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5 Things Every Author Should Know About Working with Editors: a guest post by Rose Atkinson-Carter Congratulations, you’ve just finished your first draft! Or second… Third… Tenth?  Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash.  Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash. Writing a book is an exhilarating experience. Taking an idea from conception through to publication is as rewarding as it is challenging. Understandably it’s a very personal experience. After all, you’ve spent countless hours bringing your book’s world to life. Which is why you should find an editor who will not only do justice to your story but will also help you improve as an author, too. They may wield a red pen to kill your darlings, but it’s only to make your diamond truly shine. So, in this post, I’ll be sharing five tips to find the right editor for your project, and to establish a successful collaboration. 1. Find an editor with experience in your genre.  Image by Freepik. This cannot be stated enough. Unless you’ve decided to write in a market you don’t know, to an audience you can’t picture with stories you wouldn’t normally tell, chances are you wouldn’t want an editor doing the same thing, too. Most authors pen a novel that bursts forth from them because of what they read—as well as what they wished they could read. So while you’ll have research to do in understanding the wider market, picking an editor who understands market expectations and knows what your readers love will be better suited for your partnership. 2. Define the type of editing you need. Not all editors are created equal. And not all editors service the same needs each author may need. Understanding the different types of editing may be a good place to begin when researching which stage your manuscript is at and which editing service you require.  Image by Anne Karakash from Pixabay. Depending on skill and experience, your book could require multiple stages of editing. One editor may be able to perform each stage for you, but specialists exist in each niche for a reason. What are they and where should you begin?
3. Book your editor in advance. The best work truly shines with correct editing and redrafting. Therefore, it’s not a process you want to rush. Many editors can edit your manuscript quickly for a fee. But the trade off can be quality.  Photo by JESHOOTS.com on Unsplash. The editing stages of a novel can be daunting for the author, but just as much pressure exists for the editor, too. They want to give you the best work they can, and they want to help make your book the best it can be. So allowing enough time for each stage to happen should be paramount in your decision process. Taking in comments, redrafting new ideas, re-editing the new changes — each stage requires focus and thinking. And time. Regardless of if you’re getting your book ready for self-publishing or submitting to an agent, giving yourself enough time will help keep your fears in check. 4. Ask for a sample edit. If all the boxes have been checked and you know what service you need, you’ve found an editor in your genre you like, then the next stage is asking for a sample edit. Many editors offer this service for free. They may ask for the first page or first thousand words, either way they’ll give you an idea of how they see your idea and how to help. If your book sings in the way you hear it, chances are they will too. Which means they’ll help it sing louder with their editing.  Image by PV Productions on Freepik. At this stage, costs can be discussed. You’ll receive a quote on the entire manuscript. But many editors will also have an approximate cost depending on word count. 5. Trust their expertise. At the end of the day, a good editor will explain their decisions and suggestions, and ultimately help you grow. They want it to read as professionally as you do, so this means some great writing will be lost in the process. It’s not personal. While this sounds scary, a book is a path of decisions—deciding which routes to go down and which to not. Would you trade cutting your favorite line to expand upon a paragraph which deserves more attention? I know I would. Editors are objective eyes that want you to write to the best of your abilities. A certain level of trust is required in this partnership—they understand it’s your book baby. But while they may offer suggestions, their word is not law. The best editors are teachers at heart. If your book isn’t up to snuff, they’ll give you directions on how to fix it. If your story is vague in some regards, they’ll help mold your idea and foster your talent to reach it.  Image by Alex Halay on Freepik. Think of an editor like a Sat Nav. Both of you know the destination, and the right editor wants to help you get there in not only the quickest time, but to enjoy the journey as well! Guest Blogger Bio  Rose Atkinson-Carter is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace and blog that helps authors with everything from how to make an audiobook, find the best writing software, to hiring a ghostwriter and everything in between. Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age post here. 
