Category Archives: manuscript presentation

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

How to Handle Rejections

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Danielle de Valera

Anyone who’s ever submitted a short story to a magazine or a novel to a traditional publisher knows that sinking feeling: Rejection. “I’ve been rejected!” you cry — sometimes just to yourself; other times out loud. The old days were … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Danielle De Valera, getting rejected, manuscript presentation, Patrick de Valera, short story competitions, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

So yew trust yaw computer to cheque yaw spelling?

Posted on July 7, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

  Your computer can check the spelling in your fiction for you, but it won’t pick up your typos and it won’t pick up wrong gender adjectives, such as blond for blonde, where the owner of the hair is female. … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Computer spell checks, editing, fiction editing, manuscript presentation, spell checks | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Manuscript Layout for Australian Publishers

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

The advice below is meant to serve as help for writers trying to have their work traditionally published in Australia. It can also be used by short story writers entering Australian competitions.  ~ Do not align the RH margin — … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, getting published, manuscript layout, manuscript presentation, short story competitions, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment