Carol Givner Manuscript Editing
Pacific Palisades, California
Offering a Wide Range of Editing and Writing Services for 30 Years
http://www.goldduets.com/carol_givner_editing.html
As an author myself, I know how important it is to find the right editor, one who respects the integrity of the manuscript, edits with a firm but gentle touch, and shares industry wisdom with the writer.
My goal is to find the strengths of the author and the manuscript and to encourage these talents to flourish. In addition, I strive to work with my authors to showcase their manuscripts and make them shine. Since I am an agent with current sales to major publishers and independent publishers, I am particularly aware of what sells and what has a better chance of selling with a good editor and a little polishing.
I have been editing for 36 years since I graduated cum laude with a BA in English from UCLA. I was a journalist for the Lafayette, Orinda, and Moraga Suns newspapers and covered the Berkeley riots. Let me tell you about that some day.
A bit more about me, I am a best-selling author with six books to my credit, two of which have been nominated for the Frankfurt Award. I've been in Time Magazine, and I was a front cover story for Wired Magazine. The Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage credits me with changing the book business when my romantic comedy, BING, BANG, BOOM, was the first ebook to make the crossover to brick and mortar stores at Barnes and Noble, Borders, Bookstar, and Dalton's. I was nicknamed "The I Love Lucy of the Publishing Industry" when I spoke at the National Writers Conference because of my ground-breaking innovations in combining art and technology.
I've been invited to be a guest twice on the literary talk show "Connections" on National Public Radio, I was interviewed as a pioneer in electronic publishing and print-on-demand. Subsequently, I toured with all of my books.
Connections Interview 1 (Transcript)
Connections Interview 2 (Streaming Audio)
The lessons I learned sitting in bookstores across the country, seeing how their managers communicate with the distributors and the readers, are an important part of my services as your editor. You need to know the ultimate destination of your manuscript - the bookstores, the readers, the reviewers, and the press.
I've written screenplays for the Hollywood legends you see every year on your television screens at the Academy Awards. One famous producer won six Oscars for one film.
I wrote the first ebook, a time-travel romance called ROCK-A-BYE, BABE, on the net in 1996 about rock star/composer, Bryan Adams, who published the beginning in print. VH1 and MusicSpace both ran the serial, which can still be read on their archived old links.
Many of my clients continue to be in the field of entertainment. I encourage the development of both traditional projects and those more innovative. Accordingly, I have had five of my short stories published by Sterling McFadden. Two of my stage plays have been produced.
Publishing and touring led me to other niches in the industry. I'm the Editor-in-Chief of WORDSMITH, a writers' publication critically acclaimed on National Public Radio and at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.
Also, I'm the current President of Ventura Area Romance Authors, a past President of Los Angeles Romance Authors, and the President of Gold Coast Fiction Writers.
In addition, I'm the Executive Producer of STUDIO E Entertainment, the first multimedia studio on the web, at www.studio---e.com. We released PARAGONS in February 2002. It is a celebrity anthology of short works, prompted by 9/11, celebrating courage in the face of adversity, with all money going to charity, at http://welcome.to/paragons. It has been downloaded over two million times by the Military Download Library.
My publishers on the net were Book-On-Disc.com at www.book-on-disc.com for BING, BANG, BOOM, a romantic comedy; STEAM HEAT, a thriller; and DOUBLE-DIP PENGUIN SURPRISE, a children's fantasy; and The Fiction Works at www.fictionworks.com for KISS AND DON'T TELL, a mystery. All four will be re-released this year. BING, BANG, BOOM, written with Jim Carrey in mind as the lead, has been optioned as a screenplay.
Also, please find a link on my website to the landmark article I wrote for INKSPOT, entitled Rocking the Publishing Cradle or Rocking The Literary Boat?
The same website has the link to my exclusive interview with actress/activist Doris Day.
For something completely innovative, I'm the originator of THE AUTHORS THEATRE, which will be a webcast and will also be distributed on CD as a readers' theatre of renowned authors performing their own work in spoken-word videos filmed in their towns or the towns of their characters.
