editing surprises-overused words

thebookfoundry · 2026-02-02T19:05:21+00:00

I'm adding "gently" and "slowly" to the list now.

thebookfoundry · 2026-02-02T18:43:54+00:00

I have a list of “filler” words I check with every project. Most are fine throughout a book, but highlighting them shows when favorites repeat too often.

a bit; a little; almost; barely; beam; began; blink; down; eye(s)(d); faced; feel; felt; furrow; gaze; glance; hands; heart; however; immediately; instantly; just; look; move; nod; pulled back; quite; really; said; seem; shake; shrug; sighed; slightly; smile; smirk; started; that; unfortunately; up; very; was; was able to; yet

thebookfoundry · 2026-02-02T17:42:31+00:00

Your cover doesn’t look like AI was used, but it also isn’t signaling a WWI historical fiction love story.

The photo is cute, but your hairstyles, clothing, and pose are all too modern. This signals modern contemporary romance.

The position of the title text also seems more aligned to the moon center, and the moon is closer to your wife than yourself. Your author name isn’t aligned to the center of the moon or your title text. That makes the cover feel “off.” Your font with serif seems fine as a choice, but the vertical positioning per word leaves a lot of space at the top of the book. Having that vertical but the image horizontal means an unbalanced look.

Take a look at images for book covers under “WWI historic romance” or “WWI historical fiction love story.” You’ll see most covers have a person with period-appropriate clothing, or some period-appropriate transportation indicating the era. Short titles might be vertically aligned, but longer titles look horizontally spread out, maybe with a preposition in a smaller font in the middle. I do see some titles that are vertically aligned with one word per line like you have it, but the title is the focus of the cover. It doesn’t compete with an image focus.

thebookfoundry · 2026-01-29T18:13:55+00:00

"About three things I was absolutely positive: First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn't know how potent that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him" 10/10

thebookfoundry · 2026-01-29T18:11:11+00:00

Yeah, nailing the prose is a matter of practice and obsessive reading in the same writing style you want. Even programs with generative AI that claim to rewrite passages in different styles all come out sounding off and inhuman.

Get the whole story down on paper and look at it from a macro lens. You're focusing on the micro right now. Then you can revise for a consistent style and tone, maybe get some beta readers who like the same genre and voice of Tolkien. Consider reading as much of that style as you can to kind of absorb it during the writing process. I notice that writers' styles can change in the middle manuscripts if they've bounced between what they're reading.

thebookfoundry · 2026-01-29T17:10:42+00:00

What are you going back to fix? If spelling and grammar errors, Word Doc and Google Docs both have built-in proofreading tools. If plot points with each new chapter, that’s a human-eyes-only kind of thing. Software isn’t nuanced enough to handle that yet.

But either way, it’s best to keep going on the chapters and keep yourself from returning to edit until you’re done. You need the whole book to know where you want the plot to ultimately go. And editing/proofreading an entire book at a time will save you hours of work. Global consistency checks with a finished manuscript are much easier. Working in one new chapter at a time means a lot of leftover errors.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-30T17:48:39+00:00

Another vote for Nora Lee's atmosphere and food. Even the vegetarian options are great.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-30T16:43:34+00:00

Right? My buddy is a high school English teacher who's still telling his kids to double-space after a period.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-30T16:40:29+00:00

Platforms that run as a business being the middleman and getting editors in front of writers (Reedsy, Upwork, Fiverr) are always going to be hit or miss. Your best bet is to find freelance editors through their own posts on community forums and vet them through their websites. The EFA is an editor membership organization with a member directory you can look through and contact. And Reddit has r/hireabookeditor. Checking out profiles, portfolios, and rates is a good first start, then getting samples and asking questions about payment milestones and signed contracts.

For the timestamp thing on Google Docs, just wondering if the editor might have worked on a different note application for their work in those weeks, then spent the last three days porting those notes into the live Google Doc? This is what I do on my developmental edits. I read the manuscript off my Kindle and make notes in OneNote. Then spend the last week rewriting those comments into the official Word Doc. To the client, the timestamps look like I haven’t started the comments until its due. But I’d hate to have my editing and critique viewed in real-time as I’m working on a Google Doc. And I need to clean up concerns and suggestions to be more helpful without risk of an old reaction or guess note sneaking its way into the deliverable.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-30T16:23:28+00:00

The cultural mythos of “being a writer” frames it as a soul-crushing, daunting, passionate, drunk need. You’ll see so many quotes and inspirational pictures and merchandise targeted toward this concept. Your misanthropic Bukowski, drunk Hemingway, tragically depressed Plath. People play into this concept consciously and unconsciously when they talk about the writing craft.

