2016 Editing Commissions and Client New Releases

It's been a hectic start to 2016. Already in the bag:

Literary (content and copy) edit of The Far Side of Creation (Vanx Malic 7) by M.R. Mathias, and The House by P.M. Prior.

Currently working on a content and copy edit of The Engine Woman's Light by Laurel Anne Hill.


Here's the cover and blurb for The House, which was released today:

AMAZON

It was meant to be a place of safety. Their home. Her sanctuary. 

When Prue Bridgewater first glimpses the abandoned old house, it's love at first sight. Her husband Ray is not so sure. 

The property has been neglected for decades, and Ray can’t help wondering why. But with Prue on the brink of a nervous breakdown, he’ll do whatever it takes to keep her sane, even if it means he has to live there. 

Once ensconced in their new home, Prue begins fixing up the place while Ray is away at work. And then a series of disturbing discoveries makes her fear she's losing her mind. 

She hears things and sees people who couldn’t possibly be there, and she can’t shake the feeling she’s being watched. 

As Prue’s hold on reality begins to disintegrate, along with her marriage, she struggles to tell truth from delusion. But things go from bad to worse, and soon not just her sanity, but her survival hinges upon the long-buried secrets of THE HOUSE. 

Mitchell Hogan Wins Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel

Homunculus client, Mitchell Hogan, has just won the Aurealis Award for Best Fantasy Novel for his debut novel, A Crucible of Souls. Aurealis Award Winners

The book received editing input early on from John Jarrold, and then was copy edited by me. It has subsequently been thoroughly re-edited by me for style, content, and further copy, and Mitchell has redrafted significant amounts.

The story has an astonishing breadth of characterisation, intrigue, and world building, and the good news is that book 2, Blood of Innocents, is not far from being released.

I've completed the stage one literary edit and am now working through Mitchell's redrafts. It's a lengthy, but extremely rewarding, process that seeks to tighten structure, clarify prose, and enhance dramatic tension. In every respect, Blood of Innocents is a worthy sequel to A Crucible of Souls, and really ramps up the action, taking the story in a compelling direction.

A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan

I'm pleased to announce the start of a very promising new fantasy trilogy, A Crucible of Souls, by Mitchell Hogan. For a debut novel this is more than a little impressive. Mitchell has redrafted multiple times and the effort really shows. Characters are vividly drawn, multi-layered, and in one or two cases, compelling.

Crucible is recognizably epic fantasy, with an orphaned protagonist who is apprenticed and discovers exceptional skills whilst also uncovering an intriguing family history that may have serious implications for his future. But in additional to the standard epic tropes, Hogan joins with the new wave of fantasy authors in his use of morally ambivalent characters, distinct and tight points of view, believable world building, an intelligible magic system, and some edgy, gritty content.

Mitchell engaged fantasy legend John Jarrold for the first round of story editing and after that passed the book to me for copy editing, plus some additional content notes. After some judicious cutting and sharpening of the prose, he let me have it back for proofreading.

It's been a great project to work on for me, particularly given the author's work ethic and willingness to do whatever it takes to make the book as good as possible.

A Crucible of Souls should be available as an ebook within the next few weeks, and will be released as a paperback shortly afterwards.

If any of you reviewers out there would like an ARC, please send me an email and I'll forward it to the author.

Uneasy Lies the Crown

I've just finished copy editing Uneasy Lies the Crown by N. Gemini Sasson. This is a skilfully written historical-fiction based on the Welsh uprising against the English which was led by Owain Glyndur. The book has a sweeping scope and the author selectively zooms in on incidents and characters in a way that is reminiscent of a Shakespearean history.

The characterisation is top notch, and the action is eminently human, spanning glorious eights and despairing lows. There are terrific portraits of Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V, Harry Hotspur, Rhys Ddu, and particularly Owain himself and his wife, Margaret.

One of the best books I've edited to date.

Next up is a short from K. Gorman and then something out of the ordinary from Sibel Hodge.

Editing News

I've just finished edits for Sibel Hodge (It's a Catastrophe!) and Rex Jameson (Hallow's Ween).

I'm currently working on a non-fiction book by Victorine Lieske.

Paula is working on a copy edit for Curtis Hox.

Next week I start on a historical fiction by N. Gemini-Sasson.

As usual, please send all queries (even if you just have a question about writing or editing) to derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

Best Fantasy and Best Novel

Congratulations to Moses Siregar for his novel The Black Gods War which has just won Best Novel and Best Fantasy in the eFestival of Words. I provided both content and copy editing for the novel fairly early on in the process. Moses is an extremely diligent and hardworking author, and he's utterly deserving of the recognition.

Check the book out here

Recent Edits -- David Dalglish; M.R. Mathias

I've just completed a copy edit for David Dalglish's The Broken Pieces, the final book in the Paladins series. I've also just finished a literary edit of M.R. Mathias's Through the Wildwood (The Legend of Vanx Malic).

As always, it's been a pleasure working with these two prolific authors, both of whom are always utterly professional.

Editing Schedule

I'm currently working on a literary edit of The Legend of Vanx Malic (Book 1 -- Through the Wildwood) by M.R. Mathias.

Next up is a copy edit of the fourth Paladins book by David Dalglish, and then I have commissions from Sibel Hodge and Rex Jameson.