I was interviewed by Famous Veggie in their celebrity section at www.famousveggie.com.
Because of my environmental work, I'm the author and photographer for PINEAPPLES IN THE TIDES, a vegan cookbook with celebrity taste-testers photographed in Malibu, California, which proves that the most luscious chocolate cream pie you've ever had can be made out of tofu.
My beauty and health book, BEAUTIFUL YOU! HOW TO LOOK LIKE A MOVIE STAR, will be released in innovative packaging with a print book, DVD with a full weekend spa and exercise video, and my own line of organic beauty products.
Last spring, I became the Editor-in-Chief of SEE Magazine, a new literary endeavor produced under the auspices of Studio E Entertainment. Our line-up includes celebrity author interviews and a fiction writing contest with publication as the prize.
I've been privileged to edit the fiction and nonfiction manuscripts of many fine established authors as well as talented aspiring writers. I'm thrilled to open my mail and find autographed copies of their published books, and quite sentimental if they have mentioned me on the acknowledgment pages.
My mother wrote short stories for Collier's Magazine, and my father was a Broadway director and writer who won the Moss Hart Scriptwriting Award. When my clients tell me I was born to write and edit, I tell them, "And I was born to help you be the best writer you can be."
Why Hire an Editor?
Q & A with Carol Givner
1. Many writers often try to edit their own work. Why is it important to utilize the services of a professional editor?It’s difficult for actors to direct themselves. A writer needs an impartial opinion unclouded by emotion or intent. Who can separate the dancer from the dance? The writer is very close to the work and may miss issues and concerns. An outside point of view can spot editorial flags more readily. Also, authors know how they want the manuscript to read. Accordingly, they will see the intent in their minds instead of what is really there.
2. What is developmental editing?
Developmental editing is for content and structure. My developmental edits are very thorough and provide special instruction and assistance, page by page, even line by line. I write directly on the manuscript with suggestions and examples, moving text around, culling words and lines to their best advantage. I include point of view (as well as working with third person omniscient), show don't tell, fleshing out and development of plot and characters, adding dimension to setting and description, dialogue work, addition of inner dialogue where appropriate, foreshadowing (if there's a gun hanging over the fireplace in the first act, it has to fire in the third), effective blending of backstory into the text, and compelling hooks for the manuscript itself and as the lead-ins for chapters.
Personally, I think everyone needs their work proofread by several people. Or else embarrassing things can happen, like when I left the “l” out of Public in National Public Radio, and sent a rock star a chapter of his book called Butt Bryan, when I meant Buff Bryan. And, of course, the never-to-be-forgotten blooper of forgetting that a luscious actor had recently broken up with his wife and asking him -- no, you don’t want to know.
Another trick is to read your work aloud, and, even better, into a tape recorder. When you hear the story read back to you, you can easily see where and when you need to add or subtract content.
3. What is the difference between a developmental edit and a developmental critique?My developmental edits evaluate the concepts and each word and how everything fits into the entire manuscript along with examples. My critiques evaluate the concepts with a few examples to get the writers started revising their manuscripts on their own.
Both draw on industry knowledge and effective writing skills. In addition, a critique may include a market analysis, or how well your book would fare going through the submission process or displayed at an online or brick and mortar bookstore.
4. With the advent of the Internet there are many “editors” who offer their services to writers. How can a writer tell which editor is the best for helping them reach their writing goals?
Be sure to ask for a free sample edit. Also, choose an editor who will be with you after the editing is done without charging you extra unless the project changes direction and you need, for example, a movie script. You should never feel uncomfortable questioning the edits. They are tools for you to take with you when you write the sequel. If you don’t understand the point of view changes or how to transfer your new learned skills of “show don’t tell”, then that editor was only project-based. You want an editor/mentor who will teach you to write for a lifetime. Even the smallest hints can give you additional skills and build a strong future.
