Home

Search form

  • Home
  • Getting Started
  • Inside Publishing
    • Editing
    • Design & Production
    • Marketing & Publicity
    • Rights
    • Distribution
  • FAQs
  • Editing
  • Design & Production
  • Marketing & Publicity
  • Rights
  • Distribution

Editing

Writing is the first step. But a good editor can help shape your book, correct errors, and give your prose a professional polish - making all the difference in how your book is perceived in the marketplace.

Steps in Editorial

  • Developmental editing
  • Copy editing
  • Fact checking
  • Legal vetting
 

Top editing tips and tools to get your book published

by Kelly Marone
Bowker | Tue Dec 22, 2015

Writers have an immortal feeling when their first books are published and the ambrosial effect would last forever. For any writer it seems that Nature has designed such glorious destiny for them and the moment is unforgettable. However, getting published is not simple and there are many conditions and procedures to cope with before your work can get into printing machines. Most amateur writers feel disappointed because their work is rejected, but one must be aware that in most cases of rejection the problem is not with the content but with the presentation. Let us learn the procedures through which a new book is dealt with in a stepwise manner so that one can understand how certain books go through while some do not.

Tools to reduce errors while writing

Inside Publishing
Writing
Editing
  • Read more about Top editing tips and tools to get your book published

7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew

by Rochelle D. Carter
Bowker | Tue Jun 30, 2015

There are many things that publishers wish authors knew before they signed their contract or even submitted their books. I know that I have had a few head-scratching interactions with potential authors, from being told "I don't read books" to "I didn't know I could talk about my book". Here are 7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew, and sometimes are a little perturbed at having to explain:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/mkTW8AEcIGs]

Inside Publishing
Writing
Editing
Marketing & Publicity
  • Read more about 7 Things Publishers Wished Authors Knew

Join Us For A Webinar About Editorial!

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Thu May 8, 2014

In conjunction with Digital Conversion Labs, Bowker's SelfPublishedAuthor.com is presenting a webinar on the editorial process with expert independent editor Ann Moller. Join us on Thursday, May 15th from 1-2 Eastern as we discuss the different types of editing, the value that good editorial brings to your book, and tactics for accepting constructive criticism! 

Register here!

Inside Publishing
Editing
News & Resources
Events
Tags: 
Webinar
  • Read more about Join Us For A Webinar About Editorial!

Top 5 Tips to Starting a Writing Group

by Chris Robley
Bowker | Thu Mar 20, 2014

Running your own informal writing workshop can be a difficult but rewarding experience. It ain’t easy to get a group of people together who are promising writers AND critical readers, who are honest but nurturing in their feedback, who are committed to meeting frequently, and who don’t smell like cheap wine all the time.

But think of the American expats meeting at 27 Rue de Fleurus. Think of the Inklings congregating in the corner of some Oxford Pub. You could be the founder of a similar literary club that makes history! And even if you don’t make history, you’ll be making each other better writers. And THAT would seem to be the true measure of its success.

5 tips to starting a successful writing group:

Inside Publishing
Editing
Tags: 
Community
writing
  • Read more about Top 5 Tips to Starting a Writing Group

4 tips to help you take criticism like an adult

by Chris Robley
Bowker | Wed Mar 19, 2014

I’m flawed. You’re flawed. We’re all flawed.

You know the feeling; someone critiques your writing, and you flash them the evil eyes while thinking, “You complete moron! You’ve missed the point of my piece entirely, and of course you did– you’re an idiot and I hate everything you’ve written anyways, so what do you know?”

Hmmm. Maybe they have a point?”

The other day I posted a link to an article from the Poetry Foundation about the worth of MFA programs. While I’ve never been “officially” enrolled in any creative writing program, I did take three MFA workshop classes in poetry as a post baccalaureate at Portland’s lovely State University when my schedule (and $$!!!) allowed.

