Frequently Asked Questions    FFS Policies: (click on the question for the answer) Why don’t you edit for people who are planning to self-publish? Do you have some sort of bias against us? Or are you just snooty? Why did you turn down my children’s novel, picture book, or short story? Why did you turn down my commentary on II Corinthians, my encyclopedia of collectible and antique fish hooks, or my doctoral thesis on the mating rituals of the South American pigmy water rat? Why do I have to do the screening critique first? My novel is terrific! I’m a great writer! I don’t need to be “screened.” What’s all this talk about substantive edits? All I need is a quick copy edit or proofread, and this baby is ready to take the publishing world by storm. Are you just trying to make more money off me? Will you endorse my novel? Will you help me find a publisher or agent? Can you give me a referral? Can you put in a good word with your editor or agent? I need a co-author, or a ghostwriter. Can you help me write my book?  Editing Process: This is such a FABULOUS service, and I can’t wait another minute to become a Fiction Fix-It Shop client! What do I do? What is the turn-around time on the screening critique? So we’ve done the screening critique (BRILLIANT critique, by the way). What next? How does the substantive edit or full book edit work? Will you edit subsequent books for me in the future? Will this edit guarantee that my manuscript will get published? Billing: I just can’t wait to turn over my hard-earned dollars to you! How do I do this? But I don’t have a Pay-Pal account! What shall I do? But I’m categorically opposed to online transactions! Is there any hope for me? Answers FFS Policies: 1. Ouch! Are you suggesting I have a hidden autobibliophobia? (Okay, okay, I coined that myself. Auto= “self” and Biblio= “book.” Not the most precise coining, but the best I could do.) Actually, I am neither biased, snooty, nor phobic. I am, however, quite realistic on the prospects for most self-published novelists. The market is not receptive to self-published novels at this point, and I would rather spend my time and effort helping writers who have the determination, dedication, and patience to pursue the traditional publishing route. If you’ve been thinking about self-publishing, here are some reasons to reconsider: (and please note—I know there are notable exceptions to all these statements.) Most self-published novelists do not make a profit from their print run. A lot of royalty published novelists don’t, either, but they do get an advance from the publishers which they get to keep no matter what. A self-pubbed novelist pays the publisher. They also tend to lack the speaking platform or other public persona that enables self-published non-fiction to be more successful. Self-published novels tend to cost more per book than traditionally published novels because the print runs are generally lower. This means the author ends up having to sell them for more than the cost of a comparable traditionally published novel. It’s hard to convince the consumer to pay more for something that looks the same. Most retail stores are reluctant to stock self-published novels, unless it is a local author or an already-known celebrity. The publisher generally does little to no distribution—though there are exceptions to this. The burden is on the author, then, to try to get books stocked in store. This is a difficult and time consuming process that leaves the author very little writing time. .top. Contrary to common myth, an editor or agent is NOT going to be more impressed to read your manuscript in “book form.” In fact, because of the self-publishing industry’s history of low quality control, many publishing professionals assume that a self-published novel will probably contain substandard writing and poor editing. This may or may not be a fair assumption, but it’s the way things are. Having your novel self-published may make it more difficult to later find a traditional publisher for it. Many authors have discovered, too late, that their self-publisher’s contract is written in such a way that the author has a difficult or impossible time trying to get their rights to their book back. Other times, traditional publishers are reluctant to reprint a book, even if the only printing has been a self-published edition. Finally, though there are really good self-publishers around who do provide graphic art and good editing for your book, many of them provide little to no graphic design or editing, minimal typesetting (if any), and tend to print books using cheaper materials and binding. I strongly believe that it is in the author’s best interest, as well as the best interest of the literary community, to try for traditional publishing, even if it takes longer, is more frustrating, and less certain of the outcome. It is these persistent and hard-working writers I want to assist toward their dream of being published. Nothing against those who choose the other route—I just have chosen to specialize in this way. .top. 2. First, because I only do adult and YA novels. Second, because