Category Archives: advice for indie publishers

Using Commas with As, Since and While

Posted on March 20, 2017 by Danielle de Valera

This is actually very easy, but people often get it wrong. Most people whack in a comma at the end of all opening clauses that contain a verb. In Australia, at least, this is not the right way to go … Continue reading →

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Producing a Print Book’s a Hard Journey

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Danielle de Valera

Some time ago, I investigated Indie publishing, particularly the publishing of Print on Demand (POD) books with CreateSpace, a subsidiary of Amazon. This investigation and my own experiences with it were most illuminating, and I thought I might share my … Continue reading →

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Finding an expert you can trust

Posted on November 19, 2016 by Danielle de Valera

If you’re an indie writer, these days you’re often dealing with people you’ve never met and probably never will – cover designers, interior designers, manuscript assessors, editors. I have never met the woman did the cover and the interior for … Continue reading →

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Collateral Damage as Amazon Applies the Thumbscrews to Reviews

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Danielle de Valera

Have you spent more than $50 on Amazon in your lifetime? (I think it’s in your lifetime.) They’re now instigating this rule where they won’t let you post a review, even though you’ve bought the book, unless you have spent … Continue reading →

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Those pesky possessive Ss

Posted on May 28, 2016 by Danielle de Valera

with possessive Ss I think we all know that an apostrophe is used before the possessive of singular common nouns, e.g. the boy’s bike. So far, so good. But what if the noun being possessed (as it were) isn’t singular, … Continue reading →

Posted in advice for indie publishers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Danielle De Valera, editing, editors, fiction editing, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, Patrick de Valera, possessive Ss, re-editing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Foreword v. Preface v. Introduction

Posted on May 7, 2016 by Danielle de Valera

Last month, a client of mine asked me to edit his non-fiction book, a series of vignettes about his time in rural Australia in the 1950s and Papua New Guinea in the ‘70s. One of the first things I noticed … Continue reading →

Posted in advice for indie publishers, forewords, indie publishing, introductions, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, manuscript presentation, Patrick de Valera, prefaces | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment