talented writers—and they still need me. What I—and people like me—bring to the project is better than a beta reader, for real. Some authors who’ve stepped out as self-published have learned this the right way, and some have learned the hard way.
This is illustrated very clearly in literary agent Rachelle Gardner’s “Trust Me, You Need a Good Editor,” in which a self-pubbed memoir is described—sorrowfully—as “a self-focused, rambling hodgepodge of preaching interspersed with bragging.” Gardner notes that an editor could have improved the book in several ways, including:
- A good editor would have coached the author to find his main theme.
- An editor would have conveyed that teaching and preaching don’t belong in a memoir.
- An editor would have eliminated bragging.
All of this, of course, would have protected the author’s reputation—in addition to the issues Gardner points out.
Read these two articles. They’re still relevant. Editors will never go out of style.
Tweet: I work with some really smart, talented writers—and they still need me.
Tweet: What editors bring to the project is better than a beta reader, for real.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”