The literary scene (and the whole writing world, for that matter) is now into some exciting new times. Where writers had always been on their own, editors moved out from stuffy publishing houses and schools, and re-invented themselves and their work by offering free-lance editorial services.

These editorial service companies are already recognized as innovative alternatives in the literary world. For one, they are doing a great service to free-lance writers who want to polish their work before being presented to actual publishers.

Reviews on the work of these editorial services groups had been very positive at best. Their works were cited as excellent from top companies. Now, editors from book and magazine publishing companies are assured of better quality of publishable materials in terms of polish, absence of errors and professional qualities.

All these are results from good, old-fashioned excellent editing.

What is editing? Is it an art in itself, just like writing? What makes a good editor?

Editing

Writing schools have branded editing as spelling, capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, grammar, subject/verb agreement, consistent verb tense, and word usage among others.

In addition, the methods of editing are self-editing, reading your own work backwards, reading the last sentence, then the second last sentence and so on, and asking questions like does this sentence makes sense? and are there errors here that can be seen or heard?

Editing tips

There are various tips from experienced editors regarding editing, most of which are the good old language lessons at school.

The most important of them is making sure every sentence has its two parts subject (who or what) and predicate (whats happening). Some tips are reminders on the use of combining words and, but, jew, yet, so, who, whom, which, that, whose, because, although, when, if, where, and others like using periods and not overusing commas and exclamation points.

It also advised to use the dictionary to check spellings and not the computers spell checker.

Cut, dont add. Almost all of us are always too wordy. While there might be need to add some words in editing, removing words is better. Concise writing has more power.

Kill adverbs when you see them. Some are fine but most often they only pad a sentence that doesnt need them.

The sentence He ran quickly makes one wonder if running is not quick enough. The reader would know. He ran slowly could pass muster. There is now a qualifier different from the usual nature of running.

Better writing

Writing teachers have always emphasized that there is no good writing, only good re-writing.

The problem is that good editing is not taught at all in schools. Or, if it is, they are tucked away into some other writing subjects and are simply skimmed over. This makes for an uneasy feeling when one remembers that editing is where the real work of writing is really at.

Good editing, like writing, is in itself an art. It takes years of practice to develop the editing talent. Today, there is a proliferation of these new artists in free lance editorial services companies. Finally, they are rediscovered.

For writers, the primary idea of editorial services is both a bane and boon to the literary scene. It had been a definite advantage to aspiring writers who were able to pass through the watchdogs at publishing houses and have their work evaluated.

The extra expenses might be justified somehow although some people think it is unnecessary. The most annoying part of this development, however, is the proliferation of bogus, under-qualified people passing themselves off as editing experts.

Editing your own

Some successful writers, past and present, are one-man bands. They write their work, rest them for a time period, and later go back to edit and proofread it themselves.

After judging their work to be adequate, they ask their agent to sell it to publishing companies. Does the process look easy? Both the writing and the selling are definitely hard to do. But, both can be done.

For the writer, the mantra had always been good writing is re-writing. For the agent, having enough good sense to spot a good literary work is a must, or he should not be in the profession at all.

Judging from the horror stories (wrong formats, errant words, spelling mistakes) propagated by these free-lance editors in editorial service companies, the problem looked like proofreading lapses more than anything.

If writers can do their own editing, they certainly can learn how to do proofreading.

Proofreading

This is the end part of the editing process, focusing on surface errors like wrong spellings, grammar and punctuation errors. Proofreading should be done only after the editing revisions are finished.

Put another way, separate the editing work from your proofreading work. When editing, you want to connect ideas, smooth out the word flow rather than thinking of punctuation, grammar or spelling.

Heres a sampler on how to proofread your work.

Some proofreading tips

Never depend on grammar and spell checkers. They have limited dictionaries. Spell checkers will not catch the error if your misspelled word is also a valid word. (your and youre, there and their, etc.)

Proofread for only one kind of error at a time. It is easier to catch grammar errors if you are not checking punctuations and spelling mistakes at the same time.

Read slowly. Aħjar għadhom, read the words aloud. Two senses (sight and sound) are always better than one. You can do this if you separate the text into separate sentences.

Press the return key after each period so that every line begins with a new sentence. Use a ruler if you are working with a printed copy.

Circle every punctuation mark to force you to look at each one. Later, go back and ask if these punctuations are correct. (Commas usually flood some long-winded sentences without your knowing it.)

Read the paper backwards. This technique is best in checking spelling. Start from the last word and work your way to the beginning. Since grammar is incoherent, your attention is solely on the spelling of each word.

