Another challenging editing job has reached its successful conclusion, and one of which I am especially proud.

It was a long time in the overall process with much rejigging, rewriting and tightening of the text. Meticulous and determined research produced a voluminous amount of detailed information, much of it revealed here for the first time, that had to be whittled down, ordered and presented in readily accessible form.

The gestation period for this “baby” was lengthy and arduous,; a birth of extended and sometimes labour.

It is a story that needed to be told, and who better to tell it than the main man’s daughter?  Author Elizabeth McCarthy (Jess)  lived with the stresses and strains of this fight for justice for many years yet manages a dispassionate account of the in-fighting, devious politics and outright obfuscation that dominated her family’s life throughout this saga.

The Voyager “incident” has become a major and tragic event of recent Australian history and one that is destined never to diminish. Its impact on the political and naval landscape will long remain with us and this book adds a vital new dimension to the immense and diverse record already in existence.

http://sidharta.com/title/John_Jess_Seeker_of_Justice

There are days when this already enjoyable job provides additional pleasure.

Once more I ponder the age-old question: what is it about apostrophes that so many people fail to understand?

I am wading my way through a book edit in which two-thirds of the corrections require the deletion, placement or shifting of an apostrophe.

In case you are among the perplexed masses, apostrophes do not denote a plural, as in: lots of comments’.

However, we could do with one in: the mans comments. But not placed thus: the mans’ comments.

Oh dear. I will soldier on …

Today I have been handed a 107,000-word manuscript for assessment … and it provides an object lesson for so many would-be writers.

It comes to me as a PDF. Why? At this early stage, a simple text document is all that is required. Why go to the trouble of creating a format that is impractical and unworkable for the next stage – editing?

A quick bit of Googling revealed the author had already gone to the trouble (and expense) of obtaining an ISBN. Again, why? It is something else that comes much later – if the manuscript is assessed as worthy of publication.

Google also provided a listing for the “book”, giving every indication that it was published and available, although its creator claimed this was not so despite it having been registered in all the official sources.

Once past all these obstructive preliminaries it soon became clear that this was a work very much in progress, rough and incomplete . The usual wandering apostrophes were everywhere, paragraphing was non-existent, style was inconsistent to the extent that there was no style. As a document purporting to throw new light on a well-known historical event, it ignored the timeline helpfully provided at the start. It rambled and lacked structure.

An assessment could therefore be provided in a few words without going into all the usual specifics. It would state  rewrite, revise, proofread and re-submit.

The simple lesson provided by this request for assessment is to get the priorities right. Those are to complete your manuscript, revise your manuscript, have your manuscript thoroughly proofread and then, and only then, submit it for assessment/consideration/editing.

Once all that has been done, then is the time to think of ISBNs, PDFs, national library registration and uploading details to the web. Remember, it is the horse that always comes first; not the cart.

Authors of fiction and non-fiction are invited to submit their manuscripts for appraisal at an advanced stage or on completion.
Assessments can be provided of the content, presentation, grammar, structure and any other aspects requested by the writer.
Consultations can be provided on an ongoing basis to mentor writers at all stages of their work, providing guidance on such issues as research, plotting, writing and marketing.
We recognise every writer has different abilities, needs and goals and we tailor our fees accordingly.

I offer the following extracts from a novel I am assessing for publication:
‘Glad to meet you honey,’ he said in a distinctly southern American drawl. ‘My, but you are a good-looking babe.’
‘But look honey, if you want me for your date tonight, just let me know. I sure would like that honey.’
‘OK honey,’ Malcolm said, ‘You just put your fannies over there, and what will it be?’
The would-be author seemingly thinks this is a faithful rendition of how Americans speak. Please say it ain’t so.
On the other hand, Americans do tend to think Crocodile Dundee is truly representative of the average Australian. Ah, national stereotypes; you’ve gotta love ’em.

If you want to know how to write good, tight, attention-grabbing prose – regardless of your genre – study the opening chapter of Wyatt, the latest book by Garry Disher. This is masterful. It is economic, rich in the use of words yet sparse and sparing, full of information drip-fed to the reader without them being bludgeoned, crammed with action and brilliant in its succinct description of places and people. Read, read, read – and learn.

Let It All Hang Out by Billy Munro
Sex Is For Sinners by Michael Morel
Room With A View by Ross Isaacson
Take The Bull By The Horns by Barry Bull

Blokes and Dunnies by Jeff Self
Self-help manual by Reuben Phiri
2011: Appointed editor of quartlery Journal of the Cornwall Family History Society
Vietnam, A Travel Guide for Cleear Publishing
The Eternal Search for God by Matthew Hogan
From the Dreaming to the Dreamers by Gavin Dickson
Tower of Power by Bill Munro
Australia’s Water Market by Professor Manabu Kondo
Between The Dances by Jacqueline Dinan

Blow The Wind Southerly by Vincent Smith
A Woman’s War by Jacqueline Dinan
The Janus Deception by Christine McCaffrie
Of Passion and Terror by Frank Best
The Wong Way To Marry by Colleen Poulter
Suburban Insurgent by Shawn Green
Do Not Forget The Dead by Janice Simpson
The Wasted Years by Ant Dry
Isabelle by Ann Gillespie
Inlet of Little Fishes by HRW Cheetham
A Burning Piano by Christopher Winterton
Ron by Pat Cooney
Friendship on Fire by Danielle Weiler
My Time Has Come by Molly Rose