Kia ora, We’ve passed the halfway mark: for us in the southern hemisphere, winter solstice happened on Sunday. Longer (but colder) days ahead! Hoorah! I’m keeping it short this week with six adventure-related updates about books, movies, and gear. Got any links you want to share with me? Reply and send them my way! Cheers,DeborahContinue reading “6 adventure-related updates”
Tag Archives: publishing
There are already so many memoirs about walking this trail – is there space for mine?
I recently saw someone ask this question online: “There are already so many memoirs about walking Te Araroa. Is there even space for mine?”
YES! There is space for your story! It doesn’t matter if you’re writing about Te Araroa or the Pacific Crest Trail or the Camino de Santiago or any other popular trail. There is space for your story.
Writing a book one moment after another
Kia ora, Writing a book is hard! Do you know how many chapters that is? How many pages? How many words? It’s hours and hours of thinking and staring and typing, and thinking some more, and getting distracted and typing… But you don’t have to write it all at once. You don’t even have toContinue reading “Writing a book one moment after another”
That time I suggested an author add a … tasteful? … joke to his story
Kia ora, That tasteful joke in the subject line. It was actually a dick joke. But I didn’t want to say it that obviously in case the spam gods banished my email. But yes, I once suggested an author add a dick joke to his story. This author had a particular writing style – self-deprecating,Continue reading “That time I suggested an author add a … tasteful? … joke to his story”
Author scams – stay safe out there
One of my regular authors had a run-in with a scammer recently. I want to tell you about it so you can notice the red flags should the same thing happen to you. A senior editor from Penguin Random House emailed this author and told him Penguin were keen to acquire their latest book. ButContinue reading “Author scams – stay safe out there”
My favourite writing goofs
Kia ora, Over the years, I’ve picked up all sorts of goofs in my editing work. Here are a few I remember: In each case, something stuck out to me as I read. And because of the type of person I am, I had to go fact-checking. The authors weren’t dummies for making these mistakes.Continue reading “My favourite writing goofs”
Editing lingo: What is a pass and what is a round?
If you’re talking to an editor about getting your manuscript edited, you’ll likely hear us talk about how many rounds of editing we provide and how many passes of your manuscript we’ll do. They’re not the same thing, so knowing the difference will help you understand what you’re getting for your money. What is aContinue reading “Editing lingo: What is a pass and what is a round?”
What do you love doing the most?
Kia ora, Last weekend I put on my tramping boots and went for a loooong walk. I didn’t really need my boots, but wearing them made the walk feel more like an adventure. Plus there were cow pats everywhere. I go for a short walk most lunchtimes, and I do a circuit of the BotanicContinue reading “What do you love doing the most?”
Type 2 fun
Kia ora, Do you know about the fun scale? It’s a way of categorising experiences based on how easy to hard the experience was. Type 2 fun and type 3 fun are what a lot of armchair adventurers enjoy reading about. Trips they’d never go on themselves, but they still want to read about othersContinue reading “Type 2 fun”
If we only had 15 minutes together
Kia ora, If I could sit with you and talk about your manuscript, here’s what I’d say: First, congratulations on writing a whole damn book! That’s huge. The hardest part, in my opinion, is DONE. But that doesn’t mean you’re done-done. Getting the story out is just the first stage. But that’s okay. Publishing isContinue reading “If we only had 15 minutes together”
Deborah Shaw Adventure Editing 