Editing is one of the most crucial parts of the writing process and professional editing can be key to ensuring your book is as good as it can be. Today I talk to professional editor Ian Skewis about the editing process and working with an editor as well as getting some hints and tips for self editing.
Editing is one of the most crucial parts of the writing process and professional editing can be key to ensuring your book is as good as it can be. Today I talk to professional editor Ian Skewis about the editing process and working with an editor as well as getting some hints and tips for self editing.
Hi, and welcome to the writing and Marketing Show brought to you by author Wendy H. Jones. This show does exactly what it says on the tin. It's jam packed with interviews, advice, hints, tips and news to help you with the business of writing. It's all wrapped up in one lively podcast. So it's time to get on with the show. And welcome to Episode 66 of the writing and Marketing Show with author entrepreneur when the H Jones, time is flashing past and in Episode 66, we are going to be talking about editing with Ian scurrilous. And I'll introduce you to Ian in a moment. And I think it's important that we talk about editing because there are so many different ways we can edit our books, and our books need to be edited to make them polished, beautiful pieces. So I'm excited to bring you this show today. So what's happening in the world? Well, the world is opening up or rather should I say the world in the UK is opening up, especially in Scotland, because England have already opened up and people are allowed to have to go out for a cup of coffee with their friends meet up with them from one other household. And I'm excited because on Monday, Scotland is opening up, we're allowed to go further than our our own area at the moment. But on Monday, coffee shops, restaurants are opening. And I'm going to be meeting up with someone for the first time in a year. Outside of my own household, I'm going to be meeting up with the Secretary of the Scottish association of writers. And with my presidents hat on, I'm going to be at the westerwood Hotel and Spa. And we're going to be talking about next year's conference. And I'm so excited to be talking about the conference because the Scottish association of writers which as I say I'm the president, we have a conference every year, two years ago, I had to cancel it because of COVID at the last minute, and this year, we moved it online. But next year, we are hopeful that we will be having it back at the hotel. So we're going to start the process of getting ready for that. And we're going to be talking about adjudicators and keynote speakers and workshop leaders for the conference. So it's going to be an exciting meeting. And we're going to be able to have lunch out together because when it's legal and to the hotel will be open for people to have lunch. So it's an exciting day for me Monday, I have to say on numerous fronts. And I'm very, very much looking forward to meeting up with the Secretary of the Scottish association of writers who is the absolutely wonderful Susan McVeigh. And I really could not do my role as president without her because she is amazing. Before we meet Ian, I just like to say that it's a pleasure to bring you the show. I do it willingly every week, and I love doing it. I learned so much from doing it. But it does take time out of my writing life. If you would like to support this time, then you can do so by going to patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones. And just supporting me for $3 a month and $3 is just the price of a tea or a coffee. And I would be very, very grateful it would mean you're enjoying the show and you want me to continue with it. So patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones, and I would be grateful. So what have Ian while Ian is a fellow Scot. He's a freelance editor and proofreader and he works with many different authors and a wide variety of genres. And he is an associate editor with bloodhound books, several of the books he's worked on have gone on to become bestsellers. And he has himself the author of best selling crime novel, a Murder of Crows. He's also a really nice person really easy to work with. I have worked with him on several instances and he has on many occasions interviewed me about my books for various events and conferences and book festivals. So it's my pleasure today to be able to interview Ian for a change. So without further ado, let's welcome Ian skirmish to the show and hear what he has to say about it. I've got Ian with me. Hi, Ian. Hello, and welcome to the writing and Marketing Show. It's an absolute pleasure to invite you along here today.
Ian Skewis:Thank you It's lovely to be here. Thank you for inviting me along.
Wendy Jones:Now I can tell with an accent like yours. You're from Scotland. whereabouts?
