blog by Bill Worth

I’ve been editing book manuscripts for Tom Bird since July of 2015; my latest count shows I have completed almost 200 of them over that time. I got the job partly because I attended one of Tom’s workshops in Atlanta in 2009, and one of his appearances at the annual conference for Unity Worldwide Ministries in 2015. And partly because I have more than 30 years of experience editing daily newspapers in Ohio, and a weekly newspaper in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii.

In this blog, I’ll share some of my best tips for submitting a manuscript that you expect to become a bestseller – not forgetting the all-important query letter to accompany it. These ideas will help your editors – and readers – eagerly turn the pages to find out what happens next.

  1. When you write, use a serif font like Times New Roman as the typeface. A sans-serif typeface, such as Arial, is harder to read.
  2. Indent the first line of each paragraph, rather than separate paragraphs with an extra line space. All this does is waste paper, and publishers don’t like it.
  3. Punctuation almost always goes inside quotation marks, not outside of them. There are rare exceptions; if in doubt, put punctuation inside.
  4. Speaking of punctuation, be careful how many exclamation points you use!! Trust me on this!! (Exclamation marks are a signature of amateurs.)
  5. Use spell-check. And grammar-check if necessary. And remember this: spell-check needs to be double-checked. By you. Before you submit the manuscript.
  6. If you use quotations from others, or references from scripture, for example, check the source or attribution. Make sure they are accurate.
  7. Watch for anachronisms(a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists) in your writing. Example: Someone listening to rock music in the ’50s in your novel cannot possibly text, call on their cell phones, or share the experience with friends on Facebook.
  8. Use robust, active verbs, not puny, passive verbs. Example: The wedding crowd packed the dance floor, but parted in awe as the newlyweds shimmered across the parquet like Fred and Ginger.
  9. Subtle “foreshadowing” helps prevent surprises. Readers are often confused by surprises (unless it is a surprise ending), so go back and write a clever hint earlier that something surprising might be coming. When readers get there, they will be delighted that they had already figured it out.
  10. Try really hard, especially when writing fiction, to leave your readers “hanging” at the end of each chapter. It’s called a “cliffhanger” or page-turner,” because that’s its purpose.

Thanks for reading! I hope to be back with more ideas on good writing; I certainly have a lot of them.