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What and Why Do I Write: a guest post by Branka Čubrilo On June 17, 2023, in a spacious and architecturally appealing rooftop ambience of Mosman’s Fernery function room (Sydney, Australia), I had for the third time (over a period of 23 years) a book launch for my novel, Requiem for Barbara, published in May 2023 by my American publisher, Speaking Volumes. The event was well attended by about 60-70 people, just the right number to completely fill the space. The special honor this time was to be introduced to the crowd full of anticipation by my one and only daughter Althea. It was a three-hour event, and in her speech, Althea explained her experiences of living and understanding a mother who is an author. She detailed the differences of comprehension from a child, to her adolescence and finally adulthood. For me, I believe for all present alike, it was a revealing, touching, and humorous account. After her speech, she read the poem “Barbara” by Jacques Prévert, accompanied by classical guitar, “Preludio de Adios” by Alfonso Montes. This piece of music was chosen by the performing guitarist Su Keong, because he said, “It is a sad and nostalgic composition by Montes written at the time he defected from Venezuela to Germany”. The guitarist, Su Keong, found it “to be the appropriate piece for the ‘Requiem’ title theme of the book”. For the occasion, I wrote a speech, my address to the audience to make them understand what I write, why I write, and what writing means to me or to a writer in general. I’d like to share this speech with a wider audience because I received many congratulations for it, learning from the audience that this speech might interest and enlighten many... Very often, in interviews or privately, I get asked - what do I write about? Or what is my genre? I don’t have a genre. I write about life. How do you deal with what you’ve been dealt by life? Especially, if you have been dealt a mess. Mess varies from person to person, from culture to culture, from family to family. So, the question is - what do we do about it, if the only freedom we have is what we do with the life and the mess we were born into?  Photo by Timon Studler on Unsplash. I develop well-structured, many-layered characters who grapple with the big and small questions of life. They are always in search of meaning, of reason, love, beauty, in search of home and ultimately of God. I write about love, but I don’t write love stories. I write about human suffering, about wars, migrations, broken homes, broken hearts, and broken countries. About broken souls and broken promises. I am concerned with the big questions of human existence - the meaning of suffering; about pride, overzealous and unnecessary national pride that often leads people astray; about freedom, the shadow self and all of the shades in between two extreme emotions. My characters are lost, often in moral dilemmas during various life crises, searching for truth. I was, and I am a person, a writer who has always been in search of that elusive bird, the Truth - it can show us how insufficient our knowledge is, be it academic knowledge, intuitive or spiritual. We are always floating on the surface of the truth, a partial truth learned in our family, educational institutions, or through mainstream media. Truth is elsewhere - that is the reason why we can’t grasp the meaning of complex but simple questions as well. My interests are psychology, though not popular psychology of the New Age, but rather my amazement with what lies deep down in the human psyche that governs our behavior, our choices, and ultimately our deeds that we are not proud of; then my interest lies in philosophy, not particularly of any philosophical school, but rather the personal philosophy of characters that they develop over the course of their lives; and my personal interest lies in exploring religion, Christianity, and often my characters grapple with never reaching the truth about the existence of a benevolent being that runs the universe or their small lives. I write how much we need love, yet how elusive this notion is, how it is hiding from us, how it is leading us through mud and thorns – per aspera ad astra - in the simple human need and wish for always more -- love. Love, such a desirable companion, shows its face and then it hides, dragging you through tremendous experiences and the sharpest pains to show you that it needs a life-long dedication to master the art of loving. How can we find and keep love when we are unable to participate honestly and without fear? How? If I talk about suffering, how many people would lift their hand up if I asked them - have they suffered in their lives any kind of heartache, hardship, loss, depression, et cetera?  Photo by Pure Julia on Unsplash.  Photo by Simran Sood on Unsplash. Unfortunately, life is about suffering, about search, about growth. Look, I don’t want to scare you, to put you off, believing that I am a depressing writer who like a vivisector with a sharp razor cuts through life’s miseries. I show life in all its glory: the bad and the beautiful. Therefore, I write about kindness, where it can take you if you are committed to doing noble deeds; I write about lost but found happiness, even when the tunnel looks like a never-ending black hole. I write about random, destiny orchestrated, encounters which change one’s life. I write about injustice and justice. I write about beauty, governed from my inner need for beautiful art, beautiful scenery, or the beauty of someone’s soul or character. I don’t paint black and white pictures, I always look for balance in my life and in my writing. I aim to be an objective observer.  