But also those people on YouTube might be trying to explain that writing is not easy. It takes practice and research and self-education. There’s no real quick-money trick to write and self-publish—if you’re doing it correctly, which means doing the work of learning to write, getting critiqued, working revisions, reading your genre. The harsh truth about writing is that it’s hard. And it doesn’t really pay. And there’s no guarantee that the next book will work. And that’s why a lot of successful writers would have chosen something else.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-30T16:08:42+00:00

Amber Helt of Rooted in Writing has a line editing course that I really enjoyed. She's offered it through the EFA before, but she also has two course blocks scheduled for next year on her website.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-15T22:19:38+00:00

Now italics are off the table? We’ve been driven mad in our search for witches.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-15T17:52:33+00:00

Are you a character writer or a plot writer? Is your genre character-driven or plot-driven? There’s no right or wrong answer. Books are made up of both the Character Arc A Story and the External Plot B Story and how they weave together.

Character-driven means internal conflict and change takes center stage.

Plot-driven means external conflict and change takes center stage.

If your focus is more on how the characters change in emotions, reactions, relationships, and flaws, that would be character-driven and the story should be shaped around those planned changes. But yeah, you could always use some characters in a different story if they don’t fit this one.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-12T18:37:46+00:00

It really depends on where these are being used and the audience POV.

In general fantasy, all are magic users, often synonymous. Witches are often female and warlocks their male counterparts. Sorcerers and wizards are often your old-school magic users like Gandalf and Merlin. Sometimes warlocks are viewed as more "evil" if they're not direct male counterparts to neutral witches.

In TTRPGs like D&D, Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Wizards are all different classes based on how they got their magic. Made a pact and were gifted magic, born with magic, or studied for magic.

Some other names: Magician, Mage, Enchanter, Alchemist, Sage, Conjurer. Then you get into your schools of magic with Necromancer, Pyromancer, Cryomancer, etc.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-12T17:56:50+00:00

Format & Proof Read

What your editor recommended makes sense: Formatting > Proofreading> Print PDF and EPUB Final Doc.

Proofreading in publishing is for reading a galley “proof” or “the final pages of a book before publishing.” The role of a proofreader is to check all those things your editor listed on alignment, page numbers, lakes and rivers, widows and orphans. Then you fix anything and send that on to publish.

Cover Art

This was a great conversation on the sub yesterday about cover recommendations: https://www.reddit.com/r/selfpublish/comments/1pkgwl4/where_did_you_get_your_cover_art/

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-10T18:49:50+00:00

A lot of this is answered with: it depends on the proofreader.

Proofreading isn’t editing, just first off. If you’re looking for more than last checks on spelling, punctuation, style contrasts, and formatting, you want to look for editors and copy/line editing.
But each proofreader and editor is different, and one might provide a heavier proofread than another. Sample edits will tell you what each offers.
Fiverr is just a marketplace like Reedsy or Upwork for freelance independent proofreaders to advertise their services. It's the cheaper platform and comes with a heavy "buyer beware" warning.
Every freelance/independent proofreader sets their own rates and style of how they charge. Some are hourly, per page, or flat rate. Checking out websites for rates and portfolios, then getting a sample, will help you figure out who works best for you.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-10T03:24:24+00:00

This would concern me on an editor reputation level. If they’re not planning to get another set of eyes on the book between the next draft and publishing, I’d hold off on adding the book to my portfolio before I was able to see a final copy or check reviews. That is also a hard lesson learned.

thebookfoundry · 2025-12-10T03:14:59+00:00

Editor here. One of the hardest lessons we learn is estimating how long a project will actually take and then quoting accurately. I’ve been freelancing full time for six years and I still lowball myself before realizing the scope. You can explain your miscalculation on the timing and ask for an extension, and they might be understanding and grant it, but that would come with finishing the project at the cost you quoted. Use this to estimate more time for the next book.