Ian Skewis:Oh I am indeed. I'm originally from I was born in Helensbourgh. And I was raised in Dumbarton and I lived there for are a good 20 odd years, but I do. I do have a bit of an Aberdonian twang as I lived up there for 18 months, but the accent seems to have stayed with me. And I've been living in Glasgow for about 20 years. But I still don't have a full Glaswegian accent strangely enough,
Wendy Jones:that for the purposes of today, that may be a good thing. So that I love everyone in Glasgow to bits, but their accent can be a bit strong. For Yes, yeah,
Ian Skewis:yeah. Yeah. Depends on what part of Glasgow the form I guess. And you know, sometimes it's really, it's all those glottal stops that they use as well, or glottal stops. That's the one yes.
Wendy Jones:Anyway, we must move on from the abilities of the Glaswegians to the editing, before we end up in bother. So we're here today to talk about editing and proofreading, and we're going to talk about professional editing, self editing, and all the everything you need to know about editing, all wrapped up in one neat package of under an hour, really, which is quite something. So let's start off with talking about professional editing. Now I know it's crucial to any writers, you know, success? So can we start by asking why professional editing is so important to the business of publishing?
Ian Skewis:Well, I think first and foremost, it's about maintaining industry standards and quality. So for example, I was trained with the CIEP, which is the Chartered Institute for Editors and Proofreaders and so what we try and do is to reflect a certain quality when approaching the work. And I guess the short form of that as the you know, an editor, a trained editor will help meet your book look better, and help to elevate on to, you know, a good quality platform. So, you know, in a way on a wider range, you know, it's basically just trying to make the book as best as it possibly can be, in terms of what the expectations of publishing are, and what the readers expectations are, as well.
Wendy Jones:You've read some really important points clearly and you have, because it's about knowing that it's industry standards, and that your book is as good as it can be, because that's what we're all aiming for Really? Absolutely. And professional editing is crucial in that process. Now, a lot of people get confused with all the different types of editing because there are so many of them. Can you tell us what the different types are and how they're different from proofreading.
Ian Skewis:Yes, so there's there's many different kinds of edits your fingertips basically. So I'll give you an example of some. So you know, a structural edit would be, you know, pretty much about things like timeline plot, those things working, or the naught to some things need to be edited out, or some things need to be cut and pasted. Then you have a copy edits, which is further down the line, I copy edit is basically when the novel is pretty much finished, it's in a fairly good shape. You know, and it's more about the spelling, the punctuation and grammar, there may still be some extraneous details, some minor timeline issues, perhaps, to be dealt with. But it does what it says on the turn at that point, you're getting the copy of the book. And that's where the copy edit title therefore comes from. And, you know, that's the finished manuscript. And then when you go further down the line nearer to the publication, to the towards the end of the journey of the boot, you have the actual proofread itself. And that's based on a completed and formatted version of the book. And that should at that point, purely be spelling, punctuation and grammar. Again, there are other things that may crop up some outstanding things like fact checking the ciep. You know, the a lot of fact checking, still takes place at the proofread stage in some types of books, maybe not so much fictional books, but certainly, you know, nonfiction books, maybe, you know, scientific journals and things like that. But if we're talking about novels, then the proofread is more or less spelling, punctuation and grammar.
Wendy Jones:Yeah, so you've you've set the scene quite well there really because we we've got an idea of what the different things are. And I want to see some of them out a bit further because one of the things that one of the types of editing that gets bandied around is developmental editing. Can you tell us exactly what you do when you provide a developmental edit?