Image by John Hain from Pixabay. I observe people, listen attentively to conversations. I soak the atmosphere of a place, of a mentality, observing everything around me, thirsty to know and to use all of my feelings to enrich my mind, hence, to enrich minds and souls of my characters when I sit at my laptop for a new story. I write about you. My readers find themselves in my characters, in certain situations. In difficult times, they get hope, they laugh and cry with my characters, and I write for me, too, in order to understand my inner world better. I write about human goodness, advancement, courage, hope and redemption. I impart hope and faith. I stir emotions, so you cry and you fear my characters, you pray and laugh with me.  Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash. I like my brutes, the horrible characters, the ones that you dislike (perhaps just because they have some hidden traits of your own character, so they irritate you). They commit unimaginable deeds, war crimes, their lessons bitter and hard, but eventually justice comes and you sigh the sigh of relief, promising yourself that you won’t ever again have a certain thought, deed or, shall I say, a misdeed. Usually, my leading female characters are physically beautiful women; I show the price of female beauty, the suffering of beauty, not the shallowness of it. My female characters are as well in constant search - with the need to better themselves, they study life through different lessons, through shallow clichés of the fashion world, through the New Age movement, through too many lovers, through art, or again, simply through personal suffering. Many of my female characters are sharp and self-sufficient women, while those that are not yet, are subconsciously yearning to be ‘elsewhere’ or someone better to achieve what they ultimately will become.  Photo by Richard Jaimes on Unsplash. In my short stories, I introduce humorous, spontaneous larrikins, naïve or care-free people who visit my vignettes just to make you laugh, or open your mouth wide with astonishment with how direct, rude, or quirky the human mind and behavior can be. Therefore, I cover a variety of characters, in different lands, of different nationalities, showing that nationality or culture doesn’t necessarily form the character, the good and the evil, kindness or rudeness, that all human characteristics and deeds belong to all of us, that our creator mixed and spread us equally on this earth in His need to encourage humans for the betterment of oneself and of society as such. And let me finish now with a few more words about the book we are launching, as it has a long life and history.  https://books2read.com/u/47dxqA I published Requiem for Barbara a long time ago. Precisely 23 years ago, in 2000 in my native country of Croatia. The book received good reviews and an interested readership; the Ministry of Education purchased it and placed the book in all libraries across the country. The more people that read it, the more often I was asked if there were hidden parts of my own life embedded within the story. People who know me well - my family and close friends - were all convinced that it was a loose memoir about my life. A life that I was in fact living on another continent and feeling all the struggles as a foreigner and young, unknown writer, building their life from scratch. It is an elegy, a sad story about a young female writer who struggles as a single mother in Sydney, without having any kind of help or any family. And after the heavy burden of trying and unfavorable circumstances, she breaks down and ultimately falls terminally ill. When I was writing the story, I was absolutely unaware that a similar destiny was going to befall me. Barbara was a neurotic, artistic woman who utterly adored her daughter; she led a very hermetic life where she never let other people participate. When people used to tell me that I was Barbara, that they could recognize me in her every word, or every deed or emotion, I would just shrug my shoulders, saying, “No, I am not Barbara, she is just a character who happens to be a sensitive writer locked in her own world.” I think a writer writes about experiences they have lived through and people they have encountered, as this is the ground where they feel the most familiar, hence the most competent. Even when the story is set elsewhere, or in a different historical period, the characters will still have traits of the writer or some of their experiences – real experiences or psychological structures in their mind. The majority of readers had believed that it was my own story, many even calling me Barbara, but with the passage of time the book slowly went into history, and I was called by the various names of my other female characters. In 2020, exactly 20 years after the first publication of Requiem for Barbara, I got asked to publish it again in a different language, in a different country, so, the book was published in Belgrade, Serbia. My friends and acquaintances who read Requiem for Barbara 20 years ago, re-read the book, and I received emails or messages from people asking the same question: “When are you going to translate this book into English?”  