Need An Editor? Meet S.A. Joo

I've been working with S.A. Joo since 2011 and she's seen my evolution from amateur writer on the cusp of 'getting it' through to self-published author who has finally managed to satisfy her own perfectionism enough to actually put some work out in the public arena.

What I value most is the way she helps me to polish my prose until it shines. It's been a year since I published Confronting the Demon and I’m still happy with the way the prose reads - maybe happier, given the luxury of a little distance which allows me to appreciate it even more. Ms Joo is significantly responsible for helping me to make that happen.

If you’re a perfectionist, this is the editor for you. The phrase ‘close enough is good enough’ does not exist in her lexicon, and she’s always looking for the best combination of words and sentences to convey the intent and maximum impact of the moment.

She’s a fiend for making sure there is sufficient diversity in your prose by ensuring you don’t repeat sentence structure, sentence openings, paragraph openings, words, themes and concepts too close together. She also makes regular sticklers for grammar seem relaxed.

S.A. Joo is an excellent editor in all respects, and will spot pacing issues, plot holes, inconsistencies, continuity problems, repetition and redundancies, but she truly excels at making your words shine. She won’t pull any punches to spare your feelings at the expense of your manuscript – the quality of the writing is paramount! 

Warning: Not for the faint of heart. But if you’re looking for someone who will push the quality of your writing and always encourage you to excel and perfect, you’ve just found yourself an editor.

S.A. Joo's Services

Full (Substantive) Edit

The full edit is a combination of substantive editing and copy editing. It's a two-step process that focuses on spotting structural issues within the story such as plot, pacing, voice, character development, and fact-checking. The first step provides in-depth, line-by-line markups and comments, which will guide you through your revision. After the necessary revisions are made, resubmit the final draft of the manuscript for a copy edit.


Copy Edits

Copy editing is also known as proofreading. It's a one-step editing, which corrects technical issues of writing such as typos, spelling, grammar, and formatting. 

Query Letter Package

The Query Letter Package includes critique and edit for a query letter, 1-page synopsis, 2-3-page synopsis (some agencies require different lengths).


S.A. Joo's rates are: 

• Full Edit. Four U.S. dollars ($4) per double-spaced page. Please use size 12 font, Times or Times New Roman, and 1-inch margin according to the standard manuscript format. Also, a critique of your query letter and synopsis is included in the Full Edit package of an average length novel (60k+).
• Proofreading/copy edit. Two U.S. dollar ($2) per double-spaced page.
• Query Letter Package. Fifty U.S. dollars($50). 

You can find S.A. Joo at http://sirraedits.com/

What I Learned From Rejection... And A Fortuitous Workshop!

As many of you know, last year HarperCollins Australia requested a partial of my book Deathhawk’s Betrayal. Alas, they have now declined to see the full manuscript. Given the ratio of acceptances, that’s unsurprising, but one can always hope. In fact, we should hope, because hope takes us many places. The editor was too busy to give me detailed feedback, but what she did say was she didn’t connect emotionally with the characters. 

Ouch!

I won’t say I went immediately to panic stations, but I was concerned. None of my previous test readers had indicated this as one of the many problems I had fixed (or attempted to fix...). Was there a problem with the writing or was this simply a case of one personal preference in a subjective world? One cannot, after all, please everyone. Not even editors. That’s why published authors often get many rejections before an acceptance.

 

A number of writers I know encouraged me not to leap into anything on this basis. One opinion is not enough to justify wholesale changes. And I agree.

So I sought out some beta readers who are part of my target audience and I’ve generously had a half dozen or more offers of assistance, for which I am very grateful. I am also grateful to Twitter, which has given me access to these amazing and wonderful people, something I didn’t have on the last round of critiques I received on Deathhawk’s Betrayal.

And then, satisfied with my day’s work, I went off to read Lesson 2 of the online workshop I am currently doing, Hunting the Elusive Hook. The lesson happened to be on the first chapter of your novel and how to hook the reader, including the most important elements of that chapter.

Oh. My. God.

I had a total epiphany. I looked at my first chapter and thought ‘This sucks!’.

OK, maybe not that extreme. All the right elements were there, but they were in the wrong places. In all fairness, I did write this in 2008 and I have studied the craft of writing a lot since then so it’s reasonable to assume my skills have improved. I had edited it since, but I seem to have some difficulty editing what’s there into something better without completely ditching it and starting afresh. It’s like my creativity is chained by the words already written. The moment of potential has passed, what could be has become what is, and I can’t take it back.  

So I decided to rewrite my opening chapter from scratch.

Because an editor said she didn’t connect emotionally with my characters? No, I don’t think so, that just happened to occur on the same day I read this lesson. The rejection may have just put me in the frame of mind where I was open to the notion that there was something not quite right with my opening chapter.