Ian Skewis:Yes. It's often it depends what stage the book is at. But often it's, you know, if it's a developmental it is at the very early stage. So it may even be that the book isn't actually completely written yet, it may just be an idea, you know, I can have two page format that has come up. And it would be about getting the journey of that book. So it would be focusing on things like the plot, the character, what kind of genres it's going to be, there would be so you know, it's about just setting the book on sale, you know, on its journey. And it would be more to do with content, as opposed to spelling, punctuation and grammar, because you're dealing with much bigger issues at stake. So for example, you may have a crane thriller, where plot is integral because it may be full of twists and turns, there might be a main character, you know, and there may be a villain in the piece, the villain might be a character who hides in the shadows, you know, so it's about getting the information required to make that all believable and to create a balance as well. So for example, the villain of the piece, there was one novel, which I edited quite recently in font, where the villain of the piece was quite a ninja type character, and hid in the shadows a lot. But I think it was about quite well, I think it was about chapter seven. So quite early on in the novel, he makes his debut in the book. And immediately, we already knew everything we needed to know about his inner workings, where we are, where he came from, what his upbringing was. And so what he did was I suggested to the author, that perhaps he holds back on all that information, because, you know, and because of the the ninja style of this character, it made sense that less was more. So why suggested was to, to drip feed that information throughout the book, rather than have all at the beginning. And it made the villain much more menacing, you know, much more of an unknown quantity as well. So it meant that when he finally did appear, in the flesh, as it were, it was a lot more powerful, you know, much more closer to the climax of the book. So that's an example of, you know, a developmental thing or structural thing as well. And that, in turn, hinges on the plot points as well. So it's, it's kind of the, you're really dealing with the, with the bare bones of the book, you know, all the big things that that, how I would describe it as you're dealing with almost the spine and the vertebra of the book, because all these things are going to hang on.
Wendy Jones:Excellent. I mean, again, you've you've given us some really clear ideas there and examples. And I like the way you say, you know, it's where you're setting your book off, in full sail, you know, analogy is brilliant, because you want to set it off properly, if it's not got all its sails up, then it's seriously, it's not going to go anywhere, really is it?
Ian Skewis:You want it to go in a certain direction. And that's something again, that you would help because not not every author will have an idea of exactly where they want the story to go. So as an editor, you're you're there to try and recognise certain key moments in the book, you know, certain traits in the author's writing, perhaps, that help identify what kind of author there says and what kind of story this is, and you then guide them, you know, you almost help the the author to find that identity, especially for debut authors. So it can be quite, I think, quite an exciting prospect that you know, the the early stages of a bit because you really, it's very much unknown territory. And you'd really don't quite know when you begin exactly where it's going to go in. It's a gradual conversation between editor, an author until you then kind of get it and it suddenly starts to piece itself together.
Wendy Jones:Yeah, I'd like to move on. Now. Another concept that people talk about is line by line edit. Now why exactly is this how would you do one why is it important?
Ian Skewis:So a lione edit, it is more about syntax. So it's very, very comprehensive, as the title suggests, so. And, to me, maybe it's because I used to be an actor a long, long time ago. So when I think of a line near to I think of the voice of the author, which it's about the style. But, for example, when you when you read a novel you equate with enough I think some some novels can take a bit of time to get into. And it takes a while for you to start to hear the voice of the author, the narrative. But once you do, then it feels, you know, it runs nice and smoothly. So when approaching Elaine enter as an editor, what I'm trying to do is to pick up on the voice of the author, which in turn indicates the style of that particular author. So some authors, for example, will use perhaps a certain turn of phrase regularly. So it's not to me to then say to them re, okay, you're maybe just using that a bit too much or less is more, or perhaps it may be the opposite, it may actually be that that indicates a certain style, or traits that I think could then be added elsewhere, perhaps that could be used at certain key moments in the book. So it sounds a bit silly, but you know, although your is a visual thing, you're actually listening to the book, as well as seeing it on the on the printed page, or on the screen. So I kind of think of it as it's kind of like, acting. You know, going back to that analogy, when you were not, we're not as mana, I was trained to do Shakespeare and Chekhov saw, Shakespeare in particular, requires a huge amount of breath, to speak on stage, because the sentences back then were much, much longer than they are today. Much less, you know, you've got the whole iambic pentameter going on and things like that. In authors, and every author has an individual voice isn't the author's obviously included in so when you read a book, for example, there was an Irish author who have done a lot of work with, and her I suspect, I don't know where exactly from Ireland, she's strong, but I suspect it's Southern Ireland, because her writing is very lyrical. And the sentences are very long and flowing. They're not clipped, you know, you can almost hear her accent in her writing. So there's this kind of breath Enos in space, almost between the words. And so that's so that's what I kind of try and listen out for when I when I approach something like Elaine edit, you know, it's ultimately about the voice and the style of that particular author, and identifying it, and then trying to make sure that they stick to that, for consistency throughout the rest of the novel.