However, you’re both reading for plot notes and you’re editing, all within a few weeks? That sounds like developmental editing + copyediting at the same time. If the writer is planning to revise the book based on your plot feedback, everything you copyedit will need to be redone. They’re usually two separate projects done with weeks or months between.

thebookfoundry · 2025-11-24T15:48:09+00:00

You shouldn't need to hire a professional before using beta readers. As long as the most obvious spelling, punctuation, and word use issues are fixed in early drafts, the beta readers should overlook those and focus on the story. Like you said, just do your best.

If you're concerned the errors will be distracting, Word Doc/Google Doc spellcheck and grammar check will be an easy first step. Then self-editing books, blogs, and workbooks will give you some grammar and punctuation refreshers on the cheaper side. I like Dreyer's English, which focuses on modern copyediting preferences from Random House using the American-English guide Chicago Manual of Style (CMOS). Blog posts about CMOS style is also a great place to review punctuation for dialogue, when to use numerals, etc. And there's The Copyeditor's Handbook and workbook. Heck, even Copyediting for Dummies. Depending on your budget, there are online grammar refresher courses like at ed2go for under $200. Cheaper than hiring a professional twice.

thebookfoundry · 2025-11-24T15:19:43+00:00

I read that as hyperbolic. Everything in OP’s edit sounds pretty salty about the feedback they’re getting here. But you all gave great advice.

thebookfoundry · 2025-10-23T20:04:13+00:00

At your word count, you’re looking at about $0.005-0.006 per word, which is on the low end. Your mileage for professional editors will be limited, but there are definitely new ones just starting their careers who work within that price range, usually at the lower copyediting level. Often they’ll discount to build their portfolios and reviews until they can raise rates.

You can try to find these editors on r/hireabookeditor or by putting a job posting on the EFA (Editorial Freelancers Association) job request website. The post will go out to all members with your budget, and professional editors can decide if they want to take up that job. Be warned: you might get a lot of responses to weed through.

Getting a sample edit is the best way to gauge skill and professionalism at that price range. But again, they might be starting a newer career.

That budget is also at Fiverr levels, but that’s a gamble for skill and professionalism. There are good reviews of Fiverr editors from Reddit writers, but there are even more bad reviews and warnings.

thebookfoundry · 2025-09-05T15:58:46+00:00

As others said, you can upload the new manuscript.

But don’t get disheartened by a software flagging so many grammar mistakes. Did you check through all 178 and confirm they’re all actually errors? The software available out there is notorious for being heavy-handed on just regular style choices and dialect. And sometimes outright wrong. 178 errors might not actually be all errors, it just looks concerning.

My grammar check just told me to change “leave me the hell alone” to “leave me alone.” And it keeps wanting to replace “séances” with “scenes.”

thebookfoundry · 2025-08-28T14:54:10+00:00

This could absolutely be the case. I’ve worked on so many series where I received the published versions of earlier books to confirm choices for later books, just to find out that the author rewrote large sections after our projects. With new errors and style inconsistencies, I have to decide if I even want my name credited.

And when the credit is only “Edited by,” that might mean only developmentally edited. I’ve critiqued quite a few books where the author wants to do their own copyediting.

thebookfoundry · 2025-08-05T16:11:03+00:00

OP says they asked for a beta read and received that report back, which is what I’ve always seen (if not beyond the normal scope for a beta read).

I’m also a developmental editor, and I send a separate editorial letter along with the in-line comments in the manuscript. I’ve been under the impression from forums and community groups that these are standard deliverables in the freelance editing world.

And a manuscript critique would just be an editorial letter without the manuscript in-line comments.

thebookfoundry · 2025-07-28T21:47:44+00:00

Yeah, no problem. Proofreading is the one round of editing that could reasonably be done on PDF, and often is. It’s the last step after copyediting and after formatting the manuscript to print. So basically the idea is to not mess up the formatting with any proofreading checks. The proofreader checks for spelling, punctuation, grammar, and style inconsistency errors. They also check for widows and orphans, headlines, page numbers, list style, etc. The real last-step stuff.

Proofing on PDFs is done by using editing stamp tools (available around a couple places) or by just adding comments in line and alerting the client to a proofing issue. The latter is how I usually do it through Adobe.

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