And when I say rewrote, I mean rewrote. I started from scratch, using the same key concepts, and rewrote that chapter with a completely different aspect. I referred to the original only occasionally to keep a key line here or there or to make sure I covered off all the important points. Otherwise, it is completely unrecognisable.

My husband, who is not a writer, also questioned my motives in rewriting the first chapter. In a quick test, I gave him the first page of the old version and the new version and told him to tell me which was more interesting. Grudgingly, then with increasing enthusiasm, he conceded the new version was much better. The old version he described as ‘cluttered’, which translated to writer speak would mean, I think, the pace was too slow and there was too much peripheral content.

So where to from here? I’m still going to send it out to my happy beta volunteers. I’ll even give them the old chapter one to compare to the new version. Who knows, they might get a laugh out of it. As a writer, I am here to entertain... right?

After that... it will depend on the feedback I get. There may be more revisions to make.

Then let the querying begin...

“He who cannot change the very fabric of his thought will never be able to change reality.”
 Anwar Sadat

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
Albert Einstein

This Sunday I'll be sharing the new first sentences of Deathhawk's Betrayal as part of Six Sentence Sunday so be sure to stop by and let me know if you'd keep reading!

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On the Cusp of Exhaustion

Yesterday I sent my manuscript ‘Deathhawk’s Betrayal’ to Writing Australia’s Unpublished Manuscript Award. I had done four sets of revisions after receiving feedback from my beta readers, and a couple before that. The latest four sets of revisions required me to edit and revise solidly from April until, well, yesterday. In case you’re wondering, yes that means I read my own 90,000 word novel (approximately 320 A4 double-spaced pages) four times in the last six months. 

Can I say I am exhausted? The last three weeks especially have been gruelling. As I mistook the closing date for October 31 instead of October 13, the last three weeks required me to edit 3000 words a day to finish in time. If I wasn’t working, I was more or less writing. On the train to work, on the train from work, and after dinner until around 11pm. Did I mention I get up at 5:45am? Oh and Sunday night I got three hours sleep due to a restless toddler. 

 As much as I love it, I do not want to look at that manuscript for at least several months. Fortunately, results are not released until the end of November. If I don’t win, I can let it sit until next year. If I do win, they are going to give me money to pay someone to mentor me. Yay! Call me pessimistic, but I don’t have any real expectations of winning. As you know, I write fantasy. Unless the competition is dedicated exclusively to speculative fiction, trying to win a competition with a piece of fantasy fiction is akin to trying to win an Oscar with something like ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl’. And we all know how well that went - don't we?

So now I am at a loose end. What am I going to do with all my time? 

As it turns out I actually have a list as long as my arm. I’ve promised about three people guest blogs. I have to catch up on my own blogs, which I had let slide for the last week. I did a new post for Somebody Has To Say It last night and of course this one today. I’m participating in Six Sentence Sunday again this week and there will probably be another post here on Flight of the Dragon early next week. 

On top of that I had committed to read and review two books. If you are one of these people, I am terribly sorry for the delay. I am on to this now. Less formally, there are two people who have asked me to provide some pointers on their own work and I also participate in two critique groups, one of which is very active.

What I’m looking forward to the most, though, is reading. I haven’t read very much at all in the last six months and I miss it! Here is my reading list as it stands at the moment:

1. ‘The Ways of Kings: Part 2’ by Brandon Sanderson;
2. ‘Spirit Gate’ and ‘Shadow Gate’ by Kate Elliott;
3. ‘Medalon’ by Jennifer Fallon;
4. 'The Iron Tree’ by Cecelia Dart-Thornton;
5. ‘Master of Dragons’ by Margaret Weis;
6. ‘The Bourne Identity’ by Eric Van Lustbader;
7. ‘The Magician’s Guild’ by Trudi Canavan;
8. 'The Blade Itself’ by Joe Abercrombie;
9. ‘A Dance With Dragons’ by George R. R. Martin;
10. ‘The Omen Machine’ by Terry Goodkind;
11. ‘Royal Exile’, ‘Tyrant’ and ‘Goddess’ by Fiona McIntosh;
12. 'Path of Revenge’ by Russell Kirkpatrick;
13. ‘Nascence’ by Tobias S Buckell;
14. ‘The Assassins: Forged in Blood’ by Goran Zidar;
15. ‘Grand Duchy’ by Kevin Edwards;
16. ‘Witches’ by Phil Stern.
17. ‘The Commander and the Den Asaan Rautu’ by Michelle Franklin
18. ‘The Serpent Bride', The Twisted Citadel’ and ‘The Infinity Gate’ by Sara Douglass;
19. ‘Stormed Fortress’ and ‘Initiate’s Trial’ by Janny Wurts.

I am looking forward to it with child-like delight!

You can learn more about 'Deathhawk’s Betrayal' here and the protagonist, Astarl, here. Look out for another excerpt this Sunday in Six Sentence Sunday.