I have many clients and many professional collaborators. I have few true partnerships. Here’s how I pick them. My clients pay. That’s not really a partnership. A client is someone who I help for a fee. It’s popular to describe people in a commercial relationship as partners. That’s not really right. When money changes hands,…
I have coached or edited more than 50 nonfiction authors. Only two or three authored most of they wrote with AI. The rest wrote their manuscripts themselves. Every one of these authors who wrote the books themselves had problems. They were rambling, self-centered, disorganized, unaware of basic grammar rules, addicted to em-dashes and exclamation points,…
Newsletter 156: Writing is hard, which is why it is essential. Plus, a paean to corporate jargon, why personas are more than chatbots, three people to follow and three books to read. Writing is supposed to be hard For the last two years I have done strength training with a personal trainer three times per…
The writing teacher and author John Warner just posted an essential response to the questionable idea that LLMs can provide writing feedback that’s just as useful as comments from a human editor. Here’s what prompted him to comment: There is a study out of Stanford Law School that says in a blind evaluation, law professors preferred the…
You just drafted Chapter 2. You shared it with your developmental editor, who suggested a bunch of changes. What do you do next? Disciplined writers start work on Chapter 3. Undisciplined writers repeatedly revise work already written — a habit of continual polishing. That’s a habit I want you to break. Continual polishing is the…
Ghostwriting, editing and coaching jobs can be very hard to define. In the editorial professional’s mind, the job is to create the best possible manuscript. In the client’s mind, the job is to make a book that reflects their brilliance. There’s a huge chasm between the two. Clients don’t understand how publishing works, what’s allowed…
Gotham Ghostwriters has invited me to participate in a discussion of AI challenges for ghostwriters, jumping off from the recently published “AI Guidelines for Ghostwriting.” Join the discussion online on Wednesday, 17 June, 1pm ET. You must register here to join. This is an off-the-record discussion. The panel is knowledgeable and we’ve spend time finding…
As a developmental editor, I am hired to find things that are wrong with what you wrote, and to tell you how to fix them. I do that. But more important than finding fault is identifying what needs to be preserved. I look for what’s unique about your manuscript. Those distinctive human qualities are always…
Newsletter 155. Why it pays to beat up an idea until it reveals its true self. Plus, publishers’ AI paranoia, Wikipedia editors threaten to strike, three people to follow, and three books to read. Hard on ideas I am a professionally compensated pain in the ass. People hire me to help develop their ideas. What…