Writers' Services: Perry Iles

Perry Iles

email: chamberproof@yahoo.co.uk

Proofreading novels, novellas, short stories, articles, academic papers and all things abstruse, recondite, arcane or obscure. No length limits – anything from haikus to Russian novels considered. 

Triskele meets Perry Iles:

What kind of editing do you do?

How much money have you got? I’m an editorial slut that way. Seriously though, I look after the small stuff. It’s more proofreading than editing, so I’m less of an editor and more of a proofreader with attitude. Typos, spelling, consistency, layout, basic grammar and common sense. I often find myself making suggestions on word-choice and smoothing sentences off a little, but large scale structure, characterization and narrative arc are not my areas. I’m the guy who polishes what Stephen King would call your little red wagon before you drive it home.

How do you approach working with a client on a manuscript?

I tell them what I do, what I don’t do and how much I want. I give them some background about me and invite them to email me a sample manuscript to look at if they need further convincing. I seldom meet clients face to face, and usually do my work using MS Track Changes on the documents they send me. If people don’t like Track Changes I mark suggestions and alterations in a different colour on their manuscript.

How would you describe a successful author/editor relationship?

Keeping to deadlines, not overstepping the mark, charging people what I say I’m going to charge them and making sure they understand what I do and equally importantly what I don’t do.

You can read more about Perry Iles here.

Writers' Services: JD Smith

JD Smith Design

website: http://www.jdsmith-design.com/

email: info@jdsmith-design.co.uk

Suitable for publishers outsourcing design, small press, indie collaboratives and self-published authors, JD Smith offers a range of professional graphic design and typesetting services to clients worldwide.

Cover Design: the finishing touch to any book, and the first thing many readers will see. From dust jackets for hardback books to ebook covers, each one is thoughtfully designed to your requirements, bearing in mind the market and genre, and provided to your printer's specification.

Typesetting: drop capitals at the beginning of chapters, well chosen fonts designed for ease of reading, correct paragraph indents, gutters, new chapter spacing, alternating headers, and ebook conversion - all elements that are considered and incorporated when typesetting your manuscript.

Marketing Materials: be it postcards, posters and bookmarks for your launch, or advertising in magazines, each item can be designed to the style of your book cover. Don't know a printer or want the hassle of finding a reliable one? Just ask. Working with a variety of printers and with vast knowledge of the industry, I can source competitive prices with a reliable service and have them delivered to your door.

Meet JD Smith:

JD Smith lives and works in the English Lake District. Having worked as a graphic designer for over 12 years, and a booklover to boot, she understands the industry.

Jane spends most of her time attempting to remain professional, efficient, talented and affordable, because so many of her lovely clients have given her testimonials to that effect, whilst trying to keep her three children from switching off the wireless router, unplugging power cables and writing on her Facebook wall.

The pseudonym JD Smith was created as the username on a writers' messageboard many years ago, and was adopted as her preferred Editor's title when launching the writing magazine Words with JAM. Jane is also a writer of historical fiction.

"Jane Dixon-Smith came recommended by a friend. I'm delighted with the cover she created for me. She's fast and easy to work with and really cared about giving me what I wanted."
Sue Moorcroft, author of All That Mullarkey and Love Writing

Writers' Services: Interior Design

The last stage before uploading your ms to a publishing service is INTERIOR FORMATTING.

Now, this is something a lot of indie authors do for themselves. It’s not intrinsically difficult and there are plenty of programs and packages out there which can help you with the process. But you need to be aware of the rules about laying out the book as a whole (what goes in the ‘front matter’ before the main text, and in what order, and what goes in the back matter), and about laying out individual pages (first pages of chapters vs. the rest, how page numbering works). You need to understand about balancing the fonts used in the text with those used in headings. And finally you need to understand the differences between formatting print books and eBooks, and the subtle differences between different eBook formats. 

If you are prepared to take the time to learn the rules, then by all means tackle this step yourself. But a slip-up at this stage can make your book scream ‘amateur.’ So if you are not completely confident, it is worth employing someone experienced so do your interior formatting for you.  

The beautiful interiors of Triskele's books have been designed by all been designed by JD Smith. Read more…

Writers' Services: Cover Design

Self-publishing packages like Kindle Direct Publishing make it very easy for authors to select a few elements from a pool of images and fonts, put them together through a semi-automated process and come up with their own cover design. So why do you need to bother paying a professional designer?

Well, for one thing, there is a high risk that your cover is going to end up looking suspiciously like at least half a dozen others, as authors pick from the same limited stock of options. Secondly, it’s amazing how tiny things about the way a cover is put together can change how professional it looks. Most of us do it at an entirely unconscious level, but put two covers together and we will instinctively prefer the one that obeys all those hidden ‘rules’ about visual impact. Designers understand that.

 So find a good designer, one who can realise your unique vision for your book. And shop around. Designers can be expensive – but they don’t have to be. There are some outstanding ones out there who are also very affordable.

All Triskele's eye-catching covers have been designed by JD Smith. Read more...

Writers' Services: Proofreading

PROOFREADING is editing as a lay person understands it: checking spelling, grammar, punctuation. In a manuscript being prepared for publication, it also includes checking that you are using things like em-dashes, en-dashes and hyphens in the correct professional way.  

All Triskele's books have been proofread before publication by PERRY ILES, who describes himself as a 'proofreader with attitude.' Read More...

Writers' Services: Copy Editor

When any big, macro issues have been fixed, it’s time to take a finer-grained look at your MS.

A good COPY EDITOR will still look at issues of pace, but they will focus at the level of individual sentences and paragraphs. Are you using unnecessary verbiage? Or is this scene underwritten? They’ll spot if a character’s eyes change colour part way through the book. They will also check (or at least question) factual detail. (Was the model of car you describe available when your story was set? Is it really possible to shoot someone at that distance with the gun you’ve given your villain?)

 Perhaps the best analogy here is to a film editor, taking your ‘footage,’ spotting bloopers, and helping you to make the selections and cuts to hone your pacing, your atmosphere and the clarity of your storytelling.

LORRAINE MACE and JOHN HUDSPITH both offer a critiquing service that covers elements of both structural and copy editing 

Polly Courtney, author of Feral Youth, Golden Handcuffs and Poles Apart, recommends her editor, JOY TIBBS, whose service also covers elements of both structural and copy editing.

Writers' Services: Structural Editing

STRUCTURAL EDITORS take a macro view of the book.

If you have sub-plots going nowhere, scenes that advance nothing or characters that fail to come alive; if parts of your story are told in the wrong sequence, you’ve begun it too early or dragged on the ending too long: this is where it should be picked up. At this stage, you want someone who can judge the MS as a whole, and who knows the rules and standards of your genre (and in this context, lit fic is a genre).

 Good beta-readers can be excellent at this – however, bear in mind that they are READERS, not necessarily writers or editors. They can tell you where part of your book is not working for them, but they probably won’t suggest how to fix it.

 If your book is NON-FICTION then you may choose work with a structural editor at a much earlier stage, when you are working out how to construct your book, how to order and present your ideas. 

Triskele author CATRIONA TROTH has worked a structural editor for both fiction and non-fiction.   Catriona worked with Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors to develop the structure for their guide to self publishing. Read more...

LORRAINE MACE and JOHN HUDSPITH both offer a critiquing service that covers elements of both structural and copy editing.

Polly Courtney, author of Feral Youth, Golden Handcuffs and Poles Apart, recommends her editor, JOY TIBBS, whose service also covers elements of both structural and copy editing.