Why Every Author Needs To Update Their Editing Skills

 

 

Why Every Author Needs to Know Editing

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

Author of The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing
Now In Its Third Edition

 

Last month I contributed an article “Ten Easy Ways to Keep Dialogue Sharp
to this #WritersontheMove blog with a promise to give authors reasons why
they need to know all the editing skills they can work into their busy writing 
schedule including those for writing dialogue that I covered last week. I hoped to entice
even nonfiction writers who don’t often use dialogue to start using
it. Even newspapers that once

demanded strict "who, how, were, and why leads”
 now include anecdotes in their front-page stories!

 

It surprises people when they learn that grammar rules change over time. Or that what they learned in high school or advanced grammar classes in college is either passé or may not apply to fiction. It also surprises them to learn that a perfectly edited book is never perfect because there are always so many disagreements among experts. And even experts are often misinformed. The worlds of grammar and style choices are filled with myths and misinformation like, “Never use contractions in your writing,” “Never use fragments,” and “Never end a sentence with a preposition.” Further, as my client base grew, I kept running into common misconceptions and outright annoying style choices that would never fly in the publishing world. Thus, a new edition of The Frugal Editor was a must! And, thus, I keep battling decades old misinformation about editing—especially among newer authors. 

 

But what about authors who can proudly point to decades of publishing? Well, sometimes they suffer a little hubris. They think they have done well without worrying about spending time on what they know from high school grammar classes. and therefore already know. So we’ll start off with a smattering of what is new in my The Frugal Editor in its third edition—new in that last few years, in fact! And—if you scroll a bit—you’ll find another list of editing myths you—still believe—yes! You personally—that just happen to still be lying in wait for an occasion to embarrass (humiliate!?) you:

·       The Third Edition of The Frugal Editor has been reorganized, and my publisher Victor Volkman at Modern History Press tells me I outdid myself with about 50% new (helpful!) material including new “Editor’s Extras” based on my own school of hard knocks!

·       Authors will love the all-new sections including:

o    Beta readers and peer reviewers

o    What you probably don’t know about custom dictionaries

o    Up-to-date rules for accommodating gender-specific and other cultural needs

o    A chapter for word-lovers and poets

o    Quickie reviews of word processors for you

o    What even traditionally accepted front and back matter can do for your book sales, your career, and your readers

o    Political Correctness considerations change and grow with each passing day. So, yes! Lots of updating here!

·       The Third Edition of The Frugal Editor still includes the basics that make you into an on-your-own editor when you must be. Few writers other than Stephen King can afford to hire an editor for every query letter, every media release, every media kit, every blog post. So until your career is so star-studded you can afford a publicist and editor on a retainer basis, writers need to know both the basics of editing and the little-known secrets.

·       The third edition is still loaded with reader favorites like what authors need to know about book covers—another aspect of publishing that even experienced authors might leave entirely up to others—but it’s updated!

·       New information will dispel myths like these:

o    Agents are a cantankerous lot. (Nope! In The Frugal Editor, twenty-one of the nation's best tell you their pet peeves and they do it in the best of spirits.)

o    If your English teacher told you something is OK, it is. (No! Language rules have changed since you were a sophomore. Anyway, your English teachers likely have no background in publishing, so apart from basic grammar, how much help can they be?

o    If a manuscript or query is grammar-perfect, you'll be fine. (No! Lots of things that are grammatically correct annoy publishers.)

o    Always use your Spell and Grammar Checker. (No! Some suggest you don't use it at all, but The Frugal Editorwill help you make it your partner instead of your enemy.)

o    It's easy to avoid agent and editor scams by asking other writers. Even other professionals! (The Frugal Editorgives you a to-do and not-to-do lists to help you avoid being taken even when you are doing just that. )

o    Your publisher will assign a top-flight editor. Even big five publishers are having budget problems and many cut expenses by using less experienced/qualified editors. (Maybe, but don't count on it. The more you know, the better partner you’ll be for an editor!)

o    Formatters and editors will take care of the hyphens, ellipses, and all the other grungy little punctuation marks that English teachers avoided teaching because they didn't know how to use them either. (Chances are, you'll catch even great formatters and editors—the ones you pay for their services—in an error or two if you know your stuff!

o    When you do know your stuff, you’ll feel more comfortable defying all kinds of rules that are still extant. You’ll even feel comfortable explaining to your editor why this choice is an improvement for this particular title, voice, time, or era.

