Seeking and Editor for The End Of the World!

[Erotic4emos]

Hey Gangers,

Wellllp... The Grammarly, as AI issue has struck again! My story got turned down. I am looking for someone looking to take on a mammoth of an editing task. I have a 495 page manuscript that I need looked at. It's grammatically and thematically in great shape, as I've been hammering on it for over a year.

It's in the category of Incest/Taboo. I reached out to several volunteer editors and heard nothing back. I'm happy to share credit for this in the author's note! Let me know!

 

[EmilyMiller]

If you mean average pages for a novel, say 250 words, then you are asking someone to read about 125,000 words. That’s a massive undertaking. Especially for anyone you don’t have an existing relationship with.

And as AI is the issue, all those many, many sentences will need to be reviewed in detail. Some people enjoy such a process, but I want to set your expectations that - how to put this? - people will not be falling over each other in their rush to take on such a massive task.

And acknowledging the person’s help, while laudable (I always do that) is not enormous recompense for a lot of work.

To put this in context, my friend @Djmac1031 has read all 80,000 words of my WIP novel. But over a period of eight months. Knowing him, he’ll read through it again when I’m done. But we have a) a friendship and b) a reciprocal proof-reading arrangement.

I doubt many people will volunteer for this work.

 

[stickygirl]

Only saying

 

[Djmac1031]

Not much to add here to what @EmilyMiller said except to say that if you feel the rejection unfair, reach out to Laurel and plead your case.

I suppose the amount of editing your story would need will depend on just how much you relied on Grammerly to edit.

I'm surprised anyone here still uses it at this point with all the red flags it causes.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm surprised anyone here still uses it at this point with all the red flags it causes.

And it makes your writing sound like a PowerPoint slide.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Hey Gangers,

Wellllp... The Grammarly, as AI issue has struck again! My story got turned down. I am looking for someone looking to take on a mammoth of an editing task. I have a 495 page manuscript that I need looked at. It's grammatically and thematically in great shape, as I've been hammering on it for over a year.

It's in the category of Incest/Taboo. I reached out to several volunteer editors and heard nothing back. I'm happy to share credit for this in the author's note! Let me know!

Your story is of comparable length to Pride and Prejudice. At the risk of being snarky, I doubt it’s quite as good (if I could write with 5% of Austen’s talent I’d be happy).

 

[TheLobster]

Your story is of comparable length to Pride and Prejudice. At the risk of being snarky, I doubt it’s quite as good (if I could write with 5% of Austen’s talent I’d be happy).

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that an unknown author in possession of a long novel, must be in want of an editor.

 

[StillStunned]

If you mean average pages for a novel, say 250 words, then you are asking someone to read about 125,000 words. That’s a massive undertaking. Especially for anyone you don’t have an existing relationship with.

View attachment 2556679

Only saying

Word processor pages, I'd say it's closer to twice that wordcount. As a professional editor/proofreader, I'd quote 250-500 hours, at a total cost of somewhere between EUR 20k and EUR 45k.

Yes, it takes that long. Yes, the work is that hard. And yes, you will see the difference.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Word processor pages, I'd say it's closer to twice that wordcount.

So Joyce’s Ulysses? Wow!

 

[StillStunned]

So Joyce’s Ulysses? Wow!

Yeah, people often underestimate how long their stories are, and how much time and effort they're asking a stranger to put in. I've proofread a few stories here, and I reckon about 500 words per hour is a safe estimate.

Guess who doesn't do that anymore?

 

[Erotic4emos]

Your story is of comparable length to Pride and Prejudice. At the risk of being snarky, I doubt it’s quite as good (if I could write with 5% of Austen’s talent I’d be happy).

Snarky yes, but remember lots of people write fun books that are longer than P&P. I wasn't meaning for it to be that long, but after a year of writing, re-writes, proofreading, adjusting, tweaking, etc, It just ended up being long.

But hey, maybe you'll read it when I get it out and you'll like it. Shrug. Stranger things have happened.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Yeah, people often underestimate how long their stories are, and how much time and effort they're asking a stranger to put in. I've proofread a few stories here, and I reckon about 500 words per hour is a safe estimate.

Guess who doesn't do that anymore?

I’m obviously not as thorough - and certainly not as professional - as you (poor @Djmac1031 right?) but proof-reading, let alone editing, takes me much longer than plain reading would. And then add in making notes for the author. It’s a big commitment.

 

[EmilyMiller]

But hey, maybe you'll read it when I get it out and you'll like it. Shrug. Stranger things have happened.

Sadly not in your chosen genre I’m afraid. Good luck anyway.

 

[Djmac1031]

I’m obviously not as thorough - and certainly not as professional - as you (poor @Djmac1031 right?) but proof-reading, let alone editing, takes me much longer than plain reading would. And then add in making notes for the author. It’s a big commitment.

Its okay. I'm used to being severely underpaid...

 

[Gamblnluck]

Wellllp... The Grammarly, as AI issue has struck again! My story got turned down. I am looking for someone looking to take on a mammoth of an editing task. I have a 495 page manuscript that I need looked at. It's grammatically and thematically in great shape, as I've been hammering on it for over a year.

To be honest, have you tried breaking it down into bit-sized pieces, like 10k words or so. Publish a few chapters to see what interest you get and then at say chapter 3 or so ask for editors to help? You might find a few willing among the readers who like it.

You wil have accomplished a few things. One, you will see where the problem for rejection occurred. Two: you get feedback on your story line. I assume you are looking at more than just spelling and punctuation, but possible readability. By that I mean if the story flows or a particular paragraph might be hard to follow. I get that from my editor. It takes a minor re-write to clear up.

 

[PennyThompson]

You wil have accomplished a few things. One, you will see where the problem for rejection occurred. Two: you get feedback on your story line.

You'll also generate a much larger follower list if you're releasing ~10,000 word chapters on a semi-regular schedule, rather than posting a single 70+ Lit-page novel and then disappearing forever

It would probably require some tweaking of your story structure though, most Lit readers are here to get off first and foremost, so they're usually looking for something sexy in each story. If you got for chapters and chapters before getting to anything titillating, you might struggle to find an audience.

 

[iwatchus]

You'll also generate a much larger follower list if you're releasing ~10,000 word chapters on a semi-regular schedule, rather than posting a single 70+ Lit-page novel and then disappearing forever

It would probably require some tweaking of your story structure though, most Lit readers are here to get off first and foremost, so they're usually looking for something sexy in each story. If you got for chapters and chapters before getting to anything titillating, you might struggle to find an audience.

If you release it in Novels & Novellas, My understanding is they will be more understanding of chapters with little or no sex. But you will not get huge views either.

At least that is the reputation and my lone experience. They did not savage my first chunk with very low sex content -- chapter 1 is PG rated.

 

[Gamblnluck]

It would probably require some tweaking of your story structure though, most Lit readers are here to get off first and foremost, so they're usually looking for something sexy in each story. If you got for chapters and chapters before getting to anything titillating, you might struggle to find an audience.

Yep, not just the 'getting the reader off' but keeping his/interest as they read it. You need to get and retain interest. I have a few LONG stories under my belt. One is 36 chapters another is about to hit 64. Both read like a soap opera.
I just returned from a 2 week cruise to find a reader who not only read most of my longer saga, but commented on almost every chapter. He found many problems I did not until well after posting. His final comment was he did not like an activity I'd written which bothered him and he was dropping his reading. (after 40 plus chapters, each averaging 10k words)