MY BOOK EDITING PROCESS

I want to talk about my book editing style and process. First off, here’s my background. In a sense, I have been writing my whole life. Ever since I was a kid, I’d pen poems and prose like a mad-child, bordering on obsession. My mother and I would exchange apologies via long-form letter when we fought. Etc.

After landing my BA in writing from San Francisco State—and turning down an acceptance for the MA in Writing program—I decided to intern with a literary agent in the Bay Area. Here I learned everything I possibly could about the submission process, the dreaded slush pile, acquisitions editors, queries, rejections, and on and on. In the process I had been getting my short stories and nonfiction pieces published in little lit mags and journals. I eventually became the senior agent at the firm’s assistant and I learned from the inside out.

Eventually, that agent told me to go off on my own and do what I clearly did best: book editing. So I did. I’d been editing her acquired clients’ books for months by that point, many of whom went on to be published. I realized she was right and I knew I didn’t want to be an agent (too much business and finance).

In the last few years I have published many more stories and written several more books. And I’ve developed the unique editing style that many writers have come to respect. I focus on what’s called “developmental” editing. This means I focus mainly on the following: structure, plot, character-development, pace, logical issues, dialogue, transitions, etc. Basically, I zoom the camera out and look at what is working and what isn’t. In today’s tough, competitive commercial writing environment this is key. You need and deserve a passionate editor who is backing you up and who knows something about the industry. I go to writing conferences year-round and know the agent submission process. Not all editors do.

So here’s my process. First off, I only handle fiction and memoir. Within fiction I will work with YA or adult, and pretty much any genre except for paranormal. Sci-fi fantasy is okay but I generally prefer more “realistic” novels; that’s just my taste. But if you’re unsure, email me (michaelmohreditor@gmail.com). For memoir, I take just about anything. My latest memoir client was Christian Picciolini, an ex neo-Nazi skinhead (one of the first in America) who got sucked into the scene in the mid-80s and got out in the mid-90s. He formed a non-profit called “Life After Hate” that helps young people (or anyone) disentangle from hate groups. He is a pro-diversity, non-violent activist now who fights for global change. His memoir was published in April, 2015 and is called, “Romantic Violence: Memoirs of an American Skinhead.” Check it out. It’s an incredible, important book that everyone, especially in America, should read. With the Sandy Hook, South Carolina and now Oregon shootings, his book is more pressing than ever. Order it on Amazon HERE.

I usually do a 5-10 page test edit for the prospective client. This is one-time only and is free. The point is that the client can then decide whether they want to work with me or not. Often they are knocked sideways at my skill and ability to locate exactly what needs work. A good editor always can and will do this. Once we’ve established that we want to work together, I’ll draft and we’ll sign a short, standard book editing contract. Then the client will pay me the first half of the total bill, based off my flat-fee listed on my website. As it stands currently I charge 2 cents per word. Multiply this by your word count and that’d be your total bill.

Once we’ve signed a contract, you’ve paid me the first half, and you’ve sent me the full, up-to-date manuscript as a word.doc, I then delve in. We would have agreed upon a certain deadline for me to have finished by this point, which will be listed in the contract so we’re both crystal clear. From here, I will edit the book and then send it back to you by the deadline, simple as that.

Now, you might be asking, What is the book going to look like upon return? Good question. Traditionally, I would mark up the “digital page,” so to speak, with red comments all over. I still do this to an extent. But lately (in addition to the “tracked” changes in red and red comments below paragraphs that I deem as “needing work”) I do the vast majority of my commentary “off the page.” This means I take extensive notes on a yellow legal pad as I go and then at the end I produce a [usually] 5-15 single-spaced page “editorial letter” that essentially documents every “issue” I have with the book and what I think you can and should do, in my professional opinion, to strengthen your work. This includes very practical methods for actually making the book stronger and tighter. Often the mistakes I see on newer writers’ books are very common and simple to fix. Sometimes it requires much rewriting and revision and sometimes it requires an entire rewrite. In any case, you’ll learn as a writer from my comments, that I can guarantee.

