Lisa J. Jackson's Love of Words

I invite you all to come meet Lisa J. Jackson. She's one of the editors at Story Circle Network's Editorial Services. And today, she's posting over on The Blood-Red Pencil.

She's talking about spelling and how she fell in love with words.

I love how she started her post:

I loved it when I started learning how to spell as a kid. Spelling expanded a world I only knew visually and verbally into layers. Each new word was a precious stone added to my life’s treasure chest.

 Come over and read her delightful post and then tell her which words you fell in love with. Or maybe you have a favorite word you'd like post in the comments section.

Editorial Services

Probably most of you know I’m a freelance editor. What you may not know is that I’ve put that on hold. Back in mid-January, I took over as the Coordinator for Story Circle Network’s Editorial Services. So, I’m no longer taking on new clients, but am continuing to work with writers for whom I’ve edited before.

Unless you write memoir or life stories and are a woman, you may not have heard of Story Circle Network. If you do write memoir or have ever thought of writing about your life or family, then you probably know about Story Circle Network. If not, let me introduce you:

The Story Circle Network is a national not-for-profit membership organization made up of women who want to document their lives and explore their personal stories through journaling, memoir, autobiography, personal essays, poetry, drama, and mixed-media.

SCN’s headquarters are in Austin, Texas, but they also have an Internet chapter, Story Circles in local communities, online classes, book review website, e-letters and a mentorship program. Plus they have a national conference every other year. This year’s is coming up in April. And they have an editorial service which offers different levels of editing from proof reading all the way to ghostwriting – and 17 editors to choose from. No matter what genre you write, memoir, thrillers, sci-fi, mystery, romance, you can find an editor who edits that. And the service is open to men as well as women.

Before this devolves into a sales pitch, what I wanted to do was let you know what’s going on in my life and to tell anyone who is coming to the April 13-15 Story Circle Network Conference, look for me. I’ll be doing one-on-one coaching Friday morning. After that, I’ll be wherever they put me. I volunteered to work the conference.

Your Editor is Your Partner

An editor is someone who makes your work more readable, more salable – better. An editor doesn’t change the voice or direction or meaning of your words.

Your editor is your partner. Everyone needs an editor. Doesn’t matter whether you’re going the self-publishing route or signing with a regional or small publisher. At some point, an editor will need to look at your manuscript. Even if you sign with an agent who liked it enough to add you to her stable, she will probably suggested changes or edits. Then when one of the major publishers takes you on, they will have an editor go through it. Getting to that point, though, is a long road. Hiring your own editor BEFORE you send it to an agent or publisher will up your chances of getting your book in the queue with both.

If you’re self-publishing, either in print or e-form or both, you’ll need that independent editor even more because that will be your one chance to get it right. People may be reading more and more e-books, but they haven’t changed their standards. They still want a well-written book and while they may skip over two or three mistakes, they won’t buy your next book if your first has too many mistakes.

Yes, editors cost money, but they pay off, too. In the short term, you have a much better book that reads smoothly. In the long term, you learn from seeing what the editor did to improve your manuscript. I’ve known authors who have said that hiring an editor was like taking a one-on-one class in writing.

What are your experiences working with an editor?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Disclaimer: I don’t often post about editing. Mostly because, as a lot of you know, I’m a freelance editor and I didn’t want my blog posts to sound like I’m trolling for clients. Now, however, I feel I can write a post about editing every now and then since I’m no longer taking on new editing clients. Since taking over as the Coordinator for Story Circle Network’s Editorial Services, I’m only working with existing and returning clients.