You need one. You know this already.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve heard hundreds of people shouting from the tops of buildings (or Facebook\u00a0Groups) that you need a real person (not named you)\u00a0to edit your books.\u00a0AI is cool and all (sometimes), but it\u2019s no substitute for the trained human eye and mind. (Don\u2019t believe me? Ask ChatGPT to list thirty things wrong with your book, watch them compliment you, and then proceed to list a bunch of things that don\u2019t exist in your manuscript at all.)<\/p>\n
But not all\u00a0human editors are the right fit for your manuscript.<\/strong><\/p>\n Some undercharge and underperform.<\/p>\n Some overcharge and underperform.<\/p>\n Some aren\u2019t readers of\u00a0your genre.<\/p>\n Some are better at copy editing or developmental editing.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to get to know them first. A sample edit is a must, but so is an interview. Ask them what they usually work on. If they can share a published book they\u2019ve edited. (Maybe even read it.) What they read in their free time.<\/p>\n Lucky for me (and now you), I met an awesome one\u00a0at AWP last month.<\/p>\n Liam Carnahan<\/strong>\u00a0is the founder of\u00a0Invisible Ink Editing<\/a>. He gave me candy, I gave him a donut, and we had a great conversation about the different ways we like working in publishing.\u00a0<\/p>\n So instead of having you ask the tough (and not so tough) questions, I interviewed him for our Write Indie newsletter<\/a>. If you\u2019re in the market for a new editor or will be soon, here\u2019s my interview with him.\u00a0Even if you\u2019re not in the market yet, this is a cool little back and forth that writers<\/a> could benefit from if they\u2019re feeling stuck in the self-editing trenches.\u00a0<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n I founded Invisible Ink Editing in 2012. That was the year I got my first Kindle and started reading a lot of excellent self-published books that clearly hadn\u2019t gone through the editing process. I realized there was a growing number of talented independent authors who didn\u2019t have access to the professional editors you might be paired up with if you go with traditional publishing. So I started offering editing services specifically to indie authors, and we grew from there!<\/p>\n Over time, we\u2019ve expanded our services to go beyond traditional editing, to include things like\u00a0manuscript evaluation<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0book coaching<\/a>, which happen earlier in the writing process. These services are to help people who only have partial manuscripts, or who are seeking a long-term, interactive relationship with their editor, instead of the standard \u201chand-over-your-full-manuscript\u201d style of editing.<\/p>\n Other than that, not much has changed! We\u2019ve maintained our goal of helping indie authors publish books they\u2019re proud of. We\u2019ve added things like our\u00a0official DEI statement<\/a>\u00a0and our upcoming statement on AI usage (spoiler: we don\u2019t use AI at all in the editing of books). But mostly, we\u2019re just here to offer some dang good editing!<\/p>\n What a great question. Yes\u2014I remember the exact moment, actually. Emerson classes were often workshop-based, so I really cut my teeth there learning how to give formal critiques of others\u2019 writing.\u00a0<\/p>\n I remember once, I was assigned to lead a discussion on a short story by a classmate whose writing needed a lot of development. I was anxious thinking of how to tell this writer about the serious work they would need to do to turn the story into something publishable.\u00a0<\/p>\n But afterward, the writer approached me and thanked me for how I led the discussion and told me they were really excited to go back to the dorm and work on it. I loved seeing that, how my feedback made an author feel excited and energized to take their work and make it better. I loved the partnership of that. I guess I\u2019ve been chasing that feeling my whole career!<\/p>\n We ask everyone who is curious about our services to submit their manuscripts to us for\u00a0a free sample edit<\/a>. When we get a new submission, it goes to every editor on the team (there are three of us right now). We all read it over, then we have a conversation about who might be the best fit.\u00a0<\/p>\n We are all interested in different genres and have different experiences and specialties, and we also factor in our schedules and the author\u2019s timeline, so we can deliver what they need. We also sometimes team up\u2014one editor will take care of the developmental editing and line editing, and then you\u2019ll get a fresh set of eyes for the proofreading. All of this happens behind the scenes, in our super-secret editorial office (ok, it\u2019s a Slack channel), and then the editor who is the best fit performs the sample edit and reaches out.<\/p>\n I love this question. A big part of that is about respecting the author. We see ourselves as partners and collaborators with our clients. We are here to help you get the best possible version of your story out to the people who need to read it. That means listening to your vision, exploring your style, interpreting and tracking the quirks that make your writing\u00a0yours<\/em>. Voice is a slippery thing to define, but by deeply reading your manuscript and building a relationship with you, we as editors can help you find it and bring it out on every page.<\/p>\n That\u2019s my touchy-feely answer, but my practical answer is that we pay very close attention to your writing style and keep track of it in what\u2019s called a\u00a0style sheet<\/a>. We\u2019ll go over this document with you and ask you any questions we have about stylistic choices you\u2019ve made. We also explain very clearly why we\u2019ve made certain editorial choices, in the style sheet and through comments within the manuscript itself. That\u2019s how we make sure your voice is maintained and elevated, not erased.