Please email me with all your editing, proofing, beta reading queries and I'll do my best to slot you into a date that suits your schedule.

Angel's Breath by Valmore Daniels

Here's a new release from Valmore Daniels. I did a copy edit for this book, second in the series, earlier in the month.

My name is Richard Riley. All I ever wanted was to lead a normal life.

When I was younger, I made some bad choices that ended with me in prison. I served my time, and now I am trying to put my life back together.

But someone has framed me for a crime I didn't commit. They want me dead, and they're willing to kill my friends and family to get to me.

Even as I try to save the people I love, a dark and ancient power grows inside me. I can feel its anger rising.

If it gets away from me, it will rip everything in my life apart.




Amazon link

Latest edit -- M.R. Mathias -- The Wizard and the Warlord

I've just finished a massive literary edit on The Wizard and the Warlord by M.R. Mathias. This is the third book in Mathias's Wardstone trilogy and is a truly epic tale.

The twists and turns, characterisation, and sheer breadth of world building in this series are astonishing. Those things, along with literally hundreds of character names, demons, and all manner of strange creatures, make it a potential editing nightmare. Suitably forewarned, though, I compiled a Wardstone dictionary during the first two sweeps of the text and was able to reference that throughout the final edit.

It's not very often I actually enjoy a book I'm editing. Editing, by its nature, is a very exacting process and I tend to hate whatever I am working on at the time. When I look at the finished books again some months later, my outlook has changed and I usually really like them. With this edit, however, I found myself enjoying the story and the humour at each stage.

I've worked on a few Mathias books now, and have read a couple of others. Without a doubt, The Wizard and the Warlord is his best work to date.

Bookings for 2012

I'm finished with my last commission of 2011 and have started accepting bookings for 2012. My next available date for an edit is 15th February 2012.

Booking your edit

I have occasionally had authors book a service for a specific date and then not send the manuscript. This has sometimes resulted in me turning away other clients for the same date and is both costly and time consuming. In order to mitigate against this sort of thing I've decided to request a non refundable retainer of $50 in order to book a date for an edit to start. This fee will then be deducted from the total cost for the edit.

It is important to make sure that your manuscript will be ready for editing by the agreed date otherwise you may lose the retainer and have to pay for another booking. If, however, you have booked a date and realise that it is unlikely you'll be able to meet the deadline, please contact me at your earliest opportunity (at least a week before the agreed start date). With enough notice, I will be able to reschedule your booking at no further cost, and may even be able to book another commission in the original slot.

Sample Edits

I've recently had a number of queries about sample edits. This is a service I dropped last year due to lack of interest. For a trial period, I'm going to offer samples again, but due to the time consuming nature of the work I will have to charge a fee.

I'm happy for authors to decide the length of the sample (I'd recommend between 500 and 5000 words) and will charge according to the type of edit required:

Copy edit: $0.005 per word

Literary Edit: $0.020 per word

If the service proves useful, I'll add it to the permanent services offered at a later date.

Editing Update

I've just finished a copy edit for Sibel Hodge's The Baby Trap, and a literary edit for the third book in M.R. Mathias's Dragoneers series. The Confliction follows on from events in Cold Hearted Son of a Witch and features Mathias's trade mark humour, grit, and fast-paced story-telling.

Next up is Music of the Spheres, the sequel to Valmore Daniels' Forbidden the Stars.

Coldhearted Son of a Witch

Just finished a three-stage literary edit of Coldhearted Son of a Witch by M.R. Mathias and will now be taking a short break until the next commissions start in October. Coldhearted is book 2 of M.R.'s Dragoneers saga. It's a tightly written action-packed adventure and great fun to read.

I'll be spending the next few weeks finishing off final edits for my own Best Laid Plans (Shader book 2), as well as drinking fine wine in France.

Make your book the best it can be!

Independent authors are often guilty of rushing to publish and often don't realise (or can't afford) the extensive and repetitive work of proofing, correcting and revising that goes into a work of the highest quality.

I was guilty of the same attitude with my first novel. After the book had been out for a few months I read it to my son and almost died of shame! I sent it to a respected editor and received enough notes to rival the Summa Theologica for sheer quantity.

Since early 2010 I have been offering my services as an editor to independent authors. It immediately became apparent that there was a big demand for affordable, but nevertheless meticulous, editing. I rapidly acquired bookings into the early part of 2011 and therefore decided to set up as a full time editor.

My intention is to offer a range of services that cater for a variety of needs and budgets. For those new to editing or wary of committing a lot of money to the top end services I offer two entry level "taster" edits: The First Page edit and The First Five pages. With these services you get to see what I can offer, but you will also see how I work on the page so that you can use this knowledge to improve your own self-editing.

The top end services - The Full Line Edit and the Literary Edit are priced according to word count but are still considerably cheaper than most editing services. I've been fortunate enough to work with some of our best independent authors this year and they've all been generous in their feedback, especially regarding value for money and collaboration. I think this latter is invaluable: authors need to maintain overall artistic control and so it is essential that we enter into a respectful dialogue at all stages of the process. At its best, editing becomes a mutual learning experience. The ultimate beneficiaries, however, are the readers. If independent writers are assisted to raise the standard of their publications their reputation will soar and we all benefit.

I'd like to encourage you to look through the services listed in the right margin and contact me with any queries, or just to say "hello".

I can be reached at: derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

All the best.

Derek