Wendy Jones:Yeah, wow, I'm blown away with the depth of that, you know, you've got breadth, but the depth of that it's amazing. And editors are just phenomenal, you know, but we also have to do a certain amount of self editing before we send it to the editor, otherwise, the poor editor is going to lose the will to live. So it's all just a minute about self editing, can you give my listeners some hints and tips on self editing that they can do before sending it to a professional editor? Now, before you answer, I want to make it clear that this should never take the place of getting a professional edit. After yourself edited, you should always get it professionally edited, as well. So what are your hints and tips?
Ian Skewis:So I think that's an excellent question, actually. Because it's one of the I wouldn't, I won't say a bugbear of mine, but often, you know, that are that are actually, I could say there's two main things that are that I find as an editor that the authors are not needed, particularly debut authors are maybe not aware of. I think, I think if you get the timeline correct in your book, then that's half the battle all too often I'll get a book sent to me. And, for example, let's see, you know, the main character has scheduled to go and see I don't know, a therapist on Monday. And the current D is let's see, it's Thursday. And then we go to the next chapter, and then the next few chapters, and then we come to the following Tuesday or something. And, you know, then go to the therapist on the Wednesday, and then we realise that you've actually missed the appointment because it was supposed to be for the back. So it's things like that. So what I always suggest to debut authors, especially, is when you're writing your book, it's a very, very good idea to do a subheading for every chapter, and just write in that subheading, what D is, what time of year is, what's the month. And then if you need to change it med chapter then just put a chapter break and just write let's see a goes to 2pm that CMD and you can also do that as a separate file, you know as a separate document, which means you can just at a glance, see how the book is developing into terms of its timeline. And what that does is it means that I kind of regard the timeline is the spine of the book. So enough, the timeline is correct, then everything else hangs on it much more solidly. And it means ultimately, it's okay, it's going to be less work for me. But in the long run, it's also going to be a lot less work for the author, because we don't then have to spend time unpacking it. Because if the timeline is wrong, it's very, very tricky to unpack it, and work your way back to where it should have been, you know, in the first place. So what would be the first thing I would suggest, you know, if you're going to self edit the other, you know, before sending it to a professional editor, the other thing I would see as points of view, this is something some even fairly established authors don't entirely understand. So when I mentioned point of view, and referring mainly to the character's point of view, so for example, Chapter One might be from John's point of view, primarily chapter two, maybe from Susan's point of view. So again, what I would suggest is, you know, if you're, if you've got all your chapters lined up, give us up heading with the timeline, so the time and the date, but also, who is the main character in that chapter, who's, whose head are we inside at this point, whose eyes we're looking at, or, you know, at that point in time, and again, if you if you do then need to change the point of view to a character who they're speaking to, perhaps then put a chapter break, and change that point of view. You know, this is just initially the chapter breaks can then be taken a little further down the line if need be. But just as an initial exercise to make it clear for yourselves is especially DB authors, it's a good exercise to get into, and avoid something which I call head hopping, which is when you have a chapter or a scene, and there are several characters, and you're jumping about in the heads of each character. And that becomes very confusing for the readers. So edges helps the book helps the writing of the book, if you decide quite early on what each chapter is about whose point of view is it from, and what the time of day or time of month is. The other thing I would say, just as an aside to all that, as well as the some authors are best not to self edit, because if I'm and I would say I'm one of them, because I tend to get bogged down in details, if you're that kind of author, then certainly edit for the down the lane, but finish the book first and then go into the self editing if you need to, or if you feel you need to, because it doesn't work, self editing at that stage doesn't work for all authors. So we'd certainly advise, you know, get to know quite quickly what kind of author you are. Because sometimes self editing can interrupt the work, it can prevent the work from actually being written. So I would always advise where possible, write the entire book, first, leave the mistakes and if need be, unless they're really obvious, and you want to change them. And then once you've written the book, go back and then do an editing process. And then after that last, when you would approach a professional editor
Wendy Jones:Okay cracking tips, actually, and I like the idea of the timeline, you know, putting in where things are. And that's important. And it's just amazing the things that you can miss out or add in or change around or, you know, they go from blue eyes to brown eyes, or Yes, they forget to you forget to investigate a whole monitor in your book, you know, move on Oh, yes, it's a dead body. Let's just not do anything about it. You know?