So if you have a novel or memoir you’re trying to take to the next level, please do send me an email. I prefer to hear a bit about you and your writing history (if any) and a little query or synopsis about the book, plus the first chapter, all in a word.doc attachment with your introductory email. Again: michaelmohreditor@gmail.com. Right now I am booked until early November.

Remember: writing is a lot of work. Be patient, be willing to hear constructive criticism, and be open to revision and rewriting. It’s just part of The Process. I work with queries, synopses, and the agent submission process as well.

Write on.

“You said it. Let’s edit.”

Michael Mohr

DAVID CORBETT’S “FIVE CORNERSTONES OF DRAMATIC CHARACTERIZATION” FROM “THE ART OF CHARACTER”

I want to talk about David Corbett’s “Five Cornerstones of Dramatic Characterization” written about and described in detail in his writing manual, “The Art of Character.” If you’re a new writer—or even a seasoned one in need of a refresher—go do yourself a favor and pick this book up from your local bookstore. Corbett is a New York Times notable author of several novels, most recently “The Mercy of the Night.” He is a writing teacher at the UCLA extension program, and teaches at writing conferences and seminars all over the place, like at Book Passage in Corte Madera, Ca. He is a local Bay Area author and his agent is with the firm I once interned with.

Before I get into the key “five cornerstones,” I want to quickly mention that I’ll be heading out tomorrow for 13 days to Colorado and Wyoming and won’t be blogging (or taking new clients) until after Sept 25 or so, after I return. I leave you with this post until I get back; hopefully you enjoy.

Ok, for the sake of simplicity and clarity, I am going to use my as-of-yet unpublished—though praised by many a successful author, including three NYT bestselling authors—suspense novel, “The Grim Room” as the example for each “cornerstone” that David raises. Keep in mind that his ideas are practiced and not theory and are very practical and are steeped in the history of other writers and in classical and Renaissance literature and plays that extend all the way back, probably, to the likes of Plato and Aristotle. So in other words: these ideas aren’t exactly “original,” but they are unique in the form in which David expresses them in current times, when the book was released in 2013.

The Five Cornerstones of Dramatic Characterization:

1. The character needs or wants something.

2. The character has difficulty getting the “thing” and makes a plan.

3. There is a contradiction.

4. Something unexpected happens; the character thus becomes vulnerable

5. There is a secret

Ok, let’s go through these chronologically.

1) The character needs or wants something. Well, in my novel the main character, Tippo Doyle, is getting out of state prison in chapter one. He wants to stay sober, fix his worsening PTSD (due to a severe occurrence in prison), get a job, rebuild his friendship with his older brother, who’s picking him up and with whom he’s going to live. But the main thing, really, is that he desperately wants to find the woman he’s still very much in love with: Rebecca Akerman, even though it was her mom who was behind his incarceration (she’s a DA’s assistant, a city prosecutor).

2) The character has difficulty getting the “thing” and makes a plan. Tippo gets out of prison and immediately is confronted with the fact that his brother, ironically, is dealing cocaine, the same thing which landed Tippo himself in prison in the first place. Worse, he finds himself struggling to adjust to “real life” and to outside sobriety. And even more difficult, he is having a hard time finding Rebecca, even though he’s been told by his brother (who heard second-hand) that she lives in the Bay Area somewhere, near where his brother lives, and where he’s now staying. Covering her tracks, her number is unlisted and she is not on social media. Tippo makes a plan: he decides to go confront his brother’s friend who told his brother Rebecca lives in the Bay. But when he does, he is confronted by an SFPD cop who tailed him and works, under the table, for Rebecca’s mother; he will be a major hurdle for Tippo in finding his lost love. The new plan is to find a way around that cop.

