WANTED : Self-motivated person willing to work long hours alone. Required skills include experience in relevant research, good vocabulary, above average knowledge of proper grammar, powerful ability to express ideas and convince others, and willingness to rework projects as many times as needed. Pays at end of project based on marketing ability of worker, but may not be commensurate with hours expended. Dream also required. Send résumé. Only team players need apply. Would you apply for this job? If you’re a serious writer intent on publication, you already have. Now you just need to get your résumé in order, attach the necessary document, and send it to the right people to put the realization of your dream in motion. How do team players fit in here? Let’s check out that résumé. Self-motivated : All freelance writers must set aside time to write and follow up with appropriate action. Enter family, friends, and critique group, all of whom make up the cheering section . Willing ...

The Blood-Red Pencil specializes in advice from editors. Today, we’re doing something a bit different. We’re having an author and editor discussion. All of you can join in by adding your comments or asking questions at the end. Our author today is best-selling author, Sylvia Dickey Smith . She writes the Sidra Smart mystery series. Her series is set in Southeast Texas in the area where Sylvia herself grew up. That area of Texas is unique in its mix of people, from Cajuns to Dutch descendants to the Scots-Irish. As you might guess, her books are filled with lively characters and the area itself becomes something of a character. She has three books out starring Sidra Smart. The first was called Dance on His Grave . The second is Deadly Sins Deadly Secrets . And her most current book is Dead Wreckoning . Sylvia says the focus of her writing is on “the strengths and weaknesses of middle-aged and older women finding their way and developing a strong identity of their own.” Our editor is ...

As promised, here is the second installment of line editing. As you go through your manuscript to make the prose sparkle, here are some more things to look for: Vague words – something, anything, unspecific nouns. EXAMPLE: A noise from the direction of the basement scared her. BETTER: Hearing the faint scraping of metal against concrete, Becky backed away from the basement door. Weak verbs – was, is, are, to be, ‘ing’ words, starts to, begins to, etc. WEAK: Sam is not a very open person. STRONG: Sam protects his feelings like an emotional miser. Any phrase or word that is not needed. EXAMPLE: laughed (to herself), shrugged (his shoulders), nodded (his head) Be especially conscious of reflexive pronouns: herself, himself, themselves. They are often not needed and a sign of weak writing. Something that is commonly used is having a character "find" himself or herself. Perhaps that is not grammatically incorrect, but I'm not sure it reflects the best we can do with the craft ...

Our most popular and most commented on post. Not much has changed, including debate over fair and affordable editing costs. It's all well and good to tell a writer they need a professional editor to peruse their manuscript before submitting to an agent or publisher. But, how much does that cost? An informal industry perusal yields quite a range of costs. Let's take a look at some prices as well as methods of pricing. It depends in part on what you're buying. A line editor might charge $25 per hour and edit on average 10 pages an hour. Some editors simply charge $2.50 per page, which makes the math rather easy. A 300-page novel would cost you $750 for editing services. But, what does that get you? Just a cleaning up of grammar, spelling, and typos as a rule. Some good editors will take a little longer and make deeper suggestions to improve the writing. But don't expect too much more than the basics for that price. It's still money well-spent, and it can mean ...