JUDY MYERS
I love to read, I love to write, and I love to edit. What don’t
I love? Errors. Whether mistakes occur in my own manuscript or someone else’s, they
are my sworn enemy.
When courting readers, it’s our goal to coax them deep into
a story-trance. Every misuse of punctuation, every jarring word choice, every
typo or misspelling (especially the ones that turn our perfect word choice into
another word entirely, like turning lover into loser) undercuts
our efforts, jarring readers back to harsh reality. Good editing helps prevent
that.
Author-Me
As an author, I won RWA’s Golden Heart award for best
unpublished short contemporary romance in 1987. That book was bought by
Harlequin Temptation and was a RITA finalist in 1989. I’ve been published in
YA, short and long contemporary romance, and erotica. Currently, my agent is
marketing a middle grade historical and an adult historical romance of mine, as
well as the first book in a co-written science fiction/fantasy series.
Editor-Me
As an editor, I’ve been a freelancer since 2005, helping to
polish projects by unpublished and published authors that ranged from
contemporary romance to fantasy to historical fiction. I offer two levels of
editing, which can be chosen individually or as a combined package.
- Developmental Editing: In this edit, I read your manuscript and provide detailed feedback on plot, pacing, continuity, and character development. I tell you whether the story ‘works’ and, if not, how to strengthen it. This edit doesn’t address the mechanics of your manuscript. It focuses purely on the story you’ve chosen to tell.
My rates are based on your project’s word count. (A page-count
charge could leave you paying full price for a page that only contains a few
lines. That’s why I prefer a word-count charge.)
- Developmental Edit Only: $0.02/word
- Proof/Line/Copy Edit Only: $0.015/word
- Combined Package Price: $0.03/word
Where To Find Me
My business email address is: jmyersbook@gmail.com
Because I limit the number of editing projects I undertake,
I don’t maintain a dedicated editing website. On the creative side, however, my
co-writer and I recently completed the website for our sf/f novel, REFUGE. If
you’re curious to see what we came up with, feel free to explore it at jjblacklocke.com
I’d love your feedback! ~Judy Myers
10 comments:
Welcome to Romancing The Genres, Judy. You must be a very focused person if you can slip by that spelling error while doing a developmental edit. I do 'read throughs' of scenes/chapters for writer friends and while I'm mainly looking for the issue they've identified, I always at the very least highlight other issues I see. Thank you for sharing about your writer life. How do you and your partner figure out editing your co-written books?
REPLY TO JUDITH ASHLEY:
Hi, Judith! Thanks for commenting! The answer below is more than you bargained for, but I thought some of the visitors to the blog might be curious about how our particular co-authorship works, on a practical level. So here we go!
On my co-written books, my writing partner and I start by spending a lot of time living with the general story idea: talking about it, role-playing within it, researching widely, making a Pinterest page where we can stockpile visuals and infographics, etc.
When we feel as if we have the core characters, a beginning, an ending, and some major events that might happen along the way, we build a four-act story skeleton document and start sorting scene ideas into those four "bushel baskets," without worrying about connective tissues between one event and another.
Once we have lots of material in our virtual baskets (and have tossed away ideas that no longer fit the direction of the story), we choose the key scenes that will propel the story forward, and talk about what might lead up to and away from those scenes. This helps us establish the momentum of each act.
At that point, we knuckle down and make a scene list for the entire book, making sure that each scene has a justifiable reason for existing. Once that's done, we're ready (finally!) to start writing. The two of us take alternate scenes (for example, I might write Scene 1 while she writes Scene 2), write the scenes independently, then pass them over to our partner to read, comment on, and edit. Only then do we move on to the next two scenes, and so on. Because of all the prep we've done, the actual writing goes quite quickly! When the manuscript is complete, I do a final edit (since editing is my jam), partly to insure that the author 'voice' is consistent throughout the book. (She and I have very similar writing voices, which really helps.) We have a great time working together!
Hi, Judith! That is really interesting how you and your writing partner work. I've often wondered how writing with a partner would work. It sounds like you have nailed a formula for co-writing.
Having used your editing expertise in the past I know you are through. Great post!
If a self-subbed writer like me, who is short on funds, and only had so much to spend, what would you recommend content or line editing?
Hi, Diana!
Good question. If I were a self-subbed writer, I would try to shore up whichever facet of my writing I thought might benefit most from a pair of outside eyes, The trick lies in knowing your own strengths and weaknesses!
A good critique group, or even friends or family who regularly read in your genre, can often duplicate many of the tips you might receive from a developmental edit. It's harder to find someone in your personal life who can fill in for a good line editor (unless you have an English teacher in the family!). With that in mind, if you have ever become aware that spelling, grammar, punctuation, word choice, or other technical issues are not your strongest suit, I'd recommend opting for a line/copy edit. Many people are strong natural storytellers without necessarily mastering all of the technical details of English usage.
Of course, as the saying goes, "your mileage may vary!" If you feel technically strong but fear that you are so close to your project that you may not be seeing the first for the trees, then an objective developmental edit would be the way to go.
Hoping that helps,
Judy
Hi Judy,
Thank you for Guesting here at RTG. Your web site shows the breadth and depth of your world building. I was curious to learn more. (By the way, I'm a big Zenna Hendersen fan, too!)
What do you enjoy most about editing?
Judy,
I just checked out your website! It is awesome! Great graphics and easy to navigate, (no pun intended).
Diana
Ah, Sarah, any fan of Zenna Henderson's is automatically a friend of mine!
As ti what I enjoy most about editing, I imagine it's much like being the Royal Jeweler. I get to work with all of these incredible gems (because that's what stories are), and help to perfect them. The difference between an uncut gem and one that has been polished and faceted can be huge, and I enjoy being part of that process.
Reply to Diana McCollum:
Thanks for taking the time to visit the website. We had a lot of fun with it. For example, I love the 'Touch For Menu' button expands. And did you discover that if you click on the black and gold padlock in the upper left-hand corner ("Blacklocke"/black lock), it will take you back to the homepage?
Here's an important tip for anyone planning to create and expand a website: be sure that all of the photos you use are in the public domain (from sites like Unsplash.com or Pixabay.com) or that you purchase the use of them (if they're from a site like Shutterstock,com). We don't want our work pirated, and neither do photographers and artists. But searching for just the right photos to bring your website to life can be a lot of fun!
Enjoyed your post. Thanks for the tips. I always loved it when you did first page reads in Sacramento.
What a good memory you have, Z. Minor, and how kind of you to remember the 3-Page Reads! Thanks for your kind words about my post. All the best, Judy
Post a Comment