I believe a good way to approach an edit is to hire the editor for three chapters only. If you like what you see, then move forward. No sense finding out you’re not compatible until after it’s all over.
5. What questions should every writer ask an editor before they begin working with them?
How much is this going to cost! Get a firm bid in writing as well as an editing agreement of what types of editing are going to be done. Ask what kind of editing is needed and why. Ask if the editor will also write a book proposal consisting of a query letter and synopsis for you. Ask if the editor thinks your book has a chance in the marketplace, and if not, why not? Don’t be taken in by grandiose claims of book deals and vast wealth. No editor should make promises. The best advice I can give my clients is that even though there are no guarantees in publishing, as in life, there are wondrous opportunities. If writers are blessed to have the spark of creativity in their hearts, they should nourish their inner writer, and choose editors who respect the integrity of their ideas and work. Don’t be bullied. Keep control. It’s your book.I’ll bet you can tell I’m a writer myself. You should see how angry I get if some editor tells me I have to change something! Sheesh. Did he/she stay up all night working on the paragraph? And now it has to go? Forget it. It stays. Editors. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t publish without ‘em.
6. What are some of the mistakes that writers make when selecting an editor?
They hired the cheapest editor, or the one who is all praise and no criticism, or the one who guarantees publication, or the one with the biggest ego masquerading as experience. Ask for credentials. Ask for verifiable references.
7. Aside from basic editing services what can a professional editor do to enhance an individual’s writing ability?
Give praise and encouragement. An editor is a teacher, a mentor in the arts. An editor is obligated to find the spark in each writer’s manuscript, the breakthrough that makes him or her a Steinbeck or a Margaret Mitchell, and then build on that. If writers feels criticized or brow-beaten, they may give up. Working with an editor and mentor is supposed to be an empowering experience.
8. How much does it cost to work with a professional editor?
Editors charge from 1 cent to 20 cents per word, depending on the level of editing needed. Also, if you prefer to have your editor work by retainer, expect consulting or mentor rates from $20-$100 per hour. Ghostwriting can be anything. Be sure your ghostwriter sounds like you and writes in your voice!
As the writer coming up with the money for the edit, I like the by-the-word fee. In that way I know the exact amount. I don’t like surprises, unless they have to do with candy and flowers and sweet nothings whispered in my ear.
9. How often should writers communicate with their editor when working on a project?
Whenever he or she would like! Some editors like to edit all the way through before any discussion takes place to be sure they see the entire project. Some authors, like me, would like feedback sometimes. “So, do you like it? What do you think? Does it suck? What do you think so far? Did you see what I did on page 6, line 8, word 2? Great, don’t you think? Do you know why I wrote that? Well, when I was a kid, there was this little boy who used to ride by on his….what? Oh. Sure. I can wait until you’re through with the edits. No, that’s fine. Really. I just thought I’d call and see how you liked the chapter where he kisses her for the first time. Did you like that one? What did you think? Nice, don’t you think? I liked that. It reminded me of . . . hello?”
10. What types of writing projects do editors typically work on?
Taking a manuscript through a developmental edit. Turning a novel into a screenplay. Critiquing a finished novel. Teaching the difference between show and tell. Explaining point of view. Writing a book proposal. And the hardest one of all – explaining that a rejection letter is just a letter. It isn’t the end of a career. It’s the beginning of a journey. It isn’t an opinion. It’s a job. It isn’t a grade from Old Lady Dingledorf in Room 218 with no air conditioning and the desk with no feet.Here is an assignment from your editor, should our literary paths ever cross. Go to your keyboard and write, and let me know what wonders you create. And remember, when you invite me to your booksigning, I would appreciate an autographed copy. That’s Carol with no “e” and one “r”.
Warmly,
CarolMay I green light your project and place it in development? Please contact me directly at goldduets@aol.com.
http://www.goldduets.com/carol_givner_editing.html
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goldduets@aol.comCarol Givner, LLC
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