Polish Your Fiction

A Quick & Easy Self-Editing Guide

By: Jessica Bell

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eBook | 30 May 2019 | Edition Number 2

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106 Pages

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Revised 2019 Edition

In Polish Your Fiction: A Quick & Easy Self-Editing Guide, writer, editor, and publisher, Jessica Bell, offers her tried and tested advice on the quickest and easiest ways to polish different areas of writing style, consistency of prose, grammar, punctuation, typography, and layout. Each section is armed with a numbered checklist for moments when writers need that “at-a-glance” reminder and nifty Microsoft Word tricks that will save time. At the end of the book there are also magnificent accounts of editorial mistakes other authors have made during their careers, to show that no matter how many times a book is edited, something always slips through, and to therefore not be so hard on oneself.

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott says a writer needs to focus on short assignments to avoid feeling overwhelmed. She refers to the one-inch picture frame on her desk and how it reminds her to focus on bite-sized pieces of the whole story. If you focus on one small thing at a time, the story will eventually come together to create a whole. The same applies to editing a manuscript. If writers focus on one aspect of the editorial process at a time, the task will seem less daunting, and piece by piece, it will come together to form a piece of very polished work.

Not only is Polish Your Fiction: A Quick & Easy Self-Editing Guide an excellent addition to any self-publishing course, but it’s also a great primary learning tool for aspiring authorpreneurs, and a great booster for more experienced authorpreneurs to get their manuscripts in excellent shape before sending their work to a professional editor.

Industry Reviews

"Reading this insightful, easy-to-use toolkit is like being on the receiving end of face-to-face tuition from one of today's leading indie authors. Most authors have to learn the tricks of the trade by trial and error. Jessica Bell is giving away all our secrets!" ~Jane Davis, award-winning author

"Bang-useful checklist with lots of tricks and tweaks to make your book the very best it can be." ~Hart Johnson, author of A Shot in the Light

“I love the structure of this book. It’s quick and to-the-point examples are genius and so easy to follow, very user-friendly. Throughout her examples, Bell challenges the writer to see these flaws in his/her writing, but not to panic. She points out they are easy pitfalls for any writer. Even the most seasoned of writers must be reminded from time to time about certain aspects of their writing: i.e., thus the need for editors. This is a MUST HAVE for any writer’s craft arsenal. It would also be a fabulous gift for any high school or college student.” ~Sheri Larsen, children’s literature author

“I found that working through the guide helped me pinpoint the areas in my own novel that lacked vivid setting and description. It’s so hard to edit your own work, but Jessica Bell’s guides have been invaluable for teaching me the fine art of self-editing and revision. I highly recommend this guide as a standalone, but I believe the guides work best in conjunction with one another. They also make great gifts for writers, especially those in your critique group!” ~Angela Mackintosh, Founder/CEO at WOW! Women On Writing

“In each Nutshell guide, Jessica Bell provides a focused and effective master class on a single aspect of the writer’s craft. To read each book feels like taking a personal tutorial, with expert advice couched in friendly, supportive terms and reinforced by carefully planned exercises. A highly recommended source of practical help to refine any author’s writing skills.” ~Debbie Young, author of Sell Your Books and editor of The Alliance of Independent Authors Self-Publishing Advice Blog.