The TBAG Lounge

A developmental editor can help you in ways that will cut down on your frustrations and your moments of doubt and fear...

In June 2019, I discussed the importance of finding the right editor for your book on The Book Publishing Show with Carrie Severson. My discussion was one of many in a list of insightful topics related to book publishing, which featured all throughout the month of June. In the podcast, I talked about the important things to look for in an editor, how to save on editing costs, and how to know if your editor is the right person for your project. Take a listen to the discussion

Shoba Sadler was a traditionally published author before the fanfare of being traditionally published wore off, leading her to the world of self-publishing. She has been a writer for 20 years and is the owner of Agape, a Christian magazine. She is also an award-winning author of Love's Treacherous Terrain and Child of Dust (which I've had the pleasure of reading and reviewing). She shares some of the pros and cons of traditional publishing in this blog post. I asked Shoba to

Jessica Ochuwa Abubakar was determined to publish her book of short stories when she reached out to me in June 2016. Later, she would detail the many challenges she faced to make that dream a reality. And years later, her story still comes to mind whenever I think about writers who have overcome obstacles to go on and become published authors. The Broken Hedge is a collection of four moving and powerful stories covering the themes of love, domestic violence, and betrayal. I i

Self-editing your manuscript saves you time and money on professional editing. One of our requirements for taking on medium to heavy editing projects, is for an author to have their work self-edited at least once. I ask authors to do this as a time and money saver, but also as a sanity saver for myself. Having to fix minor errors (like adding an "e" at the end of "tast" or removing an entra "e" from "tastee") can quickly become frustrating for an editor. Performing a simple s

Writing a book and getting it published - whether traditionally or self-published - is no easy feat. It takes years of late nights, early mornings, and many cups, mugs and glasses of tea, coffee, and wine to see it through. Which makes it is a journey worth celebrating once you cross the finish line. Unfortunately, many writers are unsure of how to put together an elegant launch that doesn't put them in the financial hole, but it still a celebration worth talking about. To he

A few years ago, I wrote and finished my first book. A memoir of sorts. It was never published. And, I don't intend to have it published, although that was my intention when I started writing it. Over the last several years, I have gone back and forth in my mind about getting it edited and published. But I keep hitting a wall of internal resistance. The reasons I am skittish about publishing it are many. The main reason being that the book was written from a raw and hurting p

I was an administrative assistant and, later, a paralegal before becoming a freelance editor. Because of my administrative experience, I assumed everyone knew about track changes and how to collaborate using the system. It was after I thoroughly edited a client's manuscript and sent it back to her that I discovered this was not the case. Needless to say, it was a teaching moment for me as an editor. Many editors work on manuscripts in word format using track changes. With the

This morning, I decided to hike one of the Kennesaw Mountains trails with my 20-month old daughter. It wasn't long before what was supposed to be a regular climb soon became a journey full of lessons. Here are 7 observations I made on the way up to the peak. On the Way to the Top: The road/trail to the top is long and winding. Literally! Experience: The trail looped around the mountain so that it was difficult to see the top. And because of the loops, it was also difficult to

In early 2014, I had just begun life as a full-time writer and editor and things were a little slow. To fill that time, I got engaged in a number of activities that I hoped would lead to closing a few deals. One such activity was writing for a Christian community magazine for free. Yes, I said free. There are a lot of opinions out there that discuss whether or not writers should volunteer their skills and time for exposure instead of cash. I typically side with the argument