Ian Skewis:Yeah. Well, there's one of those. There's one I even did today. on there was a character who was quite key, he was a sub, you know, he was a supporting character in the cast, as it were. But by the end of the book he'd been forgotten about. And so I had to remind the author, what happened to that person, you know, because that because the reader wants to know, they would be would love to know, as well, you know, so it just helps to remind, it's a good checklist for the author, you know, to remind themselves or Where are my with a stray or key, and also gives a balance, it helps to create a balance because if the point of view is too much all about one card or two, you can identify it quite quickly, quite early on. For example, another book that I edited, the main character disappeared for pretty much the whole of the middle of the book, and there was lots of interesting things happening, but without that person, and so I reminded the author, I think you need to involve the main character here because they've kind of been upstaged by supporting characters, you know. So it just helps to give the bootcamp balance as well.
Wendy Jones:I love that. Just forget about the main character. Not yet, but I need to remember that our support characters and I need to bring them in. So what should an author bear in mind when they're looking for an approaching an editor?
Ian Skewis:I think the first and foremost thing be prepared to be told that won't just be a proofread. Because I think proofreading tends to be used as an umbrella term. And it's a bit of a misnomer, I think, you know, it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, including authors. They all have their own, you know, slight concept and what it means. And I think it's perhaps because when some authors have finished their work, whether it's a debut novel or not the field because they've done everything they can on it, they think, Oh, it's finished, it just needs a proofread, knowing that will be done. So I would actually no one against that we are thinking, I think when you when you do approach an editor, regardless of how experienced you may you may be, I think it's always a good idea to approach the editor with an open mind, because you might not get the response you think. I mean, there are there's been many occasions when I've, you know, had a book submitted to me. And it basically said, Yeah, that's it really just needs a proofread. Can you can you give me a quart? And, you know, I then had to see in some occasions, not always, I mean, sometimes that is just a proofread. And that's that's absolutely fine. But in other cases, I've looked at it quite closely in a fantasy lesson, I think it needs a bit more than just a proofread. And I've then explained to them what a proofread actually is. And they've realised that the didn't understand what the word proofread actually meant. They thought it meant, you know, us one thing, and actually, it means a lot less proofreading for a lot of authors means editing, it means you know, everything, you know, and they don't realise that there's actually various different subsections of that as it were. So I would always recommend, you know, come with an open mind. And I would also recommend, you know, maybe sounds a bit silly, but be prepared, you're to be brave, bold, and brutal. It's the three B's basically, I call them. Because I think, you know, I think when the author's got this far, I think it's actually quite a courageous thing, to write a novel in the first place, it takes a lot of exertion, a lot of mental progress, a lot of stress. And all too often the author will think or that's the worst of over, and then they get to the Edit, and the heater editing, as you know, for many authors that their Least favourite part of that journey, because it requires that the boot kind of gets taken apart again. And so it requires a lot of tact, on, you know, the, on the part of the the editor. So I always kind of, you know, suggest to the, you know, to the authors, you know, you'll have to be quite brave about this. And you'll have to be quite bald in terms of what you might have to do to your own work. And you might have to be a bit brutal as well at times, you know, so it's a, it's a, it's a tricky one, and it requires a good balance, you know, in terms of how the editor imparts the information to the author.
