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FAQs about: beta reading, manuscript assessment, and developmental editing
1. What is the most helpful? (A) a beta read, or (B) a manuscript assessment (also called a manuscript appraisal), or developmental edit (also called structural edit or substantive edit)? A beta r...
Self-publishing a printed book – what’s best for you: traditional printing, or POD printing?
Once your book is designed (typeset) - both cover and inside pages - and is ready to be printed, you need to send it to the printer. There are two main types of printers of hardcopy books: ...
Editing fiction and non-fiction: a comparison
The purpose of editing any publication, whether standard non-fiction or fiction/creative non-fiction, is to make the corrections needed to ensure the writer's intended meaning, story and voice, are...
Self-publishing: the importance of “white space” in your book
A book's "white space" (or "negative space") is the parts that are not covered by text or images. That is, in a white-background type of book, it is literally all the white space around and in betw...
Self-publishing: How to “tag” the images in your manuscript, prior to design
So, you've written and self-edited your manuscript (MS), as a Word document. You've made sure it is structurally sound. You believe it is ready to be handed to an editor for a "final copy edit", be...
“Worldwide recipes”, self-published by S Reynolds
This book was compiled by Shirley Reynolds, who asked friends and family to contribute their favourite tried-and-true recipes from their diverse families, backgrounds and countries, for this book. ...
Why get an ISBN and barcode for your self-published book?
Why get an ISBN, or a barcode, for your self-published book? What is an ISBN? 'ISBN' stands for ' International Standard Book Number'. It is used to identify published (including self-published) ...
Self-publishing case study: the path from handwritten MS to ‘printer stage’
This detailed case study is about a manuscript (MS) written by Michael Cusick in 2017-18, that was typed, edited and designed by On Time Typing, Editing and Proofreading, and self-published in mid-...
What’s the difference between beta reading and a manuscript assessment?
The differences between beta reading and manuscript assessment are... Beta reading Beta readers come from all walks of life and industries. They need to be well-read but are not usually editors. ...
How is editing poetry different to editing prose?
Poetry is different to prose (if you want to know exactly how it's different, click here). And editing poetry needs a different approach to editing prose. Different level of collaboration When li...