Thread: Some questions about publishing

Here is my story. I have a novel here which I have been written for nearly 1 year. It has around 13 chapters and a prologue. The novels contain around 50.000 words, its genres are action, adventure with some sci-fi/fantasy and romance. Right now I almost finish the novel, the last step is copy edit to get rid of grammar, spelling error and such. Last week I sent my novel to an editor for a critical report because I fear that my story might not be good enough. I told him up front that I don't need nice words, just shred it apart and tell me exactly what he thought about it.

Finally, when the editor sent me a report, he noted that my story was very good. But my manuscript is full of spelling, grammar errors and poor word choice. I know that most editor is capable of making a manuscript errors free when it comes to spelling and grammar. But there is one thing I worry about: word choice.

this is a part of his letter to me

Dear Jack,

You asked me to finish reading the novel and write you a report that would honestly give you my professional assessment of your novel. You asked me not to hold back or be "kind" in my assessment, so I will meet that request.

I have finished reading everything you sent me (Prologue through Chapter 13), and while this is obviously not the entire novel, I can report to you my thoughts about your book.

First, I want you to know, I think your story is VERY GOOD. I like this story, and I want to know what happens and how it all turns out. That is the single most important thing about any book: It makes the reader want to read it. I will need to see the rest of it, of course, at least in synopsis form. Chapter 13 is not the end of the book, so I'd like to know what happens after the protagonist stops to visit his home.

But already I am sure--that is, I believe--your story is entirely publishable, and you would be wise to pursue publication. It is really a great story.

That said, here are all the "criticisms" I have about your novel and your writing:

1. Your written English is quite poor, in terms of diction (word choice), grammar and punctuation. Virtually every sentence of the book needs to be rewritten in standard English. There are a countless grammatical, spelling and diction errors. That's okay, really, because those can be fixed (by a good editor); but it will take time.

2. The novel, in the form you sent it to me, in some ways reads more like a synopsis. Some portions are more complete than others, while other portions need major re-work and filling in. (As you mentioned, chapters 2 and 3 are only outlined; again, like a synopsis.) However, the story is good, very good, and the story certainly deserves to be told, even if it requires extensive editing to get it to the point of being publishable. That will take time, and a good editor. In fact, for this "critique item," I would suggest you consider either a ghost writer or a co-writer. (The cover would read, for instance, the title and then "by Jack... with Andrew.") This is worth thinking about for the following reason: Let's say you get your book published, and then you go to a book-signing, or better yet, an appearance on a TV show. Suddenly, your English is not as polished as it was in the book. You might lose credibility. Whereas, if the book were written by you, "with another author," you don't risk that problem. A ghost writer is intended to be unseen and unknown... so you may want to consider taking the plunge and having a co-writer. It’s still your story, but written by a professional author. With the amount of re-working we will be doing over the coming months, it may save you those risks in the long run. (Note: I am thoroughly happy being a ghost writer. My only purpose for mentioning this is because of the potential risk of your English betraying that you did not "author" this book, even though the story is thoroughly yours. Whether or not to take that risk is entirely up to you. And there's no rush to make that decision.)

To be honest, English is not my first language. I'm good enough to write an academic research paper and I passed all English classes easily but I think that might not be enough to catch the reader's attention. Since the day I got this letter, I have been working very hard on my novel, I fix many major problems including giving out too much information, write more dialogue, give more plot devices, check all possible plot holes, etc. But there is something I know I can't fix in a few days: word choice. My language is pretty simple and casual, and it will reflect in my novel. Right now I'm hiring someone to try to fix as much as possible for me.

But, even with that I still worry about word choice problem, sometimes I tried to describe a beautiful scene, like a garden, my words failed me. Even with major rework, it wouldn't be easy to erase the fact that I use pretty simple terms. I don't say that my word choice is like a 3 years old kid, by chapter 13 I have improved significantly (yeah, after 50.000 words) I can't write like a 19th century author with many super polished words. Whenever I tried to describe something, I imagined the whole scene in my mind, like a movie, I even turn on some music to fit it then I wrote down as much as possible. Do you think it is a huge turn off for agents to get a manuscript like that? Do agents want to represent a novel with good plot but unpolished? I'm trying to make it as close to perfection as possible but I still doubt that it would read like JK Rowling, CS Lewis, or many contemporary authors like Suzanne Collins, Stieg Larsson, J.A. Konrath, etc.

So what do you think?

By the way, from the time I get my critical report, I have been fixing many many problems and I even came up with the plot for book 2, possibly book 3. Sometimes I feel like ideas are just pouring into my head, I have to stop to write it down so that I won't forget it.

I could tell by the second sentence that English isn't your first language. Give what the editor said some serious thought because he's making some good points. Only you can make the ultimate decision.

I agree with Patsky, but I also have to admit that I have very little experience with publishing.

I am also curious -- how do you know this editor? Will he or someone he knows be making money off editing / co-writing your book before it gets published? Are you sure you can trust him?

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If you stick around and join in the critiquing on this site, many of us would be happy to go through and help edit bits and pieces of your novel -- obviously not the entire thing, but we can give you advice on what to watch for. If you trust your editor, however, that can work too. While he seems able enough read through your work and have a positive reaction despite typos and grammar errors, many readers will be very turned off by such things. If you can't get it near-flawless, I'd recommend getting help one way or another.

Yes, I know my limitation in English and I did seriously consider his proposal. However, in the end, I want to be a good writer too, so I can't hire a ghost writer to write for me. I'd go with an editor, and in fact, I already hire a couple to edit my work.

As an English major, I completely understand your want to write your own work.
As for the words that escape you: that happens to all of us. I don't know how much consolation that is, but English is my first language, and I'm always running out of words. (Personally, I think somebody needs to invent a couple . . . hundred.) I trust you have a good thesaurus around, and there are many online that all offer different sets of words that are marvelous to have at your disposal.
I think if the editor said your story was "VERY GOOD", you're already more than halfway there! Best of luck!!!