Wendy Jones:Yeah, this might be a good time actually to pick up, you know, what sort of things because you've alluded to it, what how much it might cost, I know you can't give exact prices, but you know, what sort of costs of people looking at
Ian Skewis:it, it kind of varies, but because I'm a trained member of the CIEP, we a e connected to the society of au hors, which I'm also a member of yeah, so what what I always do is when when our author ap roaches me, I will read th ough a good chunk of the ma uscript, and then I will have a lear idea what I think needs to be done to the book, not all ed tors do that some editors wi l do see, you know, I will do a roofread. And this is how mu h it costs, regardless of, yo know, what they see in front of them or not, but I prefer to gi e a more catered or boutique se vice, you know, I prefer to, yo know, see the work for what it is and then give them a re lly accurate and honest op nion from the outset. And I ca see to them, right, this ne ds either a copy edit, or a pr of edit, or just a proof re d. And then I will I will let th m know what the cost of that is on my my price, mic races th t always transpired. And be ause they are actually fe tured on the website of the So iety of authors, and anyone ca visit that particular we site and see the price is wr tten up there. So it's, you kn w, it's always, you know, th y can always double check and ma e sure that they're happy wi h that with that quartz that I' e given them. So that's kind of really, you know, it just it re lly depends on the state that th book arrives in and I will wa then editor a Katya and pr ce it according to how much wo k I think he actually needs no actually needs to be done on th book itself.
Wendy Jones:No, that's clear actually, if they can go and look somewhere, then they know exactly what they're looking at. Because very often you'll see in Facebook groups people go, Well, I'm looking for an editor, but I can only afford $100 Yeah, well, you'll need more than a hundred dollars, son ,
Ian Skewis:it's a tricky one, you know, because it's, I think when you get into, you know, publishing and you know, you are looking to self published or independently published, depending on what the, the terminology is, it's still that that particular thing is still in development. And it seems so. And yes, it can be an expensive process. But I think, for your own peace of mind. And if you're really serious about your work on how you want it to be perceived, if you've got our professional editor behind you, is priceless. Because ultimately, the editor doesn't get much credit for the work they've put into is the author that gets all the credit, because your is your name that's on the cover. So when people read that book, can you see Wow, that was an amazing book, all we see is the author's words, they don't know, the work that's going into, you know, in the background, you know, or what input the editor has hired. So it's actually the author that gets all that credit at the end of it anyway. So I think it's probably worth it in order to get it professionally edited, you know, and even as an author myself, that's why I do you know, I, whenever I write, I always get second opinions from other professionals, you know, in the industry as well.
Wendy Jones:Yeah. No, your advice is fantastic. I want to take that just a bit further, because how best can an author and editor work together? I don't want to take the second I was going to ask you this is a separate question, but I think it goes together. Because I'm curious if the author doesn't agree with the editors advice? How should you approach it? How do you find a balance? Really?