Photo by Caleb George on Unsplash. I was never sure if I wanted to translate it, as this story somehow always brought me a profound sadness, for it reflected a time of my life when I was living under lots of emotional stress and adversity. Besides, I had the feeling that I had finished all my dealings with this story and with Barbara herself. But she was a part of me, part of my psyche for many years, and I understood that she needed to live again through new readership. I understood that she was destined to be published and re-published over and over and get a new audience, as if she would gain a new life, a prolonged one, or that she yearned to live forever accessible to many people, in many languages. In this elegy of mine, each chapter starts with a stanza from the poem ‘Barbara’ by Jacques Prévert, setting the atmosphere where Barbara shows parts of her personality to the reader - being a writer herself, she is a poetic, other-worldly soul who struggles with everyday living in a common world, among the people who don’t have the time to listen to the song of her soul nor hear verses of her poetry. The rest you will find in the book that has been published for the third time, and hopefully many more times in many more languages. Guest Blogger Bio  Branka Čubrilo is an international author of eight novels and two short story collections. Branka has lived in Australia, Spain, and Croatia, and has also worked as a radio producer and presenter on SBS Australia, as well as working as an interpreter and translator of several languages. Branka's latest book, Requiem for Barbara, was published in May 2023. Branka's articles and essays and short stories have been published in many online and print magazines. Two years ago, Branka was named one of the top ten writers of literary fiction by her American colleagues in a literary magazine run by the author Caleb Pirtle. All of Branka Čubrilo's work is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, both in ebook and print editions. Branka's novels published in English include: The Mosaic of the Broken Soul, Flume - The Lost River, Dethroned, Three to Tango & Other Stories, and Requiem for Barbara. Links https://speakingvolumes.us/author/branka-cubrilo/ https://www.amazon.com/stores/Branka-Cubrilo/author/B0052Y00I6 https://medium.com/@brankacubrilo https://www.instagram.com/branka_cubrilo_author/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/@brankacubrilo4072 Check out our latest Writing in the Modern Age post here.  If you're anything like me, there's just not enough time in the day to get all your tasks done. And if you're a writer, imagine that ten-fold. Not only must you try to work around the house (cooking, cleaning, folding laundry), you have to take care of your family (or pets - gosh, they're a TON of work as well). Most of us have full-time or part-time jobs to contend with. Plus, we're expected to try to fulfill our dreams of being a writer, or at least keep the author engine going (cranking out books). But, how? It's all so exhausting! As someone with 130 story ideas in progress, I can fully relate to your situation. Too many book projects, and so little time. But sometimes, you just have to narrow them all down and focus on one story. Honestly, I promise that will help you figure all of this out, and still manage to get something accomplished with your writing career. First, let's completely eliminate the editing, publishing, and marketing aspects. That stuff comes later, after the work is done. For now, just focus on writing. "But, Marie, I just have too much going on. Too many ideas, no time." Makes sense. Me too. Believe me, I know. But the point is to make this situation a little more doable, right? So, what's next? How do we tackle all those story ideas or writing projects? 1. Randomly pick one. Even if you have to toss all the folders behind you (or move virtual files around) and work on what's left, just try.  Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash. 2. Focus on the story/project that calls to you the most. There will always be one that you feel really passionate about. Even if you're just going down the list of titles or file names, which one do you feel more drawn to? 3. Brainstorm genres or categories. Circle two. Choose one of those, and focus on a story which fits under it. If you don't have an idea for that genre yet, pick the latter. "I'm still overwhelmed. Where do I start?" 1. Break the project into smaller, manageable tasks. By doing this, it takes a lot of stress off your goals. Tell yourself you'll devote an hour per day to writing. Or even less, try five minutes, twenty or thirty minutes. Just give yourself enough time to complete a task. Even if it's just one tiny aspect of the project (such as two paragraphs), you'll feel a greater sense of accomplishment. Try to complete one scene at a time, depending on your schedule. We all have distractions at home or around us in public. But, if possible, try to keep on the same train of thought. Or at least jot down specific notes so you won't forget the details. It's a lot harder to return to an idea that you've abandoned in mid-scene if you don't have a general plan. Later on, you can worry about sectioning your manuscript out into chapters. 2. Plot it out. Make an outline for your story or writing project. Now, I'm not saying that you can't be a pantster type of writer, if you're comfortable with it. But having at least a loose outline will help keep you on point. It also gives you the room to keep an open mind in case the muse throws a curveball, and then you decide to go in a different direction entirely. Plans can always change. There is no right or wrong way to approach your story. 3. Research your project for inspiration. Sometimes when I get stuck, it's not because I don't know where the main story is going. The reason is due to lack of information about a person, place, or object. Have a better picture in your head before you try to describe it. Research the setting. Where does the character live? What are his/her main hangouts? Favorite places to visit? What do you know about your MC's (main character) profession? You should at least have a general impression of their day to day life, and how the elements of the story may throw a wrench in their plans. If you're writing fiction, you should also know your main character as well as you know yourself. Consider filling out a character worksheet. When the story is happening, you'll be able to ask yourself if that individual would really perform those actions. "I've got nothing to work with." This happens now and then. For some writers, they get stage fright. Not necessarily with public speaking, but instead with the concept of writing. How do I do it? How do I get there? Or rather, how to get from point A to B. No, the writing journey is not remotely linear. It looks more like this.  