Karlyn Fedora
Michelle was highly recommended to me by a friend who had written two books. Writing my book was not the difficult part, but I had no idea how to get it published. Michelle was fabulous and far exceeded my expectations. She patiently guided me step by step until I had the finished copy. By the time I held the book in my hands, I had a treasured friend in Michelle even though we never met. I am grateful to have her as my editor and will recommend her to anyone who is writing a book.
Karlyn Fedora is a freelance writer, motivational speaker, certified personality trainer, and accomplished pianist. She wrote this historical narrative, which is based on the life of her father-in-law, for her husband.
Project Overview
When Karlyn contacted me, she had a speaking engagement at a local historical society in a matter of weeks and wanted paperback copies of her book to take along with her. A first time self-publisher, Karlyn requested copyediting, digital and paperback formatting, a digital front cover image, a full front-and-back paperback cover, and help with her blurb, sales page copy, and uploading to Amazon. The formatting also included several images. Time was short, so I got a start while she completed her last few thousand words. As the manuscript was well-written, and as Karlyn wasn’t as techie as some of my clients, I skipped “Track Changes” and merely highlighted revisions I made in the text for her to compare against the original.
My Work
I have included part of my critique, which shows my communication skills, the kinds of revisions I suggested, and how I adjusted my methods to accommodate Karlyn’s technology comfort level. The critique is followed by the full paperback cover and some samples of the finished interior.
…Your prose is very smoothly written. And as it’s short narrative fiction, it doesn’t really have to follow a standard plot structure. Joe’s adventures have plenty of color to hold reader interest in its place.
I did have an issue with the dated headings. The entire thing is actually told from Joe’s adult perspective, long after those dates. I think it would be clearer to simply insert an extra line at those natural breaks instead, as you don’t have true chapter breaks. Or you could add a small image to separate those sections. You’ll see where I address that and give two examples. Really, you could use any small, simple black-and-white image or design. [She opted for a small train image, seen below.]
As an offshoot of those dates and perspective, I’m curious how you’re going to relate Joe’s death. He can’t do it himself. I think you’ll have to create another break there and use a different narrator to conclude. The voice of any descendent would make sense. Or maybe switch to third person at that point. But it looks like you’ve got a bit more of his life to finish before that. It makes sense to finish out his life as an ending.
I fixed minor errors right in the text. Most were punctuation, verb tenses, that kind of thing. In places where I actually changed things around a bit, I marked them for you to consider against the original.
Go ahead and look over my comments in the text. If you have any questions, or if you’re not sure how to get rid of the text bubbles, just email. I’m around. Keep in mind that you don’t HAVE to take any of my suggestions. If you want to reject any, do so.
Let me know when you finish and want me to look over the rest.