3) Contradiction. Despite being a former drug addict and a jailbird, Tippo is actually quite vulnerable and sensitive. He’s changed and he’s a good guy, only wanting to basically start his life over. What people see of him on the outside—tattoos, felony record, tough demeanor—is only the shell he wears to “survive.” His brother supposedly being the “kind” one, it’s his brother who is now dealing drugs and is mean to Tippo, who is only trying to change and “make it.”

4) Something unexpected happens, rendering the character vulnerable. Finally, after frantic searching from both Tippo and Rebecca (they both have a POV), the SFPD cop stops by Tippo’s brother’s house and informs him that Rebecca is engaged to be married. Shocked, deeply hurt, Tippo is also kicked out of the apartment by his angry brother, who tells Tippo he needs to see a therapist. Tippo is given a quarter-of-a-million bucks from their parents’ trust account they passed on to Tippo’s brother who was 18 when they both died in a car crash a decade ago. Tippo’s brother had held onto the money because Tippo had been dealing drugs and then was arrested and convicted. When he finds out she’s engaged, he feels the abandonment not only of her, but the wound from his parents’ death when he was a teen. Also, he feels abandoned by his brother. He leaves the apartment with all his stuff and buys alcohol, relapsing. So in several key ways, he is now very vulnerable.

5) A secret. The secret Tippo carries in the novel is a heavy one, and is not solitary. Really, he carries two secrets: He was raped by another male inmate in prison nicknamed “Kid Maniac,” and he is slowly going insane. Nobody knows, during the course of the novel, just how crazy Tippo is becoming inside. Like “The Shining,” this process happens slowly, over the course of time; it’s an evolution. Or a devolution, if you will. His rape, having had to join a white supremacist gang in prison, and his holding onto the thread that he and Rebecca can still somehow be together, are what start to drive him to the point of insanity. In the end, after finally finding her, he convinces her to flee with him for a weekend in her family’s cabin, against everyone’s wishes. She does, and there the ultimate scene will ensue, shocking readers.

***So, as you can see, this is a wonderful, basic, classic formula for discovering solid, taut, and mesmerizing characters and thus good plots. The point is always, as Corbett repeats constantly, to give your characters DESIRE. They must want something, and the story must be their drive towards and attempt to achieve that “thing.” Of course, there is always the surface “thing,” and the deeper, often unconscious “thing” deep within us, and sometimes those two desires conflict. They do in “The Grim Room.” His exterior desire is to find Rebecca and for them to be together again, which, when you look at it objectively, is very unrealistic given the background of the two characters. But his deeper desire, his more unconscious want, is self-love. He wants, he in fact yearns, for some degree of self acceptance, peace of mind, and happiness. “The Grim Room” is a reference to prison, a nickname for the pen, but it is double entendre, because it’s also the prison within his troubled mind. Therein lies the rub. Make your characters need things…on multiple, potentially competing or conflicting levels.

And then push them through an incredible journey, hurdles and all. This, I can pretty much guarantee, will make for fascinating characters and a solid plot.

Write on.

“You said it. Let’s edit.”

Michael Mohr

***If you’re looking for a book editor I might be your man. I look at YA and adult fiction and memoir only. If you’re interested please do send me the first chapter and a short description/synopsis of the book. I can do a one-time free test edit to show you my style. If you like it, we can go from there. Email me for rates, etc. Michaelmohreditor@gmail.com. As of now, I am booked tight until early November at this moment, which could change at any time. The sooner you email me the better to get in line. Hey, what can I say: I am sought after J I am also about to leave town for 13 days. I will not be working during that time but I will respond to emails. I cannot perform a test edit until after I return in the last week of September, but I will perform test edits in the order in which they are received, and will offer slots for the full edit, if I feel we’re a good fit, in the same manner.

FINDING AN EDITOR IN 2015

I was thinking recently about editors out there in the stratosphere. It’s tough—in 2015—to be an aspiring writer who’s trying to track down a good editor. First of all, there are shady editors out there—as there are agents and publishers—and some of them are only seeking money. Lots of it.