The big problem is that you're getting all caught up in what comes afterward - the business of writing - and you've forgotten to just enjoy the experience, the creation of the fictional world. Or, you've become overwhelmed with producing an idea that you can't bring it to fruition. True, there's a big difference between having a concept and actually putting it on paper. Or on the screen, whichever format makes you more comfortable. It isn't that you don't have any good ideas. Your brain is full of them, I promise. You're just getting bogged down with the thought of the end product. Rome wasn't built in a day. It takes time to get there, so give yourself a break. Here are some possible approaches: 1. Find inspiration in the world around you. Get out and observe people and places. Enjoy nature. Do more walking. Take in the sights, sounds, and pay attention to the emotions they evoke within you. When you return, go back to your desk and write about what you noticed. Current events, the people we know, even local happenings (sometimes crimes, of course) can inspire us to write. Think of your mind as a bucket in which to toss your experiences. The everyday stuff we go through is the perfect raw material that we can turn into a masterpiece.  2. Do more freewriting. Freewriting is a stream-of-consciousness writing exercise. The idea is to writing continuously, without stopping for at least five or ten minutes. You can go as long as you want, but the point here is to prevent yourself from getting bogged down in typical sentence structure or grammar. Just write whatever comes to mind, on a train of thought, even if what you're writing seems silly. Grab onto nearby objects to give yourself a creative boost, but keep the thought process going until you've basically puttered out. You can come back and reread the passage. See if you notice any nuggets of wisdom, even sentences or paragraphs you could use to spur a project idea. Circle the usable sentences, phrases, and descriptions. See if they spark some extra creativity. 3. Try writing prompts or exercises. Here is a list of options: https://study.com/academy/popular/creative-writing-exercises-for-beginners.html www.skillshare.com/en/blog/45-creative-writing-prompts-to-elicit-your-inherent-genius/ blog.reedsy.com/creative-writing-prompts/ thewritepractice.com/creative-writing-prompts/ getfreewrite.com/blogs/writing-success/writing-prompts-60-ideas-you-can-use-today https://smartblogger.com/creative-writing-prompts/ thewritepractice.com/creative-writing-prompts/ https://self-publishingschool.com/writing-prompts/ https://thinkwritten.com/365-creative-writing-prompts/ https://blog.prepscholar.com/creative-writing-prompts https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/500-writing-prompts-to-help-beat-writers-doubt/ https://blog.reedsy.com/writing-exercises/ https://self-publishingschool.com/writing-exercises/ https://thejohnfox.com/2016/05/creative-writing-exercises/ https://writers.com/best-writing-exercises https://writingexercises.co.uk/ https://www.dabblewriter.com/articles/writing-exercises https://nicolebianchi.com/writing-exercises/ 4. Read books about writing. There are numerous self-help books on writing. Check them all out on Amazon or your favorite bookseller. Here are some suggestions:                 Also, go ahead and subscribe to newsletters that help boost your writing performance. Here are a couple, to name a few: www.livewritethrive.com/ ryanlanz.com/ Don't forget check out their archives for helpful posts. 5. Read more books. See how other writers are writing their stories.  Clay Blanks, Unsplash. You don't want to mimic them (each writer has their own unique voice), but being familiar with books in your genre (and outside of it, simply for variety) doesn't hurt. This helps you recognize different writing styles. I hope this article assists you in your writing journey... As always, happy reading!   How to Avoid Author Burnout – 5 Tips:
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The fact is…our policy has changed considerably, at least for a while. Check out our 'Blog Policy' for more information about the types of features offered, how you can purchase a guest spot, my policy on review requests, and rules for guest writers. Starting from 2021, I was charging for some types of posts. Of course, there is never a fee for a guest article, as long as you adhere to the blog's theme. I also will not charge for big multi-author events which I host (these are giveaways or participation questions, and it's obvious what materials you're providing). If you'd like to submit a guest book review (no, I don't write book reviews, please don't ask me), I will always accept those and not charge you a fee at all. Starting in 2022, I WILL NO LONGER BE posting new release features, cover reveals, Author's Bookshelf features, author interviews, character interviews, and poetry spotlights. I am far too overwhelmed with other work to do constant blog posts. I'll still be writing my own articles sometimes and hosting multi-author special features. For companies that can afford a sponsored post, I'm willing to discuss a reasonable quote for a specialized article which fits within the blog's theme (No blatant promotions). Email me atmarieannlavender@gmail.comif you wish to participate in a unique post. Feel free to approach me with your creative ideas about a blog post. Slots at Writing in the Modern Age are always first come, first served. Contact us and reserve a spot! Refer to the 'guest schedule' at the top of the screen for further clarification about availability. Thanks for understanding.Disclaimer
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