 

NOTE: The parts of this article bulleted are reprints (edited and updated) from one of my sell sheets. They are widely used in publishers’ and authors’ review-getting process using query letters, ARCs, and accompanying marketing materials. Find a sample of sell sheets—front, back, and footer—in the Appendix of The Frugal Editor, third edition.

You’ll find the first part of this plea of mine for writers right here on Karen Cioffi’s Writers on the Move
blog in my column on basic dialogue tips posted  in May, 2025.

It will give you ten reasons why knowing more 
editing than your do already might make

you a better (and happier) writer . 

Go to:  
 https://www.writersonthemove.com/2025/05/dialogues-ten-basic-cant-go-wrong-rules.html

 

MORE ABOUT TODAY’S WRITERS ON THE MOVE CONTRIBUTOR

Carolyn Howard-Johnson was an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writer's Program for nearly a decade. The first book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books, The Frugal Book Promoter, won USA Book News' Best Professional Book Award and Book Publicists of Southern California's Irwin Award. The second, The Frugal Editor, is the winningest book in her HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers (The first edition was named best of 2004 by USA Book News.) TFEIII includes many more editing tips on dialogue—even punctuation for dialogue. Learn more about building a career in the publishing world at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. 

 

“Careers that are not fed die as readily as any living
 organism given no sustenance.”

·       

Fiction Isn’t Fiction After All, Memories Are the Stuff of Writing

 

Is this where memories sometimes reside? Could be. They’re Sneaky.

 

  

 

A Little Story On the Joys of Writing

 

Memories, Personal Growth, and How Fiction Isn't Fiction After All

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson

 

 

This is a story that goes way back, the story of a critique group, how it developed into much more, and how it lives as a study in the way life changes. I spent several hours breaking bread with my very longtime critique group. The bread was a focaccia strewn with bits of rosemary, onions, garlic and oregano and, probably, drenched with olive oil—to which I add more olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a dip just to be sure it is really as fattening as possible. I eat the crust; Leora Krygier (www.leorakrygier.com) eats the insides. Just like Jack Sprat and his wife. It has become a tradition.

 

It is not a large critique group. It started with four of us. We were among about 20 enrolled in a four-day writers' conference (they now call it a Studio) at UCLA Extension Writers' Program (https://www.uclaextension.edu ). Our teacher, Phyllis Gebauer, suggested we would be perfect critique partners. We worked together for a year and then one of our number, Iris, dwindled away to Washington D.C. I kept in touch with her, but not as avidly as I should, though last year I sent her an assortment of my huge, chartreuse gladiola bulbs via USPS.

 

It was an unusual group not only because of its longevity. After watching us grow and publish, Phyllis—our instructor—asked if she might join us. We—her former students— were floating on air. This was a kind of personal affirmation, as exquisite in its way as getting an agent or a publisher. Our former teacher thinking we had something to offer her in terms of critique.

 

We were four, then five, then—eventually—back to three. Three little piggies who relished our favorite restaurants—the ones with the best focaccias, almost as much as we did writing. Only three left of the five of us. I took notes of the day we discussed     websites, a new program I found on the Science channel moderated by the tech columnist at the New York Times that still reruns occasionally on Prime, I think. I read a poem (did you know that flowers are all about sex?), Leora (author of When She Sleeps) read the beginning of a proposal for a book of nonfiction (something quite new for her) and Phyllis read from her work-in-progress, Hot Widow and told us that it had been accepted for publication. JayCe Crawford, our Cup of Comfort contributor, was attending to a sick friend and we missed her. She is the fastidious one who keeps our t's crossed. You can see, we've all published. 

 

Later I then I became one of Phyllis's fellow UCLA instructors. It was quite a ride that eventually afforded me UCLA Extension’s Instructors Development Program. They offered all the classes in it to their instructors as one of the benefits. I took every single one and framed the tiny little “sheepskin” for a wall in office. It was the kind of benefit that keeps giving.

 

And then our instructor cum fellow critique announced she would not be finishing her latest book but bowing to cancer instead. She left behind her several UCLA teaching awards and her library of books to UCLA’s library—most of them first editions of great prize-winners over the extent of her life including many hand-signed by the authors who had once been students and other associates.

 

So, aside from this ramble from a writer who loves to write, what's this all about? 

 

Memories and how they affect our writing, nonfiction or fiction.

 

Memories are what writing and life (or life and writing) are made of. In fact, I don't think there is such a thing as true fiction. Everything, however made up by playing the "What if?" game, is rooted in experience. An author describes a room or garden? She's been there before, or she's reassembling parts of several gardens she's seen. She builds a character? No character is wholly original. No matter how carefully a fictional character has been drawn, the author has seen those traits in some individual, some novel, or some movie before. Or maybe a dream. If that weren't true, that character wouldn't come off as real.

