Edit Like a Pro

I'm excited to share with you that I was recently a guest presenter on Writers Chat, a weekly podcast on Serious Writer's YouTube Channel. The topic of the day was under- and overwriting, and included a Q&A session at the end that I'm sure you'd also find helpful....

Copyrights have baffled beginning authors in America for one-hundred, twenty-seven years. Founded in 1897, the United States Copyright Office has been issuing copyrights to various artists for their work. I am presenting a basic outline editors and authors need to...

The information presented here is taken from several workshops I attended at the 2024 PENCON editor’s conference. I’m merely passing on some interesting things I learned at the conference. This was presented by a copyright lawyer who has been researching generative AI...

Hi everybody! This month I'm teaching a course for those who are wanting to start, or improve, their own freelance editing business. I'll be teaching this through The PEN Institute. It's a great course for those who wish to start a freelance editing business or...

I have loved reading historical fiction since the early 1980’s, so when I began writing my stories, they’ve all taken place in the nineteenth century. I’ve often needed to hunt for words that are appropriate for the time period in which my book is taking place. Over...

People often wonder why I don't offer proofreads as one of my services. The main reason is that I've never seen a manuscript ready for proofreading. I've accepted a few proofreading jobs in the past fifteen years, and two were my most horrific editing experiences. My...

I’ve come across lots of different reasons why authors think they don’t need to have their manuscript edited, and most of them are unreasonable. These are the ones I hear the most. 1. I’m going to self-publish, so it’s not important to nitpick my work. Self-Publishing...

I received my first book contract in 2000, and shortly after I heard about the Colorado Christian Writer’s Conference in Estes Park. I lived about two and a half hours from there, so I thought this would be a good resource for me to learn where to go from there. I...

I’ve always loved stories. While my three brothers and younger sister were out riding their bikes all summer when we were kids, I was either at the library or at home reading. Sometimes, I’d gather other children at the local playground and tell them stories I’d read...