The last day of July and I want to provide an update on my progress to publishing MURPHY’S TROUBLES.  With the help of Jeff Gauger the book cover is brand new and has already been uploaded into Create Space.  I am been working with author and retired Journalism Professor Marshall J. Cook on substantive/content/copyediting.  Marshall was very astute and suggested two additional chapters were needed to give both depth and context to the story.  Of course, I heeded Marshall’s suggestions and crafted to additional chapters and had him edit them.  The manuscript has been modified with these additions and is now 275 pages, about 84,000 words.

Currently I’m seeking a proofreader, which has proven more exasperating than expected.  First, there are many terms that are used:  copy editing, line editing, proofreading, etc.  There are some who want to do copy editing and proofreading as a “package” and the price tag is quite high.  Working with Marshal, I’m satisfied that the manuscript has been content edited and copy edited so I’m trying to find a proofreader.

My guess is that proofreading will take 1-2 months.  If that is the case, in theory, the manuscript can be uploaded to Create Space in October.  There are adjustments that need to be made after uploading the document but I think an October publication appears to be within reach.  I’ll keep you posted.    

I’m at the stage of self-publication to need copyediting/proofreading services.  I asked one of my writing teachers for a recommendation for a local person and received one.  I dashed off an e-mail to learn if the person was currently available to take on another client.  The response I received corrected me; she was a line editor, not a copy editor or proofreader.  I thought the response was a bit high minded but the description of the services made sense. Her fee was $45/hr which was within the range I had researched on line for this type of service.  She asked for the first chapter of my novel and I sent a file on July 6th.

The first chapter is six pages, about 1830 words.  How long can it take to read those few pages and make a proposal?  It took three follow-up e-mails to receive a response on July 21st.  She estimated she would charge $200 for the first six pages.  At that rate line editing my novel would cost over $9000!  After reading just six pages she concluded:  I’m at the beginning stages of the novel and stated:  “My strong suggestion is to take a class in constructing the short story –this will strengthen your understanding of how to avoid cultural stereotypes and produce a complex protagonist who is a real individual; how to stick to a strictly internal POV; how to introduce back-story convincingly; and above all, how to expose conflict gradually, instead of all at once.”

Guess what?  The editor teaches short story writing.  Also, the editor has only published short stories, never a full length novel.  The critique is harsh and not transparent in being self-serving to attempt to get me to take one or more of her short story classes.

I understand that short story writing is a difficult and unique form in the writing profession.  I’m not writing a short story, it’s a novel.  A short story is a song while a novel is a symphony.  Her comments also convinced me she hasn’t kept up with current teaching on novel writing such as Donald Maass’s, WRITING THE BREAKHOUT NOVEL, where he implores authors to have conflict dripping on every page.

While her response was both subtle and tactful it still had the affect of slicing and dicing my novel to shreds.  Where is her support for a first time novelist?  She broke the cardinal rule of critique, praise the good and make suggestions for improvement.

I admit at first reading her comments were devastating and sent me into deep depression.  With this blog I’m exorcising her from my psyche and moving on.  I’ll find an editor I can work with.  

Several weeks ago my wife and I took a mini-vacation to the La Crosse area for a weekend bicycle riding.  We like to stay at a farm bed & breakfast about 35 miles north of La Crosse.  The Mississippi is the western border of Trempealeau County and inland is the drift fewer regions filled with coulees and corkscrew county roads.  We biked for about an hour until we gave in to the relentless rain.  After eating lunch in the car we decided to visit a winey our bed and breakfast hosts had suggested. 

There is one handwritten sign on County Road C – “Winery” with an arrow.  We drove on Joe Coulee road for about five miles until another handwritten sign bid us to turn left.  We drove around the bottom of a hill, looked to our right, and there sat the winery at the top of the hill.  The tasting was free and we were told to ask for John.  John turned out to be pouring the samples and explaining the nuances of each wine.  We bought two glasses to enjoy on the porch and a bottle to take home.

John joined us on the porch with a glass of wine and we enjoyed a wonderful hour and a half conversation.  John explained that owning the winery was a lifestyle choice; he was a retired consulting engineer, who wanted a more relaxed environment.  From the winery porch the hills rolled to the south in layers of flush green woods and pockets of water vapor trapped in the coulees, it was bucolic.  John told us about twenty years ago he decided to make his life mission to live graciously.  He then decided to make his business goal for the winery to produce a wine that would enhance the level of gracious living.

John’s lifestyle and life choices served as his definition of gracious living and it struck a chord for me, one of those “ah-ha” moments in life.  After thinking about it for a short time I worried that maybe gracious living was self-indulgent.  I googled the term gracious living and found these definitions:  kindness and warm courtesy; tact and propriety; courteous and indulgent; beauty and graceful; elegance and good taste; benevolent; merciful and compassionate and civil.

Sometimes there are coincidences that are not explainable and meeting John Gill was one for me.  There is a lesson for me our conversation.  I too, want to live graciously.     

At least once a week I check this blog just in case someone leaves a comment.  This week I glanced at the first sentence and was horrified to read the wrong word “below” instead of “belong”.  As we all know from experience, spell check doesn’t catch this type of anomaly.  It’s sad really.  With today’s programming geniuses you would think someone could develop a program that would also check context and suggest corrections to these types of mistakes.

Making that type of mistake embarrassing, my only solace is that nearly every writer has had that happen.  With a mistake in the lead sentence I thought I should re-read the entire post.  Guess what?  Another error, I wrote “authors experience” instead of “authors’ experience” and this error was in the second sentence!  This was a classic proofreading error.

To say the least, I am humbled by my own fallibility.  I apologize to readers for not being more careful.  I’ll strive to do better in the future.  

 I below to a lot (read +15) author/publishing chat groups on linkedin.  In the spring I posed a question on independent authors experience with create space, lulu or other sites.  I was pleased to receive responses for three weeks and a number of very detailed responses.  Due to my less than scientific survey and my own review I’ve decided to use the create space services available through Amazon.

I am now in the market for copywriting services. With my previous success I decided to query 10 of my linkedin chat groups with the question – what are you paying either per work or per page for copy editing services?  This time the responses varied.  I received four offers, with a fee quote for each.  The best response provided a website, www.the-efa.org for the Editorial Freelances Association.  I wasn’t aware such an organization existed.  All writers who need factual information on the type and professional fees charged for a variety of editorial services should visit this site.

I plan on using this site to determine if the fees proposed are current, fair and represent professional work.  For me, having an editor belong to this organization will be critical.  Once again, experience has proven that there are a myriad of ways for independent authors to network, share information, and be supportive in our “Brave New World of Publishing” (sorry Aldous).