 

Readers, too, bring their real memories to a story, visualize it similarly to what they've experienced. So, what we do every day—as writers or readers—is important to writing, to what we bring to a book when we read it. 

 

Oh! That reminds me. It's also about 

 

Personal Growth and how our friends help us move ahead.

 

About one year later. Phyllis's book, the one we critiqued a year go, is a reality. Before she died she read an excerpt from Hot Widow (which I happen to know was based on many of her personal memories! Wowser!) at Pasadena's famous independent bookstore, Vroman's still going after well over 100 years. Leora and Joey and I were—of course!—here. We had dinner first and then be in the audience, proud little piggies that we are. Cheering.

 

And one day that feeling we had for a fellow writer or those book-laden shelves, or that Indian dinner? One of them is sure to show up in something we write. I guess all three already have.

 

 

Tips and Tidbits and Another Memory This is an example of a piece I once included in each of well more than 200 “Back to Literature” columns I wrote for the now closed MyShelf.com where I met many reviewers, mostly authors of books generous enough to share and promote other authors as well. You’ll sometimes see them crop up in articles I write in other places, too. Here it is: (Each month in this box, Carolyn lists a Tidbit that will help authors write or promote better. She will also include a Tip to help readers find a treasure among long-neglected books or a sapphire among the newly-published.) Writers' Tidbit: :Writers will find lots of inspiration, promotion tips and guidance on craft at my blog, www.SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com They can even subscribe to have posts delivered to their mailboxes. They'll also find a long list of other writing-related blogs in one of what bloggers call "segments." Scroll to the end of the page for that list and segments that include other valuable resources for writers.   Readers' Tip: Book Expo America is a tradeshow for publishing professionals. When I was there  Cushing-Malloy, Inc, a manufacturer of books, was celebrating their 60 year anniversary. They gave out a nifty little reading light that works as a bookmark, too. I love it and highly recommend it for readers. It's not something I would have purchased for myself, but now I've seen how handy it is, I would! I'm sure you can buy one at most good bookstores.

 

 

MORE ABOUT THE WRITERS ON THE MOVE CONTRIBUTOR

 

This column may one day appear in a memoir my publisher tells me I must write, but no apologies if that never happens. Memories and sharing are indeed the joys that keep most of us writing. Whether it makes it to a memoir or not. But if you’re curious if that ever happens, follow me on the Authors’ Profile that Amazon provides to its writers and follow me to receive a notice of each new book. They don’t come out super often; somehow the writing of the moment seems to fill the time necessary required to be a prolific writer of books. And learn more the books I have managed to publish in these years of intense writing on my website. 

How to Make Writing Come Alive for Readers and Writers Alike

Carolyn doing what she preaches, spreading the word, having the fun!

Connecting to Authors Counts

 

Carolyn Rants About How to Make Reading
 Feel Like the Real Thing

 

By Carolyn Howard-Johnson, novelist, poet and multi award-winning author 
of the #HowToDoItFrugallySeries of Books for Writers

 

Many years ago when I was beginning to dedicate myself to writing—meaning writing real books and not having other work to attend to, the LA Times reported that Harper Collins had hatched a program to “draw authors and readers together.”

What a wonderful concept! It seems new at the time, a possibility that could be nurtured with the coming of the Internet. And, yes, I’m being facetious. 

 The giant publisher offered up their big-name authors for an “Invite the Author” program. Authors like Ann Patchett (author of Bel Canto) and Wally Lamb (author of This Much I Know is True) would speak by phone to the members of a very few book clubs—chosen by lottery, no less! It seemed like a great idea to me. I was working on my the first book soon to become part of a series for writers (The Frugal Book Promoter, now in its third edition).

Of course this was a new idea of inspired by the best of marketing’s intentions—to make PR more about serving the public than mere “selling” which was okay by me especially since they publish lots of excellent titles that can be classified as literary, a genre I saw as losing ground since my days as an English major. What T’d me off is that these ladies from one of the chosen clubs, the Digressing Divas Book Club in Michigan, were so excited because they “had never met an author or talked to one before.” Can you imagine? Weren’t bookstores doing that? Libraries? But it me realize there must be avid readers who think that authors are a bit untouchable. It convinced me of what I had started to observe on my own. We all could do more but the newly minted POD authors otherwise known as the self-published had been eschewing marketing of all kinds because from what they observed it was a job for publishers and beneath the talents of creatives—that is, authors! 

