Sophie Gillespie Editing

I’ve been super busy over the last few months! Currently working on a gorgeous illustrated guide to puppet animation in filmmaking for Bloomsbury, and an academic book about the history of the maritime industry in Asia for Routledge. Looking forward to reading (and editing!) chapter two of an indie client’s fab crime novel next week - I was really impressed when I worked on chapter one a few months ago. #lovemyjob.

Proofreading a gripping crime thriller for a publisher. I love it when I get to read a good story while I’m working! I’ll give it a shout out once it’s published - I’d highly recommend it. Also busy with other projects and booked up through to the middle of July. Reserve your editing slot for end of July and onwards; contact me today for a personalised quote!

Just finished copy editing the humorous memoir of a rags-to-riches solicitor. It’s such an honour to be entrusted with such personal writing and to help make it shine. Now taking bookings for May and onwards! Get in touch today for a personalised quote.

Currently working on the last chapter of a huge academic book about Canadian First Peoples. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this project. Now taking bookings for end of March/April and forward. Contact me for a personalised quote!

****CHRISTMAS DISCOUNTS****
I am offering a fantastic promotion this Christmas and New Year: 20% off my editing service for independent authors!
I am nearly booked up for January, but can book you in at this great reduced rate for slots from February onwards.
... Contact me today at www.sophiegillespie.com/authors--publishe rs.html, or email me at sophie@sophiegillespie.com for further details.
Offer valid on bookings taken until 15 January 2018.
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I love working with independent authors who are going to self publish. I am hugely privileged to be entrusted with an author's story, which they have put so much love and hard work into. It is my great honour to do justice to work that obviously means so much to its creator.

Make sure your characters' names are historically accurate. This blog post from the Historical Novel Society helpfully rounds up some of the best resources for researching names from the past. www.historicalnovelsociety.org/looking-fo r-historically-acc….

Publishing company actively seeking new submissions.

Are your characters going on a journey? Make sure the distances and timings are accurate! For calculating distances and times by sea, try this site: www.sea-distances.org. For driving and flying, I recommend www.travelmath.com.

Happy November! Today is day one of the National Novel Writing Month, known as NaNoWriMo. Visit https://nanowrimo.org/ to find out more and get involved, and look out for video content on my page to help you out along the way!

FYI folks - my website has just been updated with new content - more detail in the authors & publishers section, prices for academic work, and the FAQs are now complete! Check it out and feel free to let me know what you think. www.sophiegillespie.com.

How can a manuscript benefit from editing before being submitted to publishers or for self-publishing? Here are three steps you can take yourself to make sure your manuscript is in top shape.
(1) Clean up and make sure the spelling, punctuation and grammar are accurate. Yes it's true that if a publisher accepts your work they will 'take care' of this before publication. But you've got to get past the eagle eyes of the busy acquisitions editor first, and as an editor, let me t...ell you we twitch when we see a misplaced apostrophe! Similarly, make sure the font, layout and headings are all clean and don't distract from the story.
(2) Make a list of every single plot point and tick them off to make sure they all get resolved (or, if you intend to leave them open-ended, there should be some kind of marker to that effect). Plots can often get abandoned during the re-writing process and you need to pay close attention to ensuring they are completely erased.
(3) Keep a master list of all your characters' traits and then read through your manuscript again, making sure that hair doesn't change colour, voices remain consistent in dialogue and that everything the character says conforms to their personality, level of education, age, background etc.
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Today I'm interested in writers' opinions on the contentious issue of 'cultural appropriation' in fiction. Bestselling books such as 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett and 'Memoirs of a Geisha' by Arthur Golden came under fire for 'ventriloquizing' for other cultures*. But isn't ventriloquism part of what fiction writing is all about? Should a white male such as Arthur Golden stick to telling stories in the voice of other white men? Part of a copy-editor's role is to flag up areas of potential offence within a manuscript, but this is a minefield of subjectivity. What are your thoughts? *some examples of articles addressing this are provided in the first comment.

If you tend to see American English as full of new-fanglisms and as a corruption of ‘real’ English, then you might need to think again. ‘American’ usages such as ‘gotten’ and vocabulary such as ‘diaper’ were actually a solid part of the English language as it was brought over to the colonies in the 17th century. America retained these words and usages, while over time back in Blighty we dropped the past participle ‘gotten’ and switched to the new-fangled word ‘nappy’. So it’s actually the Brits who bastardised the language, and the Americans who remained true to its roots!

Ways your business can benefit from professional editing and proofreading: #2 avoid costly and reputation-damaging misunderstandings by ensuring that your written materials are accurate and crystal clear to understand.