I'm back at my desk after a fairly long break in my weekly routine. Everyone is back to school and to work, so the house is a little quieter than it has been. It's nice to have everyone gathered around for dinner, though. It's the highlight of my day.
During our break, Donald and I both did a bit of editing. He edited a few trees from our landscape, and I finished the print version of Get a Jump Start on College! A Practical Guide for Teens.
It's always hard for me to see a tree cut down, and the loss of five trees seems especially sad. But like unnecessary words in a book, they needed to come out. We hope that increasing the amount of sunlight that can reach our yard will help to dry it out, and encourage more flowers. And having fewer trees close enough to fall on the house in a hurricane seems a prudent idea.
Taking out what isn't working is what editing is all about. It can be a bit painful to cut out words that you've sweated over, but if removing them increases the clarity of the composition, they need to come out. If too many trees are keeping you in the dark, they may be better used as firewood.
Overall, I'm happy with the results of our editing projects. The front of our house seems much brighter than it did before the trees were cut, and I just received my proof galleys from the printer, and they look good. Be sure to watch for the new book on the website!
Janice, Your book sounds great. I already have Transcripts Made Easy and will probably get Jump Start also.
ReplyDeleteYou're an inspiration to me! I'm working on two ebooks myself (having to do with money and tax exempt status for homeschool groups). Do you do your own editing or get someone else to edit your work? I'm asking a friend who was a journalism major in college to edit my ebooks. My problem is that I want them 'perfect' before I give them to her. But she's such a good editor, there is no way it will be 'perfect'!
Carol
Your books sound good! I'm glad you've found TME helpful. I really love Jump Start, and I'm so glad it's finally done. It's been in the works for a long time!
ReplyDeleteI did everything for the first two editions of TME, and for Jump Start, but for the third edition of TME, which is almost done, I have handed it over to a friend who is a professional copyeditor. There is just no way to catch everything, because when I read something I wrote, I tend to read what I thought I wrote! And I've worked on TME for so long, I practically have it memorized.
I think it's ideal to have someone else look at your stuff, and even to lay it out if you don't have a good program. It gets it out so much faster than if you try to do everything.
I hope your books go well! Thanks for writing:-)-
Janice