Category Archives: manuscript assessments

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 →

Posted in advice for indie publishers, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Danielle De Valera, good editors, how to find a good editor, indie publishing, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, Patrick de Valera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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 →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for indie publishers, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Danielle De Valera, editors, fiction editing, good editors, how to find a good editor, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, Patrick de Valera, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

The Thumbs Down Publishers List

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Danielle de Valera

What indie writer trying to juggle the demands (and costs) of cover design, ebook design, print book design, and possibly a full time job as well, hasn’t been tempted to toss the lot to one of those publishers who promise … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Danielle De Valera, editing, editors, getting published, indie publishing, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, Patrick de Valera, publishers | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Pros and Cons of Preorders

Posted on June 25, 2015 by Danielle de Valera

Although Amazon accounts for around 70% of e-book sales on the web, the stores Smashwords distribute to account roughly for the remaining per cent. This post by Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords, presents a convincing case for using his preorder … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Danielle De Valera, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, the pros and cons of preorders | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Naming your novel

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Danielle de Valera

When choosing a name for your novel, always check to see how many of the same names already exist on the web. The more unique your title is, the better your chance it will come up in the first page … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, Choosing a name for your novel, Danielle De Valera, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Spontaneity in fiction

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

How important IS spontaneity in fiction? The answer is: It depends. Some works benefit from having a style that appears spontaneous. However, in my experience, when emerging writers talk about spontaneity and the fear of losing it by redrafting, they … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, editing, editors, fear of losing spontaneity, fiction editing, getting published, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Real” Dialogue

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

Good dialogue in novels is not real dialogue, which is often very boring, containing as it does a lot of batting about of unimportant information between the two parties. Too often, writers get led astray by their desire for realism … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, advice on dialogue, Australian manuscript appraisers, Dialogue, editing, editors, fiction editing, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Ways to Make Certain Your Novel Won’t be Published Traditionally

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

1.   Don’t redraft on the grounds that you don’t want to lose the spontaneity of your work. 2.   If you do decide to do the 8+ drafts necessary to make someone take you seriously, you insist on doing them online, … Continue reading →

Posted in advice for writers, editing, editors, fiction editing, getting published, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments