Stuff Writers Write That Makes Editors Cringe

6 Writing Blunders to Avoid Looking Like an Amateur Author

By: Sandra Wendel

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Are you ready to take the plunge into publishing your book?

Not so fast. The difference between a poorly written book and a publication that can capture hearts, change lives, entertain, or inform lies in the words. Your job, as author, is to get the words in the right order. Every. Word. Matters.

First-time authors, and even veteran writers, go down rabbit holes with their writing, and sometimes it’s the editor who helps dig them out of those traps. Nothing like an amateur blunder to label your manuscript substandard. Amateurish.

Real writing takes place after you have the bones down because solid, successful writing is rewriting. Just ask Stephen King or Anne Lamott.

Sandra Wendel is a seasoned nonfiction book editor and author of the award-winning book (six awards so far) Cover to Cover: What First-Time Authors Need to Know about Editing. She has seen the traps and tricks, the amateur errors. Successful authors take their words as far as they can before they hire an editor. So you as an author can do plenty of prep before you turn an editor loose on your baby.

This short and easy-to-read ebook contains a veteran editor’s collection of tips (to improve your writing) and blunders (to fix) and suggestions for how you can shape up your manuscript before an edit—and well before you become a published author for the first time or the fiftieth.

As an author, you are vulnerable. You spend hours, days, years getting your thoughts on paper in hopes that someday those words will turn into a book. This handy guide will help you polish your precious words—whether you’re writing a juicy romance novel, a mystery thriller that will keep readers up at night, or a nonfiction book about your area of expertise.

Click to download right now and elevate your writing as you never thought you could. Here’s a life raft for you as you plunge into the sea of book writing and publishing.

I liked the frank, no-nonsense tone of the writing.

I may go pick up the parent work now that is mentioned in this one. Some good advice here.

Big Mistake

Less than one minute in, when the narrator failed to pronounce "Do's and Dont's" properly, I realized this is some A.I. generated attempt to make a quick buck. I felt cheated. I have nothing else to say. The author can keep the few bucks she made off me.