The Literary Handyman: More Tips from the Handyman (Ackley-McPhail)
(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)
Why would a published author need more tips on writing? Honestly, I don't remember if I got this one free in a Kickstarter campaign, or if I bought it extra. But the advice is worth the price.
Disclaimer: Danielle Ackley-McPhail is the editor of my book In A Flash 2020 and is the publisher of eSpec Books, which published my book.
Amsuing anecdote: This past weekend, I was at Philcon in Cherry Hill, NJ (across the river from Philadelphia). I did show her that I was reading her book. It had been in my kindle app for a while. While I was there, I mentioned a story of mine that a mutual acquaitance had read as the assistant editor of a magazine. She sent me an email saying she liked it and was passing it to the editor for review. In the end, unfortunately, the editor didn't agree, and I didn't make the cut. But I when I discovered that she (the one who liked it) was at a con, I introduced myself and thanked her for the kind words. She actually seemed to remember the story from a comment she'd made. (That had been six months earlier, at least.) Anyway, Danielle told me to send her the story. They (that is, eSpec) is planning their next anthology, whatever it may be. When I got home from the weekend trip, I did just that.
The next day, I'm reading about shooting yourself in the foot by not doing everything you can to help yourself and your manuscript, and to not give the editor an excuse to reject your manuscript without reading it. (They get a lot, and sometimes they're overwhelmed.) One of her pet peeves were when authors leave out the personal information on the top of the first page. Sometimes authors she's friends with and has worked with before are guilty of this, too, not just newbies.
When I got home from work, I updated the file to include that information, and resent it. I later realized that I don't know if I included page numbers or not. I usually don't. I think I turned them off when one editor mentioned it in their guideines, and I don't think I ever put them back on again. It's something that was obvious when I was typing manuscripts, as opposed to using a word processor.
Anyway, rookie mistakes like this are good reasons to reason "how to" books occasionally, just to make sure you're still doing what you should be doing.
Ackley-McPhail includes numerous examples of what she's talking about, both from her own works and new entries created for this text.
A great guide. I reccomend both editions.
She also has one for book publishing, but I'm not "there" yet. And I would really only be interested in electronic publishing, not print copies, first because print would take even more of an investment, and I would more likely be aiming for the Kindle Unlimited audience if I went that way.
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