Learning process

As you do your own proofreading, you would know your weak and strong points. You would then know how to do a systematic strategy to find errors that are typical of you. You will learn to discover specific areas in your writing that need careful attention.

Do you think paid editorial services can do this for you?

With the explosion of communications in every facet of life in the planet, the need for writers and the demand for the written word had grown exponentially. The growth of the writing profession and the number of writing practitioners have, in turn, spawned more people who work in tandem with writers the editorial services sector.

Editorial services as an adjunct to the writing business is a relatively new sector. (Or, it could be they are highly visible now because of the demand.) In the past, it was only the people of the academia and those in the publishing industry who are the most active practitioners in this support sector of the literary world.

Because of the size of the many industries they are now servicing, their own industry have become highly specialized, too. Now, there are many sub-groups (and personnel) to what were once offices and positions traditionally manned by only one person or two.

Foremost among these people are those who have their noses, so to speak, closest to whatever manuscript they are working on for the moment the copy editor.

Copy editing

Copy editing (copy-editing in Britain) is the process where the copy editor makes formatting changes and other improvements to the text. In publishing, this is the man who performs the actual task of editing the copy (text) of a written work (manuscript).

Basically, copy editing involves correcting spelling and punctuation, and making right those grammatical and semantic errors. They also check for factual or plot inconsistencies (for stories) or too much use of passive voice. The copy editor makes sure the text flows well, makes sense, fair and accurate and will cause no legal problems.

The copy editor may abridge text (called cutting or trimming), thus reducing the length of the piece or to improve the material. In the old days, they sometimes re-write parts to make the piece coherent.

Skills and training

Foremost of the copy editors skills would be an excellent command of the language. They must also have a broad general knowledge to spot factual errors, and excellent critical thinking skills to recognize inconsistencies.

They must have some very good skills in people handling, too, especially with writers who are mostly very sensitive, high-strung, or short-tempered.

Copy editors are usually college-degree holders, often in journalism, English or communications. Nowadays, copy editing is taught as a college journalism course under some other names.

Job evolution

In the past, a copy editor reads a written text and, using a colored editing pencil, edits the work and marks it with a handwritten proofreaders marks. Nowadays, the text is on the screen and corrections are directly made to the text, using XML or some similar coding system.

With the advance in technology (and desktop publishing), many copy editors now also perform design and layout work. It was only a few years ago that these were once the exclusive province of production crews of publications.

Today, the skills needed for the job are shifting and evolving. With the addition of other technical knowledge which are sometimes considered just as important as the writing skills, copy-editing is heading into more interesting areas.

Copy-editing is only one of the many specialty jobs within the many editorial services companies now sprouting all over the world. Other surprises are expected to come in the editorial services field.

Nowadays, specialty services that support certain industries and fields abound. It had been adopted now by the publishing industry. They are called editorial services and they are run by free lance writers and editors themselves.

For a fee (mostly modest, and some outrageous ones), these companies and groups (and single proprietorships) will edit, proofread, and polish your manuscripts into a more professional-looking, error-free work, and consequently more appealing to publishers.

New writers and other newcomers are somewhat wary as yet to this new setup in the publishing industry. The following are some selected questions and answers for reference.

The questions are mostly consolidated queries from those writers who are curious with the service and are still undecided to try. The answers are also consolidations of opinions from editors.

Do I need a book editor?

If you intend to submit your work to publishers, you should eliminate all possible reasons for rejection, short of their total dislike of your work. Manuscripts are rejected for the simplest of reasons a misplaced comma, confusing grammar, etc. You only have one chance to impress a publisher. A professional edit can help. In self-publishing, your book needs a professional polish from experienced editors.

What should I expect from a book editor?

The edit does not guarantee your chances of publication. The quality of your rewrite incorporating the editorial advice will help determine your level of success. You may have to perform a thorough rewrite, too, if instructed to do so.

How does one select a book editor?

Get someone or a company of editors with concrete track records in publishing, or had worked within the industry. Check their credentials. Do not confuse editing with proofreading. Any decent English professor can proofread your manuscript just as good as any. They just are not qualified to address a manuscript through the eyes of the publishing industry.

How long does the entire book editing process take?

It depends on the length of the material. Articles, reports and the like take shorter turnaround time. Book manuscripts (with regular book lengths) would take around two to three weeks. In each case, editors will tell you the approximate time period of the editing just by knowing the length of your piece.

Are formats that important?

They are very important. Editors at publishing houses would not take a second glance at your manuscript if it does not look the way they expect it. Basic formatting reflects the exacting taste of the industry. Properly formatted manuscripts have enough space for editorial notations and are easier on their (harried) eyes.

Are there dishonest editors subcontracting jobs, exorbitant fees, sloppy work?

