See Part 1 and Part 2. When I began editing from home in June 2006 after a difficult layoff, several folks already knew about my editing experience due to my working for two companies for fourteen years (I can’t stress building that resume enough). So getting started at home wasn’t overly difficult—God did it through my work history. One contact wanted me to edit readings for a one-year devotional book called Our Family Time with God (my pay was based on a fee per page count). Another contact wanted me to edit the daily front-page article for SharperIron, a Christian blog. I worked with a schedule of content and submitting authors (I was paid a certain set fee per month). Even still, this wasn’t enough work to bring in the income I needed to support my family, so I prayed hard, took a deep breath, and applied for a position as…
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See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. #6: Once my novel is accepted, my publisher will take care of the rest. The “rest” as in . . . what exactly? The printing? Yes, you don’t need to worry about that. The editing? For the most part, though you will be involved in final edits of some kind. Perhaps even a revision. And of course you’ll have a last look before the printing. The marketing? No, not all of it. This truth was one of the biggest surprises for me. After my first novel was accepted, I was amazed by how much I was expected to do myself. Once upon a time, authors could (for the most part) write their books and not worry too much about marketing. Those days are long past, especially after this nasty economy walloped the publishing world across the side of the head. Publishers must work extra…
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This year, I bit the financial bullet and decided that with my novel coming out in March, I just had to go to the Write-to-Publish Conference this year (June 3-6) at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. Bless Lin Johnson’s soul (she’s the director). She’s been sending me brochures advertising the conferences for years, but I simply never found the finances (or the courage) to take the next step. I know; it’s silly. I’ve been involved in publication work of some kind and publishing short stories and articles for years, but the thought of going to a writers’ conference freaked the fire out of me. Anyhow, God seemed to be prodding me like a little lamb who didn’t want to follow the flock, but I decided to do the right thing after all. Not a fun step (because I’d rather stay cloistered in my north woods office), but definitely a necessary…
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