GWA # 10 - Ghostwriting 101 Part 8

Formatting manuscripts and the editing process. Welcome to Ghostwriters Anonymous, the podcast for those who give a literary voice to the world. I am your host, Alaina Burnett. In today’s episode of the Ghostwriting 101 series I will be talking about the editing process.

However, before we get to that I would like to add a little “p.s.” to our discussion on the writing process. The way you format and structure your manuscript is important. I always provide two versions of a manuscript to my clients, both standardized and stylized.

The standardized version is formatted the way a publisher or agent would want to see it. There are countless websites out there that will give you all of the details (just Google “standard manuscript format”), but some of the specifics are Courier font, 12 point font size, plain 8.5x11 white paper, don’t justify the text, etc. While there are some agents and publishers that request something different like Times New Roman font, the vast majority want the manuscript in the standard format. And don’t underestimate how important it is to follow the rules! I’m not saying that you’re guaranteed to get published if you submit a proper looking manuscript. But if it’s down to two manuscripts and they only have the budget to publish one, I think any publisher will tell you they’ll give a closer look to the standardized manuscript before they consider the one on pink paper in Comic Sans font. Sorry I just have a vendetta against that font…it drives me crazy.

Anyway, a stylized manuscript would use the page size the author expects to print in (so 6x9, 5.5x8.5, etc.), and have the margins, font, and spacing that one could expect to see in a printed book. This version is not a necessary, but I use it for a few reasons. First, because I charge by the page for my ghostwriting, this stylized manuscript is the one I use for my pricing. It’s a lot easier than trying to estimate how many words would fit on the page. Secondly, it gives the author an idea of what their book could actually look like. I always tell them that if they like how it looks they should feel free to provide it to their publisher to use when typesetting.

Well, we’ve avoided it as long as we can. It’s time to talk about editing. I always laugh when I talk to friends in the writing business. It seems that everyone always hates the editing process. And in many ways it makes sense. As writers we are creative people. Once we have our ideas down on paper we want to get to the next project! We generally have no interest in sitting there for days looking for grammatical errors and whatnot. That doesn’t mean it’s not important, however. As tedious as it may be, it is a vital part of the process. Our job can’t be fun all of the time! It is called work for a reason.

I always find that I do a better job at catching mistakes when I print the manuscript and actually look at it on paper. For whatever reason when I’m reading text on a screen I can bypass something that needs to be corrected very easily. It’s funny how the mind can read what it knows is supposed to be there rather than what is actually there!

As a ghostwriter, the process is slightly different than if you were writing for yourself. The first round of editing is really just for grammatical or spelling errors. That way you can catch most if not all of those problems before you go over the text with your client. Once you have that first round finished, sit down with your client and go through the manuscript together. Some authors may prefer to take the manuscript home with them to look it over at their own pace, but if you do that make sure that if you have most if not all of the money that is due to you for the project. As trustworthy as the person may seem, you must protect yourself!

I like to edit with my client because as we go through and see things that should be altered we can bounce ideas off each other. Once you have made any changes to the phrasing or flow of the text, make sure to do a third and final round of editing. Read through it as if you a reader and not part of the project. Does everything make sense? Are there any areas that need to be explained better? Do you feel satisfied with the ending?

I always tell my clients that I am a “creative editor” rather than a “technical editor.” In fact I even put it in my contract that I suggest they have a professional editor go over the manuscript to check for any technical issues in the text we may have missed. Nothing is worse than picking up a book at the store and finding a typo (and it happens more often than you think!). Even if your client is going to be pursuing a traditional publisher who assuredly has an editorial staff, I recommend that you tell your client to have a professional editor look it over. You always want to make sure that the book is the best it can be before sending it to an agent or publisher!

Now, some writers like to divide up the editing process by looking over the text for technical issues after each chapter or section. Whether you do it while you’re still writing or when the book is complete doesn’t matter…just make sure to do it! One thing I will say is that I don’t recommend that you allow yourself to get into creative editing while you’re still writing. Doing that will slow you down and get you sidetracked. So, ignore any rephrasing that needs to be done or issues with the flow until you have finished your first draft completely.

Well, as I’m sure you noticed I was gone for a couple of weeks again. I have decided to stop saying “tune in next week” because I think I’m jinxing myself or something! A client ended up having to push up the due date for their project by a month so I have been using every spare moment I have to get the job done. So, from now on I’ll just say something like…tune in next time to hear the ninth episode of the Ghostwriting 101 series where we will do something of a capstone for the entire series. I’ll answer questions I have received from listeners and cover any little extra bits of information on all of the subjects we’ve covered. Thanks for listening! And as always, contact me with your questions or comments at any time. I will answer your questions on air if I think the audience will benefit from hearing about the subject of your e-mail. You can reach me at gwapodcast@aol.com. That link will be included in the show notes at the official page for the Ghostwriters Anonymous podcast, http://www.ghostwriters-anonymous.com/. Click on the tab that says “Ghostwriters Anonymous podcast.”