Self-editing for Self-publishers: Incorporating: A Style Guide for Fiction

A very interesting and helpful book that everyone who is editing a novel should read. This book is crammed with information that every writer should know. It's easy to understand and goes into so many aspects of editing that a first time novelist may not know.This is an absolute must-have for anyone writing a book be it fiction or non-fiction.

Those who have attempted the almost impossible task of editing their own novel to the point of acceptability may be familiar with the earlier work “Self-editing for Fiction Writers” (Browne and King, 2004). Richard Bradburn mentions that book and comments that it “fall(s) more into the arena of how to write, rather than how to edit.” And he has a valid point. Although his own work covers much of the same territory, it is often more detailed and descriptive of the complete editing process that traditional publishers employ when moving a project to publication. I came across “Self-editing for Self-publishers” while searching for aid in understanding problems with POV and “head-hopping” and found it covered those subjects better than anything else I’ve read. (Also valuable are the seventy-five pages of appendices on such topics as writing a synopsis, working with beta readers, and hiring an editor – which the author recommends all self-publishing authors to do.) It may be appropriate to think of the Browne and King book as the text for Self-editing 101 and Bradburn’s as the main reading in an upper level course on the same subject. I bought print editions of both and have them underlined, double-underlined, and dog-eared.

Disclaimer - I have written and self-published five thrillers. I looked at them some months later, laughed and unpublished them. I am now in the middle of making them better.If you're writing and learning to write, two things which mean the same, then you know that self-editing is vital. Unless you're already making millions from your work, you need to know how to edit yourself before your books are even good enough to hand over to a professional.Learning how to edit makes you a better writer, of course.This book is so dense and full of the things you need to know that I have read it twice now and am reading the first part, the part about developmental editing, for a third time. I expect to read the whole book several more times in the next couple of years.It is a handbook that mimics the only possible logical process of going from the general to the particular - from why your villain is so pathetic, to noticing the sun rises twice that day, to whether or not to use the Oxford comma.Also, I forgot to mention, the book is nice and easy to read.

Well set out. Easy to understand. Delves deep into the art and process of editing. A great ongoing resource for writers.

I've used the Renni Browne-Dave King self-editing book and found it to be excellent for the subjects it covers. But when I found Richard Bradburn's Self-Editing for Self-Publishers, I discovered this took the task to a whole new and helpful level. There is so much information, so well presented, I suggest at least a couple of cover-to-cover reads, before digging down into areas that specifically interest you. You may even try composing a style sheet, if you never have, to put focus on your own style.Also, regardless if you work with an editor at a traditional house, using this wonderful book to sharpen your prose to the best you can make it beforehand should be a no brainer, helping you along whatever route you take to publishing. The fact the author has a great sense of humor only makes this journey even more enjoyable and worthwhile.