Today, things have changed. I was a slog to get us to realize that not matter how we publish we are at least in part responsible for our own book’s success, our own relationships with our readers. Many authors of literary works (and other genres, too) had been keeping themselves cloistered but not all. Today even the most literary, most hightly paid ones have websites—even participate on the content we find there.  They have easily accessed e-mail addresses. They have blogs and newsletters! They have bared their very souls to their readers in their writing, for heaven’s sakes!

Today it’s easy to find authors. Look up their names on Google. Once found, visit their site and sign their guest books. Most (at least the smart ones) would be pleased to send you a signed bookplate if you ask. Most will answer your note.

Lacking an e-mail address or an interactive feature on their website, authors can be reached by writing to their publisher who passes these letters on to the author. This is not a new process. It has been going on for decades. What a concept! A personal letter with the distinct possibility that a reader will get a personal note back complete with a valued signature! 

Oh, and book signings. Well, granted some big chains got awfully uppity about who they allowed to appear on their premises, but most towns, large and small have realized the potential for an author to visit and chat with book lovers. So, if “Digressing Divas” everywhere are all that excited about chatting with authors, maybe they should be telling their bookstore proprietors about their needs. In fact there are lots of ways they can keep that author-reader relationship ball rolling:

~What would happen if B&N invited an author from a small press so their customers could get copy of an autographed first novel, maybe even a honest-to-goodness first edition? 

~And what if they actually promoted this new author? 

~And what if the people who came actually found a new voice, a new author to adore?

~“Digressing Divas” could also hound their libraries a bit. A former Nobel prize nominee, Dr. Alicia Ghiragossian, Stephen Veres, author of A Light in the Distance, and I spoke on “The Three Faces of Tolerance” at our local library. Other authors like Pat Morrison, Vincent Bugliosi and poet Bart Edelman have spoken to those in our not-so-large community as part of this same series. None of us said “No.” Some of these authors may someday be the Oateses or Faulkners or Roths of the literary world with—or without the help of a publisher.

Here’s more proof: We now have a Literacy Day. This year it’s on Mon, Sep 8, 2025.  We might still not have an opportunity to find the world’s most famous authors at every bookstore or featured on every segment of Ali Velshi’s book club (MSNBC), but it’s an opportunity to meet people who write, people with opinions and people with talent.

Our “Diva” book-clubbers could invite authors to come talk to their clubs, these days, especially if one live in their town or even region. I know several authors who have spoken to as few as twelve avid readers cozied around the fireplace at a club member’s home. One of those is Leora G. Krygier, author of First the Raven.

Some authors even teach at colleges in your area. Author Beverly J. Scott even took a road tour in one of her collectible Edsels so she could meet people in small towns!

 

Real Ideas for Making Readers and Authors Who Read
 Feel More Connected 

 

• Write to authors when you’ve read their books.
• Look up an author on Amazon.com. She may even have a link to a special biography page and/or an e-mail address.
• Check out AuthorsDen.com. Wow! What an array of writers!
• Attend book signings. Occasionally attend even if you haven’t ever read a book by the starring author.
• Join groups that invite authors to speak. Even investment groups are known to do that. I know. I was among the 300 guests in the banquet hall!
• Attend your local library’s events.
• Let your bookstore know when you have read something you enjoy, especially if you had to go to Amazon.com to buy it. Ask them to invite that author to visit their store.
• Read your paper’s Book Review section (you’ll sometimes find them in sections labeled “Opinion” or “Voices” these days); use some of the website addresses you find there to contact publishers and authors.
• Most of all, just ask for your bookish little heart’s desire. You might get it. Cross-promotion among authors is known to be one of the best promotions of all.
• If you find an author who isn’t receptive, find yourself another.

 

 

MORE ABOUT THE “WRITERS ON THE MOVE” CONTRIBUTOR

 

Howard-Johnson is the recipient of the California Legislature’s Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment Award, and her community’s Character and Ethics award for her work promoting tolerance with her writing. She was also named to Pasadena Weekly’s list of “Fourteen San Gabriel Valley women who make life happen” and was given her community’s Diamond Award for Achievement in the Arts.  Carolyn writes nonfiction for writers, poetry, and fiction and has studied writing at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom; Herzen University in St. Petersburg, Russia; and Charles University, Prague. She is also celebrating more than a year of writing this column for Susan Violante’s First Chapter Plus and occasionally contributes to Reader Views’ blog as well. Please follow her author’s profile page on Amazon at https://bit.ly/CarolynsAmznProfile to receive notice of her new books right to your e-mail address.