Thursday, April 28, 2011

Writers' questions

When writers contact me, they usually ask two questions: How much do you charge? And do you edit my kind of writing?

First, the charge. If it's long (novel, non-fiction book, academic dissertation), I charge one cent a word. I recently cut a doctoral candidate some slack, but normally that's the charge. Everything else, I charge case by case. I prefer not to charge by the hour (although I do occasionally, if the client insists). I'd rather do a great job than worry about time.

Second, do I edit your kind of writing? Almost certainly. I've edited a doctoral dissertation. I've turned British books into something for a U.S. market. I've edited non-fiction and fiction books about spirituality, non-fiction self-help books written for the British, and an ebook about hand and foot care.

I've edited and proofread novels, non-fiction books, and one ebook. I've edited for a Canadian student, a lawyer from Virginia, a restaurateur in North Carolina, a bookseller from Virginia, and businessmen from Australia, and I've re-written web sites.

And that's a tip of the iceberg.

If you have questions, just ask. I suspect I can help.

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ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The headline trifecta

As a former newspaper editor, I can appreciate a great headline, drop head and cutline (you'd call it a caption). The business section of the Dallas Morning News received praise for a story that hit the jackpot in all three categories.

The story is about a business that sells shoes called Heelys; apparently, the shoes have their own wheels, so you can skate at any time. According to the cutline, business peaked in 2006 and has declined since. The last sentence of the cutline says, "This year is called pivotal for the company to dust itself off and get rolling again." Perfect.


The main headline is this: "Is it all downhill for Heelys?" Again, perfect. And the drop head is "Shoemaker cobbling plans to regain traction." A third bit of perfection.


I doubt that I've seen a headline, drop head and cutline more suited to a story.


Thanks to Andy Bechtel of the University of North Carolina journalism department for pointing this out.

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ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)