Inside Publishing
Editing
Tags: 
writing
  • Read more about 4 tips to help you take criticism like an adult

Copy-Editing: Not Just a "Nice to Have"

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Fri Feb 28, 2014

Most of us, even English majors, make grammatical mistakes. The difference between a copy-edited book and one that has not been copy-edited is enormous. Copy-editing doesn’t change the substance of what you’re writing about. In fact, it enhances it – clarifying meaning, correcting distracting mistakes.

A good copy editor will adjust your punctuation and spelling, question whether or not you really want to use jargon, make sure you’re using the right terminology, and keep you from embarrassing errors of usage. He will keep your language consistent from page to page, and ensure that you capitalize names properly. 

Editing
  • Read more about Copy-Editing: Not Just a "Nice to Have"

Creating a Book Readers Want to Buy

by Dan Dillon
Bowker | Thu Jan 16, 2014

People make a lot of books with Lulu. In fact, thousands upon thousands of titles are published to Lulu.com every week. While that’s a few too many books for us to read, we do know there are three things a writer needs to keep in mind to ensure their book is one readers will want to buy. If you’re among the writers preparing to publish a book this year, these three tips will be key factors in your success.

1. Know who your ideal reader is before you even start writing.

Inside Publishing
Writing
Editing
Distribution
  • Read more about Creating a Book Readers Want to Buy

Top 5 Apps for Authors

by Carla King
Bowker | Wed Aug 7, 2013

Authors these days are more than authors. Our days are fragmented with tasks that more resemble those of publishers and marketers, journalists and speakers. We must not only write, but edit, organize, blog, friend, tweet, connect, converse, advise, recripocate, share and share again.

These five apps (and I mean “apps” beyond the mobile-only kind) help me streamline these tasks so that I can spend more time actually writing and sell more books.

1. BIT.LY: EFFICIENCY AND ANALYTICS

Editing
Marketing & Publicity
  • Read more about Top 5 Apps for Authors

Why Editing is the Best Marketing Tool

Penny C. Sansevieri's picture
by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Mon May 20, 2013

With all of the options out there to publish, it’s pretty tempting to just point and click your way to a completed book. When print-on-demand first came on the scene around 1999, we saw a glut of books being pushed through the system, unedited, unvetted. When someone said “garbage in, garbage out,” they were often referring to self-publishing. Hence the stigma. If you’re new to indie publishing and you think that the stigma is the “us against them” idea, you’re only partially right. The history, albeit a somewhat negative one, started many years ago when authors thought their book was “good enough” to publish.

Cycle forward to 2013: We now have some 300,000 books published a year, the competition is fierce and the stakes are high. That number, by the way, comes from Bowker, which produces these statistics and readily admits that this number doesn’t include all eBooks or books that are published without an ISBN. You can imagine how high that number really is.

Inside Publishing
Editing
  • Read more about Why Editing is the Best Marketing Tool

Fact-Checking and Legal Vetting

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Thu Mar 28, 2013

If you’re writing nonfiction, you may want to invest in the services of a fact-checker. Fact-checkers adhere to a rigorous standard, questioning assertions and asking for documentation and citations to support those assertions.

The self-publishing service Lulu has some good tips on fact-checking here. Probably the greatest portrayal of a fact-checking department was written by John McPhee about The New Yorker.

Magazines employ fact-checkers because their publication cycles are not as severe as newspapers, and magazine articles are shorter than book-length manuscripts and therefore not insurmountable for a staffer to fact-check.

Inside Publishing
Editing
  • Read more about Fact-Checking and Legal Vetting

Pages

  • 1
  • 2
  • next ›
  • last »
  • Obtain ISBNs (click here!)
  • Convert your file to ebook (click here!)
  • Acquire a bar code (click here!)
  • Increase discovery (click here!)
  • Purchase a QR code (click here!)
  • Register your copyright (click here!)
  • Find out who you write like (click here!)
  • Promote your book online (click here!)

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

Thu, November 13

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, September 10

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Fri, September 05

Do You Have the Write Stuff?

Wed, September 03

Today's Great American Novel (Part 2 of 2)

Wed, August 20

© 2021 R.R. Bowker LLC. All rights reserved.
Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use |