So you have finally finished your book and so are looking for a novel editor or proofreader. Great! This means that you want to publish your manuscript. And I assume that you’re wise enough to understand that getting your manuscript edited professionally is critical. However, I’ll be the first to tell you that finding a great, skilled editor that will treat your manuscript with care is a challenging task. So I have created 5 steps to help you get started.

1) Should I get copy editing or proofreading?
Why not both? Some editors cost less for ‘proofreading only’ as opposed to content editing. The particular distinction is that proofreaders fix mistakes only, while copy editors make many more substantial modifications. I know that you think your book is perfect and also you don’t want anybody to mess it up, but trust me…a book (especially one just completed, and doubly a first novel) needs a whole lot of tender loving and care. A fantastic editor will look for plot inconsistencies, poorly written dialog, lack of character motivation, chapters that don’t move the plot forward, unusual word choice and more. Spending money on an editor who knows what they are doing is similar to getting a private writing tutor. You will get back a much stronger manuscript.

2) Costs. How much should you pay for proofreading as well as editing?
Costs can vary considerably. It is based on length of the project, experience of the editor and also quality of the editing. Do not expect a cheap cost and never look for a ‘deal’. Along with that being said, a lots of proofreaders overcharge. Shop for the best, most qualified editor you can find who has handled similar projects before, and find out if they fit in your ‘budget’. Editing a novel could be between $500 to $1500, but it’s an investment.

3) Pick an editor that has a background in literature
Most professional editors never studied English or even editing. Find out what their experience and credentials are. They could be outstanding at fixing mistakes, formatting, or grooming the writing – however can they identify ‘poor’ writing and improve it? Is he / she themselves good writers?

4) Choose a native speaker, from the market you want your book to be successful. Proof of address isn’t any guarantee of a native speaker. There are plenty of people that are excellent at English, but not all English is the same. Several countries speak blends of English that’s not the same as the US/Canadian English, which is also different from UK English. Generally, US English is international English.

5) Where should you locate an editor?
First of all, search ‘novel editing/edit my novel’ in Google and see what comes up. Remember that the sites on the first page of Google are usually more established (have been around longer) and more expensive, but there are plenty of small companies with less advertising budget if you look past the first page results. I, personally had great experiences with smaller companies. Some of the companies are publishing companies as well that will also proofread and edit your book. This is the route I highly recommend.

Don’t rush when finding a good novel editor. You’ll be more successful if you take your time and do research. Visit http://firsttimeauthors.org to learn of a great publishing company that also provides excellent editing services and to also receive tips and a FREE valuable e-book on book writing.

Writing a book is a life-defining experience for a writer. It can be very difficult when the author realizes that their book has not defined anyone else’s life. This is especially true when you rely upon the book for your livelihood. You must get people to buy and read it. But how? What are the best author and book marketing tips?

Many authors have had the smart idea of writing books about how to promote their books. They are serving their own needs by catering to others just like them. Some books are better than others and some may be just scams. However, you should look at what these authors are doing to get their books bought in the first place. They use new technology which can be free. Use the internet. Create fan sites. Try to link yourself up with as many search engines and online retailers as you can.

Authors living in rural areas may actually sell more copies. It is nothing for someone from New York city to write a book and be published. Hundreds do it every week. But when you are from a small village in New England, people in your area will pay attention. You will get interviewed on local channels and by local papers. Use all of these opportunities, especially because it costs you nothing. Being a mysterious, reclusive writer should be saved for once you have actually become well-known. Then you can pick and choose your public appearances.

That said, keep a little mystery around you and be very aware of your own appearance. You are selling both your book and yourself. If you are dumpy or trashy looking, do not speak articulately, tell dumb jokes, or reveal everything about your book during an interview, who is going to want to buy your novel?

Be professional, be courteous, be humble, and make your audience wonder a little. Remember that if you are in a rural area, people will say, “I remember that person from high school!” or “That’s So-and-So’s child!” They will want to see what you have accomplished because there is a definite history there.

Do not be afraid to put up fliers and do television spots. Network as much as you can, cash in favors, and do not burn any bridges. You will need as much help as you can get in moving your publicity up to the next level.

Get additional important information on how to use book marketing principles to get lots of publicity. Experience the tremendous fun and success of a professional media campaign that focuses on promoting books. You can achieve your objectives when you know the right strategy to use.

If you are looking for a writing niche for a sure fire best seller, then look no further than the suspense novel genre. Publishers are always looking for new suspense fiction books.

One of the greatest things about suspense thrillers is that just about any subject will do just fine. You can write about any topic you know about. In fact, the best books are very often about people who are nobody special. They are not secret agents or detectives, just everyday people that get caught in a web of suspense.

Take for instance the biggest blockbuster suspense novels in recent years. The number one bestseller was about an academic who uncovered a conspiracy that spanned the centuries since the time of Jesus. When he uncovered the secret that Jesus was in fact married, it led to a mesmerizing sequence of events. That novel and the subsequent movie are so well known, the title and author do not even need mentioning.

Subjects like reincarnation and life after death seem like unlikely topics for best selling suspense novels. Be that as it may, one of the most successful novelists of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries is a woman who writes convincingly about these subjects. She attracts a wide following because she creates believable characters and riveting plots.