Ian Skewis:That's a very good question. I think, I think often when an author, particularly a debut author approaches an editor, the author has less experience than the editor does, because they're approaching that editor because they have a track record or professional track record, saw that approaching someone who's more experienced than them in the industry. So there's a nail a big enough element of trust there. And I have here Do you know, not any particular editors, but I do hear occasionally of editors who can be quite brutal, in terms of how they impart that information. I'm not of that ilk. What I prefer to do is, I mean, I always think these that, you know, when you're dealing with a debut author, especially, it's the baby that you have, in your hands, you know, this is this could be a piece of work that has taken many years for them to get to this stage. You know, they've put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that first book. So I always approach every book, you know, regardless with an element of kindness and respect for the author, and a lot of times and diplomacy. Because it ultimately, this is the baby that is very close to their heart this book. So why do as you know what if I do have to be brutal? Why prefer to do as I prefer to give the author the tools to be brutal if need to be. So instead of me being brutal to the book to their work, I will suggest to the the author, for example. Right, I think in terms of how this doesn't fit in terms of your style with with the rest of the chapter, I would take that out. And I would cut and paste parts of it that I think are still relevant, you know, towards the end of the book, and that was something I had to do for an author quite recently. And it involved a lot of work on on the power of the author. And it was an uphill struggle for this particular author because it is his debut book. But he did such a good job. And he understood exactly what I mean. Because it involved a lot of cutting and then some pasting later on in the book as well. But it just meant that that particular chapter that I was referencing was much, much streamlined, it was much less wordy, much more streamlined and worked in terms of the genre much better as well. And so he had to do something brutal with that particular chapter. But what I did was rather than brutalising the book, I gave him the tools he needed to be brutal with his own book. So you're really empowering the author too caught some missing him. You're imposing that particular author with the tools they need to edit the novel by suggestion So that's how I think the author and editor should be working together. Because ultimately, you're both aiming for the same thing. You're both aiming to make this work this book, the best it possibly can be. When they don't agree with that advice, and it does happen, and it's absolutely fine when it does. Why always see is if it's a style choice, and that doesn't affect the standard of the book, then I'm happy to go with the author or not. Every book has its own demands for exact for example. And to give you a book that I'm working on just now as a huge, huge trilogy, that I'm working on just now. And it totals about, you know, if you put the three books together, it totals about one over 1 million words. It's amazing. Yes, huge. And every book has its own demands. And this particular booth certainly does because it's full of German and Jewish terminology, police names, newspaper footage, Norse, there's lots of different styles of font, etc, going on in there. Lots of different points of view. And it's a historical book is a huge epic historical trilogy. So what we had to do between us was to create and this is something that will happen this is maybe something should briefly explain actually, every book will require a style guide. And what I mean by a style guide is a guide for how that book should look once it's completed. So for example, you know, certain words might need to be done in uppercase, certain words and lowercase place names might need to be capitalised or Atallah sized. And this, this would be a list that I would give to the author to give them an idea of my approach to the particular book. So going back to this war trilogy, that I'm working on, I'm working on, what we did between us was to come up with a style guide for that particular book, because it had his own demands. You know when to, to to clarify, for example, one of the main characters as a general in the army, but he's referred to not by his first name very often, it's more or less the general. So I decided, Well, perhaps that should be capitalised, I wouldn't normally do that, because it you know, it would normally be lowercase. But because it's the general as in the characters, you know, address, then I thought it would be better to capitalise it. But we, the reader is clear on who that particular person is, as opposed to being a general and that are other generals, and not because it's a war book. So it helps to separate him from the other generals and also helps to separate that particular word from the word General, as in generalised. So, sorry, if this seems a bit long winded, but that's an example of a book having its own particular demands, you wouldn't do that for every book. But for this particular book that required I think, and that was something that we spoke about at length it took, it took quite some time to actually set the horse style guide up for the book. And partly because it was so huge as well. So it took longer than normal to actually set that whole approach up. So that's, that's an example of where the author and editor work very closely together, and involves tact and diplomacy. And ultimately, it's the author's book at the end of the day, they kind of have the final seal on it. But I always, you know, to reiterate, I would always see that as long as the make the right kind of choice, that it doesn't affect the standard of the book, you know, that it still maintains the industry standard, sort of what's expected, then I'm usually happy to go to go with that.
Wendy Jones:No, that's very, very clear. Actually. You know, I'm still reeling from the fact that somebody has written a million words in a trilogy. Yes. Well done to them and well done for editing it.
Ian Skewis:They've done a sterling job, I have to say. Yeah, it's really and I'm looking forward to seeing the books come out as well. I mean, we're still working well, I'm still working on the first book. It's going it is going to take a long time to get through the entire trilogy, but I feel we're you know, we're making good progress now. And I'm very excited about as well.
Wendy Jones:Excellent. Now, I know you have your own book out. So tell us about your own book.
