Workshop: Making It Pretty – Part II 04/06/2020 – 04/30/2020

Quality editing is an often expensive, but necessary, cost of business for indie authors; however, even traditionally published authors are confronting the need for upfront editing. You don’t want your name on the cover of a poorly edited book, but editing is costly. So what if you could reduce your investment by doing some of your own editing? What if you could give yourself the competitive edge you need to grab the interest of an agent or acquisitions editor? Well, you can. By applying what you learn in this workshop, you can elevate your manuscript to the top of the slush pile or leapfrog over developmental and content edits right to line edits and proofreading. Sound like a good idea? Then let’s dive in.

Week Five

• Dialogue

Week Six

• Bits and Pieces

Week Seven

• All Gussied Up

Week Eight

• Endings

* Resources

• Books
• Editing Software
• Writing Tools
• Blogs and newsletters

OBJECTIVES
In this workshop you will learn the different components of story, how they fit into an exciting, coherent, and emotionally satisfying whole, how to avoid common problems and mistakes, how to polish your story until it shines, and where to find the tools and resources to make your job easier. At the end of this workshop, you will be able to apply what you’ve learned to thoroughly and effectively self-edit a completed manuscript.

Each weekly topic will include a written lecture, with examples where appropriate, and a list of resources. (A summary of resources will be provided at the end of the workshop as well.) Each weekly lesson will conclude with a checklist of points to remember and suggestions and/or prompts for practice.

BIO
My name is Kayleigh. I’m a hybrid author, published with Pride Publishing and my own imprint, Kiss Drunk Books. I write mm romance and gay fiction in a variety of subgenres and was nominated as a finalist in the 2019 Lambda Literary Awards (Gay Romance) for my book No Luck. I also own Story Smitten, an editing service for romance authors. I’m a member of Romance Writers of America, Rainbow Romance Writers, and the Bay Area Editors Forum. In 2018, I earned a certificate in Copyediting from the UC San Diego Extension.