One more example is the famous novel that was written about the chemical composition of perfume, of all things. The subject became fascinating for readers because it gave them information about the main character in the book and was an integral part of the plot. It was an intensely suspenseful novel that was set in medieval Europe.

If successful suspense books can be written about topics like these, they can be written about anything. What are you good at? What are you interested in? If you use your imagination you can write about anything. A plumber, for instance, could write an entire novel based around a conversation overheard by a plumber while he was fixing a pipe. Intrigued, he did something to the plumbing that would force the owner to call him a second time. You can see where the story could go to from there.

There are a couple of essential ingredients to any successful novel. The main character must be fleshed out so that the reader can get to know and understand him or her. The secondary character, the one who is opposed to the main character, must also be well developed. Also, the suspense must build from the first page to the last. Instead of writing a how to manual, why not write a suspense thriller instead. If nothing else, you will enjoy writing it more!

Learn more about suspense fiction books. Stop by Jack Hanley’s site where you can find out all about suspense novels and what it can do for you.

In many respects suspense fiction books are the ultimate choice for the book lover. Let’s be honest with ourselves: if you live somewhere out there in the suburbs in a three-bedroom house with a garden and a pet, your life might be wonderful but without excitement. You would go to work, come home, go to work again…. An endless cycle

Reading a captivating suspense story takes you right out of the humdrum of your daily existence to a world of high speed cars, lovely ladies and debonair heroes. It transfers you to an imaginary reality where the future of our world is always hanging in the balance and where betrayal and excitement waits around every corner.

The spy story is one of the evergreen favorites of readers all over the world. We can’t all be super-spies, but with a good spy story we can all be part of that world for a few hours or days. Part of the appeal of a good spy novel lies in the exotic locations that form the backdrop for many of these stories. Even if you have never left your home in your lifetime, you can get to know the allure of places like Cairo and Rabat through the eyes of your hero or heroine.

The detective novel is another evergreen. The suspense this type of tale can create is quite astounding. First there will be a party with all the rich and famous in attendance. Then there will be a murder. And out of the blue there will be this quirky old detective asking all the right questions to systematically eliminate the suspects until there are only a few left. The suspense will grow even thicker when you realize the butler also had a motive….

For those of us with strong hearts there’s of course that very special type of suspense story, the thriller. Here anything goes. These stories abound with ghostly old houses, dark moors and visits from the other side. Beware: The axe murderers and haunted spirits found in many of these books are enough to give anyone sleepless nights, regardless of their age.

The alien invader is another niche in the suspense story genre. In these books creatures from outer space will visit earth with only one intention: to destroy our civilization and steal our natural resources. To make things really interesting, they very often look exactly like us, making it hard to know who is your friend and who is your enemy. As you can well imagine, this provides for many suspenseful moments.

Suspense fiction books have been around for quite a long time. And they’ve come to stay. The reason probably is that they fulfill a very real need for many of us: the need to experience excitement, fear and an adrenalin rush without having to leave the safety of our armchairs.

Looking to find the best deal on suspense fiction books, then visit www.dennisclarknovels.com to find the best advice on books for you.

Coming to the end of a rough draft is an exhilarating process. Knowing that you can do it, that you have done it, that you have created a complete novel is something that does not get old, even after completing many novels. No matter how good you get at the writing process, every rough draft will need to be edited. If you have mastered the basics such as good grammar, formatting and punctuation, some of the editing steps will go faster than the others.

We can compare editing to the process of cleaving, cutting and polishing a rough diamond. Diamonds take a long time to form, and when they are mined from the earth, they are rough yet beautiful. Each stage in the process is important and important for getting the most potential out of the tough gem.

Cleaving is the part of editing that can be started just after you have typed the end. This is where you step back and take a look at the large picture. This is what is called macro editing. Do you feel satisfied with your ending at that very moment? Are there scenes that you will need to insert to make more sense out of your ending? Do you have a character that you need to develop more or one that you need to get rid of all together?

It is best not to make any of those changes right then. The diamond cleaver turns the rough gem in his hand and makes observations, sets the diamond in a type of cement and walks away from it, letting it cool. I suggest writing your observations and to do list down in notes, backup your draft once more and then not looking at it for a minimum of thirty days.

During that waiting period, relax and celebrate, but also start working on a new project. Work on rough notes and an outline for a new book or if you do not have an idea for a new story, find writing prompts and exercises that will challenge you and possibly give you some ideas. A week before you start editing, spend some time reading advice from others on the editing process.

When you come back to the manuscript, read it from page one to the last. With a fresh perspective on it you can start working on those notes that you made earlier with confidence and precision. Adjust your ending, rewrite your beginning, remove characters or scenes that don’t further the plot and add the foreshadowing details that add depth to the novel and give more meaning to the ending. After you are finished with the macro editing, put the manuscript away again. For a day, a week or longer if you need to and come back to it, ready to do the micro editing.

Writer Patty has spent a lot of time researching and practicing the art of good fiction writing. The author has created a website to gather all her fiction writing tips together to share with aspiring fiction writers. Get great fiction writing tips here. Grab a totally unique version of this article from the Uber Article Directory