by Caroline Hiley, editor There is no rigid rule about how long a novel must be to get published. Indeed, length trends come and go in the industry like hemlines do in fashion. Currently shorter is better, with a commonly accepted range of 40,000 to 120,000 words for commercial fiction. Novels of 40,000 to 50,000 …
by Caroline Hiley I edit a lot of novels in the adventure-based genres, and keep seeing characters who get shot, stabbed, or beaten up and don’t bleed, die, or need hospitalization. If you’re an author who has worked hard to make your characters realistic and believable, be careful with fight scenes. Too often credulity is …
by Caroline Hiley, Professional Book Editor, Copy Editor, Proofreader The simplest path to a satisfying editing job is for the author and editor to TALK TO EACH OTHER. That may seem obvious, but I’m constantly amazed by how often the two parties fail to communicate, and end up unhappy with the process and/or the result. “Writer” …
by Caroline Hiley … spoil the broth, as the saying goes. This is as true for novel writing as it is for cooking. In other words, getting too much feedback on your novel-in-process can scramble both the book and your head. On one hand, every writer needs to show their work to someone and get …
by Caroline Hiley, editor Part of finding the right editor for your work is sharing the same vocabulary. The publishing industry has not standardized its terms for the various types of editing; so it’s up to the indie author and the indie editor to make sure they understand each other when the time comes to …
by Caroline Hiley Book Editing Associates Writing a novel takes a long time, so anything that can speed things up without sacrificing creativity seems like a good idea. Building an outline before you start is the obvious solution. But many writers balk at that idea, because their imagination flows best when unhindered by structure. They …