GREAT EDITING
The Wisdom House Advantage
Every writer needs an editor because we just can't see our own mistakes no matter how much we know about the art of writing and the usage of language. No serious writer will allow his or her work to be printed without someone else looking at it. It's just that important.
The Painful Truth about Self-Publishing
Unfortunately, most self-published books are an embarrassment to their authors and should be to their publishers. Why? Aside from poor cover design and formatting, they aren't edited. Oh sure, the publisher will tell you that you have an editor—often the person who also designs the cover and formats the interior—but that person is most likely not even in the United States and will probably never even read your book. Yes, that's right. The "editor" is unlikely to read the first page. If you ask how their books are edited, an honest subsidy publisher will tell you they run the book through a sophisticated software program—a trumped-up spell check. Are they kidding?
If you are lucky enough to have a human editor with English as a first language, he or she is likely to be an off-hours English teacher or college student trying to make a few bucks on the side.
Why is that a problem? It's simple: correcting an essay and editing a book are two very different activities that require two very different standards of practice. An English teacher simply doesn't know what industry insiders do. A grammarian is not an editor!
At Wisdom House Books, our editors are real people, native English speakers living in the United States, experienced in the process of editing books. Before they edit a single book for us, they must pass a test on the Chicago Manual of Style, and they must work under the supervision of our experienced editorial director. Our editors understand how to make a style sheet, they know the norms of the industry, and they are writers themselves. They also know how to supervise the production of your book and coordinate with the designer and proofer. They can tell if something is "off" in the design or proofing process. They are project managers.
Our editors also have real-life experience in professions outside academia. They have been out of college a long time, and you benefit from their understanding of life events and cultural history. And if we can find an editor with expertise that relates to the subject matter of your book, we will use him/her to be sure you have benefit of that knowledge in the editing process.
These are reasons we won't publish a book that hasn't been edited by our in-house editors. Our qualitity standards are very high. If the book isn't properly edited, we simply won't put our name on it.
Benefits You Won’t Find Elsewhere
Here’s what the Wisdom House editorial department’s strengths will mean to you.
- Your title will be the most powerful one we can come up with. You may already have a title you love, but it's possible that we may present you with one or more additional options that you might like even more. The final choice, of course, will be up to you.
- It's the same with jacket copy: to attract attention and respect in this crowded marketplace, these important words must be skillfully written to attract readers and impress booksellers. We will have a professional write the words that sell the book.
- You will be given a press release announcing the publication of your book so you'll be ready to offer the information to your local newspapers, the professional press, and so on.
- As a Wisdom House author, you will have the right to request assistance from our editorial department for whatever copy needs you may have down the line.
- When you look good, we look good. And when you don't, well . . . that's why we will only put our imprints on books that have been properly edited and designed. We don't put your name on it until it's good enough to put our name on it.
