Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

Editing is a tricky business. It requires analytical flair and creative panache, the patience of a saint and the vision of a writer. Transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells? That’s the job of the developmental editor, whose desk is the first stop for many manuscripts on the road to bookdom—a route ably mapped out in the pages of Developmental Editing.
Author Scott Norton has worked with a diverse range of authors, editors, and publishers, and his handbook provides an approach to developmental editing that is logical, collaborative, humorous, and realistic. He starts with the core tasks of shaping the proposal, finding the hook, and building the narrative or argument, and then turns to the hard work of executing the plan and establishing a style. 
Developmental Editing includes detailed case studies featuring a variety of nonfiction books—election-year polemic, popular science, memoir, travel guide—and authors ranging from first-timer to veteran, journalist to scholar. Handy sidebars offer advice on how to become a developmental editor, create effective illustration programs, and adapt sophisticated fiction techniques (such as point of view, suspense, plotting, character, and setting) to nonfiction writing. 
Norton’s book also provides freelance copyeditors with a way to earn higher fees while introducing more creativity into their work lives. It gives acquisitions, marketing, and production staff a vocabulary for diagnosing a manuscript’s flaws and techniques for transforming it into a bestseller. And perhaps most importantly, Developmental Editing equips authors with the concrete tools they need to reach their audiences.

Reference

Norton, Scott

Words, Language & Grammar

University of Chicago Press

The only guide dedicated solely to developmental editing, now revised and updated with new exercises and a chapter on fiction. Developmental editing--transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells--is a special skill, and Scott Norton is one of the best at it. With more than three decades of experience in the field, Norton offers his expert advice on how to approach the task of diagnosing and fixing structural problems with book manuscripts in consultation with authors and publishers. He illustrates these principles through a series of detailed case studies featuring before-and-after tables of contents, samples of edited text, and other materials to make an otherwise invisible process tangible. &nbsp; This revised edition for the first time includes exercises that allow readers to edit sample materials and compare their work with that of an experienced professional as well as a new chapter on the unique challenges of editing fiction. In addition, it features expanded coverage of freelance business arrangements, self-published authors, e-books, content marketing, and more. &nbsp; Whether you are an aspiring or experienced developmental editor or an author who works alongside one, you will benefit from Norton's accessible, collaborative, and realistic approach and guidance. This handbook offers the concrete and essential tools it takes to help books to find their voice and their audience.&nbsp; &nbsp;

Developmental Editing, Second Edition: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing)

Strong Style is the autobiography of Scott “Flash” Norton, world arm-wrestling champion and professional wrestler whose career spanned the AWA, WCW, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. His career took him to ice roads in northern Canada, Pay Per View, small rural towns in Japan, the Tokyo Dome, and North Korea. This autobiography provides an honest look back at the many successes in Norton’s career as well as the hardships and personal growth he experienced. Readers will spend a significant period of time with Norton during his career as one of the few Western wrestlers to become the heavyweight champion of a major Japanese promotion and his relationships with the wrestlers and fans on both sides of the Pacific. This book is filled with personal stories, anecdotes, and wrestling “ribs” that will amuse and enlighten wrestling and non-wrestling fans alike.

Strong Style

Sports & Outdoors

Randis, Adam

Biographies

Vedere Press

On Trial for God: The Case for Your Christianity: Are You Really a Christian?

Religion & Spirituality

Christian Books & Bibles

Christian Faith

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