I only do adult and YA novels. Third, because I’m not an expert in any of those other genres—my expertise is in adult and YA novels. Fourth, because any non-fiction writer with the creativity (and eccentricity) to turn fish hooks and pigmy water rats into a whole book ought to be writing novels anyway. And fifth, because I only do adult and YA novels. Everyone has to have a specialty. I have mine. I’m sure there’s a “fix-it shop” out there for folks who want to write other stuff. If you’re nice to me, and don’t ask me to do things outside my specialty, I might even be nice in return and post some links to other editorial services for people who, alas, aren’t the novel-writing type. .top. 3. Well, if it’s that great, you may not need an editor after all, so why fret about the screening critique? Actually, we all need good editing. The point of the screening critique is so that I can see if I’m a good match for the project, and to determine if a professional edit is really the best next step for you. To read more about that, see the description of services that I offer. .top. 4. My, my. Such suspicion and cynicism! You must have had a very unhappy childhood. I’ll humor you. Basically, what I’ve found is that most manuscripts that get rejected are turned down because of a flaw in the writing or story itself, not grammar or writing mechanics. A substantive edit attempts to identify and suggest solutions for how to improve the structure and writing style of a work. Click here for more info about all this. I’ll make you a deal, okay? If you send me a manuscript for a substantive edit and I find that there are NO substantive changes I want to suggest, I will do a copy edit for you at the copy edit rate. I’ll even buy your book when it comes out because a work of such perfection will surely find a publishing home. .top. 5. If your novel is contracted by a traditional publisher that is requesting endorsements from other novelists, and if you are one of my clients, please contact me or have your publisher contact me. If I have room in my schedule, I would love to do an endorsement for you. I won’t do endorsements for book proposals or queries. At the proposal/query stage, my endorsement really won’t help you much, and may even make you look like an amateur. An experienced novelist knows that at this point their story has to stand on its own merits. If the editor or agent isn’t gripped by your story, it won’t matter what I or any other author or freelance editor says about it. If you wish, you may certainly mention that your manuscript has been edited by the Fiction Fix-It Shop (or use my name). But you must NOT word it in a way that would imply my endorsement or recommendation of either the manuscript or the editor/agent to which you are sending it. Again, I don’t think it will really help you, and doing this could make you look a little insecure. If your story is strong, the editor or agent will not care that I’ve edited it. If your story is still weak, they still won’t care that it’s been edited. The only thing they care about is whether or not it’s a well-written, marketable story. .top. 6. No. No. And…no. As a freelance editor, I have to be very careful to maintain clear boundaries between my work and the work done by publishers and editors. You may be aware of various scams and unethical kick-back schemes between agents and some editorial companies. I greatly value my professional relationships with others in the publishing industry, and I want to safeguard their reputation as well as my own. This means that I want to avoid any hint of a conflict of interest or possible unethical behavior. Therefore, I cannot recommend you contact a certain agent or query a certain publisher. I can’t send your work out for you. And I can’t contact any editors or agents on your behalf to recommend you or your work. What if you want to know about my agent or my editors? What if you are considering signing with an agent or a publisher has offered you a contract? If I’m familiar with the agent or house in question, and you are already a client of mine, I’ll be glad to tell you what I know of the agency or publisher, if anything. If it’s my agent or editor, I’ll be happy to tell you about the great experience I’ve had with them. The other thing I’m quite willing to do is to suggest resources and ways for you to develop your own professional network in the publishing industry. Writing as an activity is inherently isolating work. Writing as a career relies heavily on networks and relationships. It’s important to cultivate your writing network, and I’m happy to be part of that process. .top. 7. Sorry, no. I don’t do any collaboration or ghostwriting. I have my own writing career, in addition to editing, and I can’t take on any more writing projects than I already have. See the description of the services I do offer for more information. .top. Answers Editing Process 1. Terrific! All you need to do is go to the Contact page and fill out the form. I will email you within a day or two to confirm your information. If we decide to go forward with the screening critique, I