johnrobinrt

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Am I Ready for an Editor? 7 Signs Your Novel is Ready for Professional Feedback

You’ve typed The End. You’ve sat back, exhaled, maybe cried a little, maybe celebrated. Or maybe you stared at the last sentence with a kind of quiet panic. Now what? If you’re like most writers, the moment you finish your draft—whether it’s your first or fifth—you’re faced with the same question: Am I ready to hire an editor? It’s a great question. And an important one. Hiring an editor too…

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The Ultimate Guide to Self-Publishing: 9 Steps Every Author Should Know

If you’ve written a book and have decided it’s time to get it published, you have plenty of choices to consider carefully. This post will walk you through the process, from drafting, through to publishing the final book. Step 1: How to ensure your book is ready for self-publishing After you’re poured in hours on end to get your book written, the last thing you want to face yourself with is…

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How to prepare your query for an agent or publisher

I oversee five publishing imprints as senior editor and acquisitions editor. I have seen so many queries I have lost track of the quantity, though it may be in the thousands. This experience, paired with some training I received back when I was a coach with Author Accelerator, has equipped me to be a real pro on the submission process. Starting with this post, I am going to start a series aimed…

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The Power of One-on-One Editing

Recently, I had the opportunity to work with a local client who does not own or use a computer. As much as that might seem bizarre in this day and age, I am always open to helping anyone who needs the help of an editor, regardless of their preferences. Little did I realize, I was about to make a big discovery. For the last 10 years, for the hundreds of editing projects I have either worked on…

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Busting a Brandon Sanderson Myth

If you work very hard at something you're very bad it, then you're going to make something very bad that you worked very hard at. #amwriting #writers

There is a teaching video by Brandon Sanderson which has shaped a popular myth for writers, based on this video: The whole video is great, but see 7:55-8:45 for this post’s feature: There was a time when I took this advice to heart. I loved Brandon’s example of the pianist who has worked hard for 20 years at the piano. It gave me hope that, if I’m a bad writer, I just need practice and I’ll get…

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Reading our way out of prison

I came across a great quote on the importance of reading, through James Clear’s weekly newsletter. It is from inventor and writer Lin Yutang: “Compare the difference between the life of a man who does no reading and that of a man who does. The man who has not the habit of reading is imprisoned in his immediate world, in respect to time and space. His life falls into a set routine; he is limited…

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I’ve been working on this pumpkin since May. Here’s a slide show of the progress from seed to final carved demon. Happy Halloween! #halloween2020 #pumpkincarving #pumpkinseason #pumpkingarden https://www.instagram.com/p/CHBjoiXg4AF/?igshid=1rx50avc59t5v

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Post-run selfie with my 14-foot-high sunflowers! I’m so excited for fall, and these sunflowers finally opening up. #garden #sunflowers https://www.instagram.com/p/CEsSKaIglg1/?igshid=wdi02wprzw7t

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My review for Zen In the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury

My review for Zen In the Art of Writing, by Ray Bradbury

www.goodreads.com/review/show/3171249333

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Proof that the corn is indeed taller than me! #gardening https://www.instagram.com/p/CCrnqLzgK9y/?igshid=1jknpplthp7n5

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July 15, 2020 garden tour. So far, you’ll see: Parsnips, peas, corn, acorn squash, beans, growing alongside the house. Pumpkins, and onion (one of them is flowering, in background). Garlic, and Brussels sprouts. 30 potatoes in 4 rows (a stray onion came up from last year next to them). Spinach galore! The potatoes are about 4 feet tall, and a few corn stalks are now taller than me. This all started from weeding dandelions and deciding I can do better than grass. Still a work in progress and much more fun to come over the years. #gardensofinstagram #gardenersofinstagram #gardening #gardenlife https://www.instagram.com/p/CCrnj8ygF2h/?igshid=f8nn05zlxwdd

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Corn, peas, beans, squash, wild mustard — all happy in the July rain. #julygarden #garden #gardening #gardenersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CCmS7X6AVKE/?igshid=jj3ctud6p87m

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My new piano adventure!

*This post is based on the newsletter I sent out today, so apologies to those subscribers who also follow this blog.

I’m excited to share something new!

While I have continued to work on Blood Dawn every weekend now since March, I have also discovered a new part of my gig that I’m having so much fun with, I want to make it a part of what I do.

Here’s a link to a piece I have been practicing, that…

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A Covid-19 Writer’s Routine

I’ve always thought my writing routine boring to most people, so I just don’t talk about it. But as social distancing now nears the end of its 2nd week, with perhaps many more weeks to come, I see many people sharing how they are spending their time to stay sane. Among these especially: writers. So, it’s my turn.

Back at the start of 2017, someone gave me some good advice:

“Don’t wait to be…

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How to copyedit a book: a checklist for a copyeditor

I know I promise no more “how to write” stuff. Well, I promised no more rules about what I write about, so that means there’s no rule saying I can’t write about writing when that’s what I want to write about.

This thing is, I believe many best decisions are made when you’re simply trying to solve a problem in doing them. And here’s my problem: I’m training a brilliant new copyeditor on my team…

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Blogging out of the box

Thank you to all who have followed this blog. I started blogging in late 2014, unsure what I was doing with it. It’s been over 5 years, and I’m still as uncertain.

Thank you not just for following me, but for letting the email notifications for this blog fill your inbox. While I’ve been finding my voice in writing itself, finding my “blog voice” has been a secondary pursuit.

As 2020 commences,…

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How to do a developmental edit: understanding how it works before you hire an editor

You’ve likely heard the term “developmental editing” tossed around. The term will vary from editor to editor, much like how “hot yoga” can mean a lot, depending on which studio you go to.

This is because editing has become the wild west of publishing. We can thank the rise of online publishing for this. Before the 1990s, editing services were mostly limited to the traditional publishing houses.…