Sunday, July 13, 2008

An Update... Plus Learning the Difference between "i.e." and "e.g."

Hi folks,

This summer has been very good to me, with lots of business and exciting new clients.

One of my favorite out-of-state clients was even here in LA for a book-signing at the Many Paths bookstore recently. That was Maureen Whitehouse, author of "Soul-Full Eating." My bet is that you're going to be hearing a lot more about Maureen Whitehouse in the year ahead. Read about Maureen's book-signing at another one of my client's (Lauren Gale/author of "From Breakup to Breakthrough") blogs. You'll even see a picture of the three of us together!

http://frombreakuptobreakthrough.com/blog/?cat=26

When I was at the Book Expo in LA earlier this year, I was chatting with an author about my editing and writing firm. Out popped the sentence, "I've been in business for 18 years." Wow! Time flies! One of the fun things about being an editor for so long (beside my wonderful clients, of course) is that you pick up lots of tricks of the trade along the way. You learn about obscure rules and publishing terms like "Epigraph" (that quote in the front matter of your book that suggests its theme).

For those of you who also enjoy splitting hairs when it comes to correcting your manuscript, I thought I'd share this insightful explanation from Grammar Girl on the difference between "i.e." and "e.g."

Check it out at: http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/ie-eg-oh-my.aspx

Have you been using it correctly?

Best regards,

Robin Quinn
Senior editor/writer
Quinn's Word for Word / Brainstorm Editorial
Specialists in alternative health, nutrition, psychology, spirituality and self-help books

Friday, May 30, 2008

Book Expo America Has Arrived! Come on by and say "hi!"

This is a busy time of year in the book business. Seems like the LA Times Festival of Books has just ended, and then we have Book Expo America -- the annual book trade show for the US -- suddenly already starting. Today is Day One.

I went to an associated event last night, with my author Lauren Gale (From Breakup to Breakthrough: Confessions of a Recovering Drama Queen) <http://www.frombreakuptobreakthrough.com/>. We had a great time circulating with book people, and plan to do more this weekend.

I will be featured at BEA from 2:00 to 3:30 pm tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday at Booth 5740 in Writer's Row. That's the booth for the Book Publicists of Southern California. Come on by to say "hello," to ask your editing or publishing questions, or to see a friendly face in this amazing crowd of book lovers.

See you soon!

Robin
Lead writer / editor
Quinn's Word for Word - Brainstorm Editorial
Professional writing and editing services from ghostwriting to editing to proofreading
Specialists in self-help, alternative health, spirituality and psychology

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

See you at the Los Angeles Times Book Fair this Sunday?

This weekend in Los Angeles will be all about books, as the LA Times sponsors its 13th annual Festival of Books at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).

I will be appearing there at the Book Publicists of Southern California booth from 11 am til noon on Sunday. The booth number is 106, right near the cooking stage.

Come by to say "hello!" or to ask any questions you might have about the editing or writing of your books. You can also ask your nutrition or weight loss questions (see the P.S.).

Looking forward to meeting some of you!

Namaste!

Robin Quinn, CNHP
Health writer, editor and educator

P.S. To learn about the health education side of my life, visit my other website www.dietandlifestyleed.com.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Why Hire a Ghostwriter?

by Robin Quinn

Part One of Robin Quinn’s Ghostwriting Series

Have a concept for a book that’s been running through your mind, but somehow it never gets written? Maybe it’s time to consider hiring a ghost.

I’m not taking about those spirits who haunt mansions in the countryside. I’m talking about a professional writer who will get your ideas down on paper so you can take your book out into the marketplace. Because your ideas serve as the foundation of the book, you are the author, not the ghostwriter.

Why do people hire a ghostwriter? Here are the reasons my clients have hired me in the past.

1. A ghost hires a ghost. For my first project, I was hired by a ghostwriter who had become busy with a web writing job and couldn’t get to the book project.

2. Busy expert doesn’t have time. Like that ghost, many subject experts don’t have time to write their books. My second client was a health and nutrition expert who was too busy with her practice to fine-tune a very rough draft of the book.

