Tips 'N Treats: Week 20

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My Tip

This week, I’m tossing out a great option for those who want a home-based conference (and not just during Covid) for their writing.


~The Manuscript Academy

Manuscript Academy combines the might of agent Jessica Sinsheimer, media professional Julie Kingsley, and Manuscript Wish List to bring “world-class publishing instruction that can be enjoyed from the comfort of your home or your favorite coffeeshop” (well, when coffeeshops are open). Membership starts at $49/month. When you factor in travel, meals, the price of the conference itself, and all the other prices, your yearly value is far less than you’d pay for many conferences. Check out their membership options here and see if one is perfect for your needs.



This week’s posts:
Monday: Will Read for Beer: 4 Pros of Pro Beta Readers
Tuesday: Review: Cooking for Ghosts by Patricia V. Davis
Thursday: Author Interview: BENNYTOWN by Matt Carter

Guest Tip

This week, I’m pleased to welcome Andi Kumbo-Floyd to Tips ‘N Treats. Andi is a developmental and content editor for all types of narrative writing but primarily book-length fiction and creative nonfiction. She’s here to offer a great piece of advice for one final step to take before putting your work in front of other people. Take it away, Andi…

This bit of advice may sound a bit like a no-brainer, but given the number of manuscripts that cross my inbox that show no semblance of having heeded this simple wisdom, I fear it is not.

So here we go:

Read your whole work– beginning to end – just like if you bought it or checked it out from the library.

Not rocket science, but as all of us who write know, it’s very easy to get caught up in the “parts” of our work – the chapters, the scenes, the paragraphs, the sentences. But readers don’t read in parts. They read in wholes. They want a cohesive, comprehensive reading experience, and the only way we know if we are giving them that experience is if we try our work out the way they do.

That said, it’s easier said than done. Often, by the time we feel like the work is ready to go out in the world, the last thing we want to do is read it beginning to end. But we need to force ourselves to do it. If we don’t, we’ll have repetition or gaps. We’ll mess up character lines or forget to tell who won the parade contest (that’s from one of my own books). We’ll simply have a work that is a group of connected parts rather than a cohesive work.

Here’s how I make sure I do this:

  • I put work on my e-reader so that I don’t nitpick the parts.
  • Then, I read it in as few sittings as possible, making notes on a piece of paper about where I need to revise.
  • Finally, I revise as my notes suggest.

Again, it’s not complicated, but it is tedious sometimes, not to mention time-consuming. But every time, it’s worth it. Every time.

If you’d like more information on what I recommend writers do before having anyone else read their work, check out my list “12 Things To Do Before Anyone Else Reads Your Work.”

Andi Cumbo-Floyd lives in the mountains of Virginia with her young son and her dog Meander. Her books include Discover Your Writing Self and Love Letters To Writers. She blogs regularly about writing at Andilit.com and can be found on Facebook here.

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