Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
QFT.
I agree completely.
I'm making my living editing fiction at the moment, and I've written those letters. I've got both reactions, too.
However, I have seen disasters that were made worse by bad editors - especially those who advertise their services to unpublished writers.
(For the record, I'm not being paid by the writers whose work I'm editing).
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Oh, there's a lot of charlatans and snake oil in the publishing game. Start with "vanity" presses, proceed through people like agents who charge a reading fee and "publishers" whose business model is to charge you for the various services that are part of publishing your book, and who make money whether or not your book actually
sells, and stir in book doctors of dubious provenance.
If someone tried to get me to pay them for editing assistance, I'd want to see a sample client list. Who else used you for help? What books have actually been
published by a major publisher because you worked on them? What is your background, and what makes you qualified to be an editor?
And for a lot of folks, admitting they could
use the help may be the biggest barrier to seeking it. I used to peek in on various writers forums, and it became clear quickly that what the majority of posters wanted wasn't actual advice. They wanted to be told how great their writing was, and reacted badly to any suggestions for improvement.
Some folks decide to self-publish after getting nowhere submitting through the regular channels. Well, maybe there's a
reason you didn't get anywhere with major publishers...
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Dennis