3. Want to replace your current ghost. My third client was looking for a writer to replace the ghostwriter who wrote his first book. A health coach, he was referred to me by my second client.

4. Repeat performance. The health coach was so pleased with my work on his second book, that he hired me to write two more manuscripts (one on health and one on nutrition).

5. Weak writing skills. My fifth ghostwriting client had a fun idea for a self-help book but writing wasn’t his thing.

6. Can’t get beyond writer’s block. My sixth client was a smart professional who had great ideas but a mental block that kept him from writing.

For all of these books, I used the clients’ ideas to create the book. Once again, that’s why their name, not mine, appears on the cover. Right now I am in the process of collaborating on a psychology book with a therapist. This time, I will get a co-authoring credit. But I would ghostwrite again because I love writing, working with new ideas, and engaging in the creative process with experts.

In the Part Two of this ghostwriting series, I’ll discuss the advantages of hiring a ghostwriter with subject expertise in your area of interest. For example, my specialties are health, psychology, spirituality, self-help and book publishing.

Ciao for now!

Robin Quinn
Senior writer and editor of
http://www.writingandediting.biz/

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Tracking a Forgery - That book was written by... me?

Yesterday I heard an amazing and amusing story on NPR that I just have to share with you. It's the tale of how British Middle Eastern correspondent Robert Fisk used his journalistic talents to track down the culprit who forged his name on a new biography of no less than Saddam Hussein. This journey took Fisk all the way to Cairo, and in the end, the journalist believes he found his man.

To hear the "Weekend Edition" story and Scott Simon's charming chuckling, visit:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18842047

Monday, February 04, 2008

Book Biz News: Amazon to Buy Audible, Leading Online Provider of Audio Books

The news of the Amazon/Audible deal broke last Thursday. The story was picked up by Publishers Weekly and the wire services, and it generated significant interest by the financial news outlets.

Audible Inc. specializes in providing audio editions of books, as well as magazines and newspapers, TV and radio subscriptions, and other programming. According to Audible’s website, most of its customers download the audio content from http://www.audible.com/ directly to their computers and then transfer it to MP3 players, personal digital assistants (PDAs), or smart mobile devises (SMDs). Content can also be delivered wirelessly directly to SMDs.

Speculation is that Amazon.com wishes to expand its audio content. The purchase price for Audible is a reported $300 million. Audible has about 80,000 audio programs in its current catalog, including the books The Secret, Skinny Bitch and Sex and the Brain. Categories run from fiction, to self-development, to business, to memoirs.

The acquisition will go through customary regulatory approvals, and it is expected to close within the second quarter of 2008.

Interestingly, within the last year, Amazon has made changes in its handling of digital content, including introducing its Kindle interface. The Kindle, an Amazon product, is a new wireless reading device that has a screen that “looks and reads like real paper” (according to Amazon). As of this writing, the Amazon device had become so popular that it was temporarily sold out.

Amazon also purchased Brilliance Audio last year.

Commenting on the Audible deal, Steve Kessel, Amazon’s Senior Vice President, said: “Working together, we can introduce more innovations and bring this format to an even wider audience.”

I’m thinking that it might just be time to sign up for a digital subscription to The New York Times. Look, Ma, no messy newspapers stacking up! Unfortunately, as of this writing, The Los Angeles Times is not yet available via Kindle. Both are great papers!... or should I say both would be great digital reads?

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

We're Back!

Hello folks!

After my initial excitement about the http://www.writingandediting.biz/ site back in 2006, I got busy with writing and editing for my clients and didn't keep up my blog.

However, I am now committed to posting something for you on a regular basis.

So look for my editorial posts in 2008... and enjoy! They're truly coming soon!

And in the meantime, my posts on health and nutrition will be on a new site http://www.dietandlifestyleed.com/. I've already been posting there for the last month or so. Stop on by!

Ciao for now!

Robin
Quinn's Word for Word / Brainstorm Editorial
Los Angeles