Ian Skewis:Yes, well, it's been it's been a bit of a journey since I started in my I've been writing since about 2013. That's when I decided to take a bit more seriously intervention Oh into publishing. But it wasn't until 2017. I had my first novel though, and that was a Murder of Crows and I always intended to write my next book. In fact, I did start a sequel. And I also have a have written another book or related book since then. So the first draft stage, but life has gotten away. And I then became an editor. And I'm absolutely mega busy editing other authors books. So I've had very little time to do any writing. So what I have done, and what I've managed is I've brought out a range of short stories in paperback format. And these are books that some of them are stories that I wrote, you know, since 2013, I came, I guess I was kind of a little bit frustrated that I wasn't having much time to write my own material. So I decided to bring out my mortise back catalogue. Some of these stories have never seen the light of day up until I did these paperbacks as well. And I have to say, it's been a great experience doing it, the books have been very well received. And the short stories, which I also design, I do the jacket, the book jackets as well. So it's a lot of work, a lot of effort goes into writing these little short stories, and then send them to the printers get them all printed up. And I what I do is I am building a collection of these stories to form a library of short stories. And these are available via my website, which is www dot m SC your store calm, and they are free. They're absolutely free. There's no postage or packaging costs included or anything. And they are available worldwide, I'm happy to send them anywhere. And they're all signed copies as well. And I've actually just sent three copies of books to a lady in Sicily, in Italy. And she sent me in return some photos of the volcano that's been erupting over there. And so it's a really interesting venture, I'm really enjoying it. And it just means that I'm building a part of, you know, a body of work in the meantime. And I do have a second novel, an idea that I came up with a few years ago, but it was only earlier this year that I decided on it. And I came up with the idea for this new novel. So I'm hoping to get back to writing that next year. So the second novel is a long way off yet, but it's on its way and I do intend. Hopefully, once you know I've got my schedules a bit a bit more sensible, if that's the right word, and I'm not quite so up against it, then I'll have the time to write about one novel per year, which is what I'm aiming for. I've got about seven novels lined up ready to go that I just need to get the team to go back in and rework them, and then get them out there. So there will be a sequel to murder of course, at some point, there's also a spin off to a model, of course that I have planned. And I've got, you know, a high concept crane novel lined up and about three or four other novels lined up all various genres is just finding the time to do them. So in the meantime, I have these short stories which are available to subscribers on my website.
Wendy Jones:Well, you seem to be very busy. So my my very final question is Where can my listeners find out more about you your editing services aren't your book?
Ian Skewis:Um, so my editing services. So first of all, the the main place to find me I guess, would be my website, www.scosche.com. And you can also find me via the Glasgow editors network, on the CI EP itself. And as for my books, again, the short story collection, which is free is available on my website under model of clause is available all on Amazon. It's also available in various other online stores. And it's also in Waterstones, you can order copies from there too.
Wendy Jones:Well, we can get them anywhere that good books are sold, as they say,
Ian Skewis:exactly.
Wendy Jones:bookstores reopen and this is a brilliant time to go and order them from your local bookshop and support them. Because Hey, so we're all waiting to rush out shopping so we might as well shop for books.
Ian Skewis:Absolutely.
Wendy Jones:It's been an absolute pleasure having you join me today.
Ian Skewis:Thank you very much. It was lovely to be on here. Thank you, and thanks for inviting me
Wendy Jones:now. Thank you for your advice. It's been stellar. I've been taking notes all the way through. That's the beauty of doing a podcast you get the information before anyone else.
Ian Skewis:Thank you very much. Thank you.
Wendy Jones:No worries. Enjoy the rest of your day. Bye.
Ian Skewis:Thank you. Bye.
Wendy Jones:That brings us to the end of another show. It was really good to have you on the show with me today. I'm Wendy h Jones. And you can find me at Wendy H jones.com. You can also find me on Patreon where you can support me for as little as $3 a month which is less than the price of a tea or coffee. You go to patreon.com forward slash Wendy h Jones. I'm also went to h Jones on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Thank you for joining me today and I hope you found it both useful and interesting. Join me next week when I will have another cracking guest for you. Until then, have a good week and keep writing. Keep reading and keep learning