Writing business books : the role of an editor

Your know how you meet people at networking events and of course they always ask what you do?  Telling people you write for a living is easy.  Most people can relate to that.

Even if their reactions range from awe (thinking I'm a superhero which is to be encouraged) to dismay (thinking I'm about to criticise their grammar).  Most people have had a go at writing something, particularly if they have websites and had to produce text for their web developers.

What's not so straightforward is explaining what my role of editor is when helping people write books.

Do I write the books for them?

Not directly but I can add in text that helps their work flow.  But the most important job in that respect is to make sure that their voice comes through loud and clear.  Not mine because it isn't my book, my life, my topic.

Do I plan the books for them?

Yes that's a large part of the skill I have because I'm good at working out structure and layout.  It's not that people don't know what they want to say.  It's more that from the inside they're not always good at presenting it in as clear a way as possible.

One major tendency for business writers is that they want to cram too much in too small a space. 

That's never a good idea because it's offputting for readers. 

Are you dumbing down by providing text in short paragraphs?  Not at all.  Remember that people absorb information in many different ways and you have to address that when laying out text.

Text will drop into logical formats and sequences.  Varies from book to book and subject to subject.  But the bottom line in thinking about it is always...

'How can I make it easier for the reader?'

Do I proof read the books for them?

Yes but you have to realise that there are several stages in what many people think of as editing which includes proofreading.

There are major editing issues which normally happen when you've avoided thinking about structure.  Then you're left with acres of text and no divisions of it.

There are minor editing issues which happen no matter how well you structure the book.  Often when you finish your book, then and only then do you realise that some text, perhaps examples or resources might fit better in a different part of the book. 

There are proofreading issues;  always, all the time and right up to the last possible moment before publication.

What's the advantage of using an editor for any or all these stages?

First and most important, you need someone outside you to monitor what you're doing.  Having written my own books I can tell you that at some  point you'll be sick to death of your writing. 

Yes honestly.  You will.  No matter how much you might enjoy writing, there comes a point where you don't want to see it ever again.

Which means you need someone else to point out, professionally, where your book can be improved.

They need to point out what is working and what can be strengthened.  And if something really needs to come out they have to be detached enough to say so and tell you why.

What else do I bring to my work?

Encouragement, laughter and perspective.

Being an editor is like being a combination of coach, mentor, grammarian and professional friend.

Make no mistake, writing a book consumes you.  It nags away at you.  And it exhausts you.

You need someone to cheer you on, stick up for you and remind you that someone out there needs your unique insight on your subject.  You need to remember that you can transform someone's life with your writing.

You have to show up as a writer and be vulnerable.  But being vulnerable through the medium of your writing can bring you as the writer so many gifts too. 

You may not realise till later how much writing the book changes you.  But change you it will. 

How to write a business book: constructing the layout

At the moment I'm helping a client organise material she already has written in various forms.  Her book is aimed at people who own their business but are new to running a business and people who are given a role in business but haven't done it before or want to upgrade their skills.

Sorry I can't be more precise about the exact topic but it's confidential.  But there are some general principles I thought it might be helpful to lay out.

You know what you're writing about but your reader doesn't

This is a problem I see all the time.  We tend to write our books from our perspective.

That won't do because someone who picks up your book may be many steps behind where you are.  I know it may seem like a chore but you have to approach this from a beginner's mind if that is the kind of book you're writing.

If you are writing an advanced primer of some kind then fine.  But even there you have to make clear where your baseline is.  What are you assuming they already know? 

Terms of reference if you like.  Because I can guarantee if you don't make it clear, someone will have an issue with it.

When I worked as a librarian, I taught new staff how to manage our book issuing system, part of which was based on alphabetical order.  Simple you might think. 

Not so.  You wouldn't believe how many queries people have about alphabetical order.

So it's never as easy as ABC.  Assume you know nothing about your subject and start again.

You may process information in a different way from others

Have you ever noticed how people read out phone numbers or read them back to you?  Some break them down into blocks of 2 or 3.  Others read them straight through.

We all have a unique way of absorbing and processing what we see or hear.

What that means for you as a writer is that you have to provide different ways of absorbing information.

One way I like to offer as a suggestion is the basic talk structure.
Tell them what you're going to tell them.
Tell them.
Tell them what you told them.

In a chapter you can break this up by creating summaries at the beginning or end or create action plans that underline what you said. Too much material on a page without white space is difficult to absorb.

Material you've written before can be adapted

People who want to write books often have written other material.  Articles, blog entries, course material.

There's no point in reinventing the wheel if you already have many of the spokes there.  It's a matter of finding some structure that connects them together.

Yesterday we had a breakthrough because I offered her a way of working through the processes in the subject.  It's often difficult for you if you're inside your subject.  An objective view is always helpful.

As soon as she heard my suggestion, she understood how she could 'borrow' material already available in her writing elsewhere to drop into the proposed layout.

AHA moment.  I love it when I help people find one.  Now she'll make faster progress because she's not struggling thinking she has to start over again for the book.

So if you want to write a book and have no idea where to begin, look what you've already done.  You may be pleasantly surprised about how fast you can turn it into a book format.

Quote for Monday

'Compassion and love are qualities that are of tremendous importance for the individual, society, and the community at large.'  Dalai Lama

Writers' Quotes

'Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.' Thomas Hardy

Encouragement for writers

If you're told people don't want your style of writing anymore take heart in the story of Barbara Pym.  Between 1950 and 1961 she published 4 successful novels then was told her writing was oldfashioned and wouldn't sell.

Quiet books where not much happens yet everything happens; like Jane Austen and Stanley Middleton, she was championed by Philip Larkin in 1977 after sharing a correspondence for 16 years.

She came back into 'fashion' , won the Booker Prize and was re-published.

So publishers aren't always right about writing.

E-books in publishing

Carrying on the theme from yesterday I had a look at the Jacket Copy Blog and found this entry by an attendee at Book Expo with a discussion about e-books, technology and writing.  Check out comment about Jennifer Egan and use of Powerpoint in a novel..

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2010/05/looking-at-book-expo.html

The iPad and the future of books

Read an interesting article from The New York Review of Books, reprinted in the Guardian Review of Sat 29th May.

Sue Halpern author of 'Can't Remember What I Forgot:: The Good News from the Front Lines on Memory Research. contrasts the virtues and vices of the various Kindle/Nook/iPad products. 

What interested me in the article was her musings about how it affects the way we read, what we expect from electronic helpers in reading and the effects on authors.

With the advent of Google's own tablet computer and the ePub format available on all devices except Kindle, the revolution in publishing opens out still further to those outside the mainstream of the literary world.  She quotes Jacket Copy Blog in the Los Angeles Times;'Theoretically, an individual author could create and ePub e-book and publish from home.'

I've talked before about the way the Internet is transforming what is possible for authors.  Yes it's easy to say that if our book is any good it will find a mainstream publisher.  But that's to be naive about the commercial pressures on publishing now and their own agendas. 

As authors or would be authors, we have to write the best book we can.  Then we have choices:

1.  work the system the best we can to find a mainstream publisher 
2. look into what's possible for us to build a loyal following for our writing that allows us to maintain control and value from our writing.

I believe the writing and publishing world has never been more open to us if we'll find out what's available and possible.