will send you an email invoice through Pay-Pal. As soon as the screening critique fee is paid, I’ll send you an info sheet about the screening critique, including what to expect and what format to use. Then you send me the manuscript! .top. 2. That will depend. Usually, I try to get it back to you within a week or less of when you send it to me. However, if it’s a week that is already booked full of other clients (or if I’m out of town, etc.) then it may take a little longer. I will let you know when you send me the manuscript what you can expect. .top. 3. Thanks! At the end of each screening critique, I write a narrative summary of my feedback, including recommendations for what to do next. If I am offering you a full book edit, I will let you know in that narrative summary. Once you receive the screening critique back, if I’ve offered a full edit, it’s up to you to decide whether or not to go for it. If you decide to have me do the edit, then I will schedule your manuscript into my next available time slot. I will send you an editing agreement form that you will need to sign and return to me (either electronically or by snail mail). This is a simple contract/agreement that outlines what services you are paying for, deadlines for turning in and completing the manuscript, and other things on which we both need to be clear. .top. 4. I will email you a Pay-Pal invoice for half the estimated hours of work for the project, usually 6-8 hours, minus the screening critique fee. The balance will be invoiced after I complete the project. For developmental editing and writing coaching, the invoice schedule is a little different because it’s more open-ended. See my description of services for more info, or contact me to ask.  Once the first half is paid and you’ve returned the editing agreement, you are welcome to send your full manuscript via email. While I’m working on it, I may email you if I have questions about it. You’re welcome to email me, too, particularly if you find you’ve changed a scene or found something you need to update. After the edit is complete, I’ll email the manuscript back to you and bill you for the remaining hours. You’ll also receive a time sheet of when and how long I worked on your book. My feedback may be in the form of inserted comments (using MS Word’s “Comment” feature) or direct feedback/changes in the manuscript (using Track Changes). You are welcome to email me with any questions you have regarding the feedback. .top. 5. Sure I will! If you are a previous full book client (meaning you’ve used FFS for substantive, developmental, or copy editing, galley proofing, or coaching), you even get to skip the screening critique. I’m going to also work toward providing other benefits to my previous clients, perhaps including discounts, a referral program, or other fun things. I’d also like to have a newsletter for my clients, so that you can stay on top of changes like this and know what’s going on at the Fiction Fix-It Shop. .top. 6. Of course not. There are few guarantees of anything in this crazy world called Writing. First, the success of this editing process still rests on how you choose to implement the feedback you receive. Because I don’t make the changes for you, I don’t have control over what your finished product looks like. Second, perfectly lovely stories get turned down all the time for reasons that may have nothing to do with the quality of the manuscript. Things like marketability, competition, and the publisher’s own schedule, focus, and budget all factor into the decision to contract a book or turn it down. I can tell you that all of us who are novelists can contribute at least some of our success to the editing and critiquing we have had—whether professional or informal. Accepting feedback on your work helps you grow in your writing, and it’s everyone’s hope that this growth will eventually result in your receiving a contract for your novel or greater success if you are already published. .top. Answers Billing 1. You’re so generous. Lucky for you—it’s quite easy. I use Pay-Pal to email you an invoice. This email will have a link in it that will take you directly to the Pay-Pal site, where you can complete the transaction. When you fill out the contact form, I will ask you to include the email you want to use for the invoicing. You should put in the address you use for Pay-Pal, even if it’s different from the one we will be using for the rest of our editing correspondence. .top. 2. Relax. You don’t have to have a Pay-Pal account. You can use any major credit card to complete the transaction online. Or you can sign up for a Pay-Pal account. Either way, it’s super easy. And if you have questions or need help, let me know. .top. 3. Hmm… that remains to be seen. But as far as payment for editing goes, there’s always a solution. If you can’t do online transactions, or have a personal aversion to it, let me know and you can send me a cashier’s check or money order. It may slow down the process a bit, because I will wait to begin editing until I receive the payment, but we can definitely work with you on it.