What you’ve got to remember is that, since the 1960s writing has become increasingly popular. This is unfortunate, really, because it clouds the market. It is now much harder for accomplished and talented writers to get their work in the hands of a good agent because the agent’s Slush Pile has 800 emails in it, all of them competing with your sad little query floating lamely in the literary sea.

One thing you can do to make your chances of hooking an agent’s eye increase is know the market and know how to write a Killer Query; know how to get their attention. One way to do that is to hire a professional. A book editor will not only help you see the issues within your book and assist you in developing and copy-editing that book and making it shine; they’ll help you write that query and synopsis and push it out into Agent Land with a much, much higher likelihood of getting a fish to bite Of course, there are no guarantees, but why the heck not improve your chances. Book editors know agents. They go to writers’ conferences. Editorial workshops. They study and know the market. They read for a living.

I am a developmental book editor. I come into play when an author has a first, second or third draft of a novel or memoir. I help them develop the project—focusing on structure, plot, character development, dialogue, pace, etc—into what they truly desire. Their vision for the overall picture can begin to come alive. Later down the line I can do a copy edit. Then I can work with them on the query and synopsis and help to try and connect them to agents.

Many book editors come from different backgrounds. The majority come from publishing backgrounds, often traditional, where they worked as copy editors, acquisitions editors, etc. After they worked in this capacity for five years, a decade, fifteen years, etc, they left their job and went freelance. In my case, I received a bachelor’s degree in creative writing, was a literary agent’s assistant, and started getting my fiction published. As an agent’s assistant, I was in charge of rejecting or accepting manuscripts for further reading. If I found an ms I really liked, based off the query, I’d start reading. If I liked the first fifty pages, they were asked to send. I’d receive the whole book via a word.doc attachment and forward it to the agent herself, who would read it. If she fell head over heels in love with it and it was poking at her soul, she’d call the writer, send over a contract and represent them. I also edited the agent’s acquired clients’ books, most of which later went on to be published.

I know a lot about what works and what doesn’t in the industry. I know what a query and a synopsis should look like. I know how agents’ think and how the market looks. Ninety-five percent of new writers do not know this information. That, as well as pushing their books forward, is why writers hire book editors. And that’s why you should hire me. I can’t tell you how many times agents reject an author out of hand because they didn’t do the query right or they misspelled something simple or the formatting was all messed up. Or maybe it’s “platform,” right? The writer has zero social media presence. There are so many pitfalls to avoid; often writers fall right into the Bear Pit and…just like that…it’s over.

It is the job of good book editors to know the market. As far as shady editors: Check out Preditors and Editors. This is a site dedicated to calling out false editors in the business who operate under “questionable motives.” Always ask an editor for a sample edit (free) prior to committing. Always sign a contract. Check out the EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association) for more info on fair professional practice, rates, etc. Also, if an agent ever charges you a reading fee: ditch them. Agents work on a contingency basis: If they ask for dough, they are a sham. Lastly, be smart. Trust your gut. If you have a weird feeling about an editor or agent, or if they are unprofessional via email, phone, etc (unless there is an assumed rapport), then trust that intuition and back out before you sign anything. Use Google to research this stuff; there is plenty of info out on the web.

If you are, in fact, looking for a book editor, I would love to check out your work. My rates are competitive. As a former lit agent’s assistant and a published writer, I know how to get that book to the next stage. Please email me your query (if you have one; if not, no problem) and the first chapter. I offer a 5-10 page test edit for free. If you like my work, I would love to delve in! Email the materials to: michaelmohreditor@gmail.com. I am currently looking for clients. I work with fiction and memoir. In fiction, just about anything other than children’s, storybooks, or middle grade are fine by me. If you aren’t sure, email me. Currently, I am booked tight until November 1st.

Write on!

“You said it. Let’s edit.”

Michael Mohr

Twitter: Michael_Editor