<\/p>\n Personally, I love book coaching. I love working one-on-one with authors, meeting them face to face (IRL or virtually), and seeing them through the challenges and triumphs writers face throughout the drafting process. It\u2019s one of the great joys in my life, helping an author take a brilliant idea and turn it into a brilliant, sellable book. I also love seeing them evolve as writers, right before my eyes. Book coaching means I get to work with the author much more intimately than I do when I\u2019m just reading a manuscript. Don\u2019t get me wrong\u2014I love all forms of editing! But for me, the personal connection between author and editor is sacred and special, and nothing allows me to explore it more deeply than book coaching.<\/p>\n It is clich\u00e9, but I still find myself talking about showing vs. telling more than anything else. Essentially, it\u2019s the age-old writing advice of using description, detail, subtlety, and dialogue to tell your story (showing), rather than exposition and summary (telling).<\/p>\n It is a term that makes a lot of people roll their eyes, because it\u2019s brought up so often\u2014but that\u2019s because it\u2019s by far one of the hardest things to pull off as a writer. I wrote a\u00a0blog about showing vs. telling<\/a>\u00a0a few years ago, and it\u2019s still the number-one post on our site, because so many people get this feedback from writing partners, professors, readers, etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n And before anyone comes for me, no you don\u2019t\u00a0always<\/em>\u00a0need to show over tell in your writing. There are instances where it makes sense to summarize and \u201ctell,\u201d and certain genres and writing styles require less showing. But for fiction and creative nonfiction writers, even those appropriate instances of telling need to be surrounded by a lot of showing, if you want your readers to feel something and retain your story.<\/p>\n It\u2019s delicate work! We always go back to our goal of helping you make a book that will resonate with the right audience. If you have put something in there that may alienate your intended audience, then we will call it out in service of that greater goal.\u00a0<\/p>\n I have had to have frank conversations with writers about every topic you can imagine\u2014racism, misogyny, all of the phobias, how they treat trauma, specific language they use. We approach it as an open discussion, usually starting with a conversation about whether or not that language is likely to be used by the particular narrator or speaker\u2014if so, we might choose to keep it in. We\u2019ll also talk about how the segment serves the larger plot or message of the manuscript, and find ways to make sure it is moving the plot\/message forward instead of holding it back.<\/p>\n When it comes to large sections of the book that aren\u2019t working, this is what\u00a0developmental editing<\/a>\u00a0is for! That is when we can best help you address the more foundational aspects of your manuscript. Most authors need to go through developmental editing at some point, as well as\u00a0beta reading<\/a>. When you submit to Invisible Ink editing, we ask you about how much editing your manuscript has had, and factor that into our recommendations for which level of editing you need. If you haven\u2019t had developmental editing and beta reading yet, we\u2019ll most likely recommend starting there.<\/p>\n One of our editors tells me she still occasionally has nightmares about a client\u2019s horror, which she read a decade ago! Now that\u2019s some good horror writing! Series often stick with me, and I\u2019ve read some really good ones as part of this job. I got totally engrossed in a romance series about hunky bodyguards, another about alien-fighting teenagers, and a post-apocalyptic book about a virus that makes everyone think it\u2019s Christmas all the time. What I love about working with indie authors is that I get to read the stories that traditional publishers might reject (their loss!), and help those books find their audiences. And in several cases, I\u2019ve helped authors get their first few books published, and that\u2019s helped them then go on to land agents or book deals.<\/p>\n I\u2019m in a book club with friends, and we are reading\u00a0Vigil,<\/em>\u00a0the latest book by one of my all-time favorite authors, George Saunders. It\u2019s so compelling, I\u2019m trying not to read it all in one sitting because it\u2019s short but delicious.\u00a0<\/p>\n I also just finished up Chuck Tingle\u2019s\u00a0Bury Your Gays<\/em>, which was such a fun read, and also made some really excellent points about the current state of the entertainment industry. It\u2019s one of those books I\u2019m still thinking about, even though I put it down weeks ago! I\u2019m looking forward to seeing Chuck Tingle live in July.<\/p>\n Reply below. We\u2019ll answer, I promise.<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
How and when did Invisible Ink get started and how has it evolved over time?<\/h3>\n
Can you remember any particular moments during your time at Emerson College where you felt you were actually pretty good at this?<\/h3>\n
You\u2019re not the only one reading for Invisible Ink.\u00a0What do you look for in an editor who\u2019s interested in joining your team and how do you determine which editor is right for which job?<\/h3>\n
Invisible Ink\u2019s mission is all about preserving author voice and intention. How do you & your team help sustain that author\u2019s vision while still being true to your editorial goals of improving the manuscript?<\/h3>\n
You offer book coaching, developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading. Do you have a personal favorite and why?<\/h3>\n
What advice do you give most often?<\/h3>\n
How do you respond to uncomfortable topics or large sections of the book that aren\u2019t working?<\/h3>\n
I know you can\u2019t pick favorites, but\u2026are there any projects you\u2019ve worked on that have stood out to you over the years and why have they stood out?<\/h3>\n
What are you reading for fun right now and how\u2019s it going?<\/h3>\n
What\u2019s the biggest problem you\u2019re facing in your manuscript right now?<\/h3>\n