For your peace of mind and protection as well, verify a prospective editors credentials. Also check out Preditors and Editors, a site is devoted to warning everyone on dishonest people in the industry.

There still seems to be a problem with my manuscript that had already been edited. Do I invest in another edit?

If you feel that your manuscript still needs another run-through, go for it. We encountered manuscripts that had been previously edited that looked like they have never been touched at all, what with all the errors and flaws.

There are still so many issues regarding editing and your manuscript and those pertaining to the editorial services groups shouting their wares on the Net. If you are a writer, it is best to get acquainted with this trend in the publishing scene.

Editorial services are the new hybrid service providers in todays highly-competitive arena in writing and communications. Whereas in the past these people were employed by publishing houses, some of todays enterprising editors banded themselves together or singly and put up their own editorial services businesses.

The services they offer run the full gamut of editing processes employed by the big publishing houses in the business. These include project development, manuscript consultation, copy editing and proof-reading, among others.

Editing route

In the old days, when a publisher decides to publish what a writer had just written, the writer simply hands them over the manuscript. This manuscript will then follow the typical publishing route of procedures.

Line editors will check for grammar, punctuation and problems in format and other copy-editing concerns. The acquisition editors may help shape the general direction of the work.

Developmental editors are sometimes hired by authors (and the publishers at times) to give shape to the work and make it marketable.

However, no editor will ever bother to check the facts written in the manuscript. Until recently, everybody assumes it is the job of the author. Or, perhaps someone hired to do the job.

The facts

Good editors will clean up all the sloppy details in the book (changing of names, conflicting character traits, etc.) including misplaced adverbs and dangling participles.

However, he is not obligated to find out if airplanes were already around in the 1800s.
He assumes the author had known that fact, the reason why it is included in the story in the first place.

Or, who should be responsible with checking of facts?

Fact-checkers

Aside from engaging the services of an editorial service group, an author must have his book quality-tested by an expert reader. This reader does nothing but double-check on supposed facts in the manuscript.

Fact checkers are hired to work on travel guide books, historical fiction and some other literary categories and genres. Travel books have hundreds of thousands of statistics on sizes, sigħat, prices, and phone numbers.

Few travel publishers hire fact-checkers, relying on the author for the authenticity of all their entries.

Almanacs, dictionaries, atlas

Ideally, a writer must have some fact books in his library for references encyclopedias, atlas maps, almanacs, dictionaries and many other guide books. This is especially true if his work deals with some history or science or some other specific topics and professions.

Authors

After the fact-checker and the line editor have finished their jobs, the author must go over his work one more time. Of course, some unavoidable circumstances happen.

Phone numbers in travel books go out of kilter when area codes of places are changed, restaurants close down, and names of streets and airports are changed.

Disclaimers on the copyright page can sometimes help but if the authors had re-checked one more time just before the book was printed, the error may have been averted.

Fortunately, the good news is that all of the editorial services groups today are savvier than before with fact-checking and other potential publishing disasters.

Benefits of Using Editorial Services to Improve Your Written Work

After you write your document, the next thing you have to do is to proofread your work. That way, you can be sure that your work is not filled with errors that prevent you from sending your message across to your intended readers. However, you cannot always rely on yourself to spot all the lapses in your document. Chances are, your eyes have gotten used to your writing, and you will surely miss several errors. And you cannot afford to publish or submit an error-filled written material, especially if it is a major paper for school, an important business document, or a novel. To be sure that your written work looks professional and can be understood by all readers, it is best to use editorial services that will improve the copys quality.

You can gain many benefits from hiring an editor to check your work. Ewwel, you get an experts opinion on how to improve your manuscript. Editing services usually include an editors analysis or critique of your work, which states what needs to be adjusted, added, or removed from your document. It-tieni, you get fast results, typically within one or two business days. As a result, you can save time to complete your other tasks.

The greatest thing about having your work checked and edited by an editing firm or a freelance editor is that you can rest assured that your work is clean, clear, concise, and readable enough. In particular, an editor helps you improve the quality of your work by doing the following:

Ensure that sentences are grammatically correct

Organize thoughts to make sure that the sentences are coherent

Fix transitions to make sure that the sentences flow smoothly

Remove redundant and unnecessary words or sentences to ensure brevity

Check for jumps in logic and inaccuracy of facts

Enhance word choice and sentence structure for clarity of thought

Correct formatting and style inconsistencies

Checking the copy for jargons, slang, sexist language, etc.

Ensuring that all cited references in the manuscript are added to the bibliography

Many editing services also offer ghostwriting services for those who are constrained by time to write their own work.

The only drawback of hiring an editor is that you may have to pay more if the editing firm offers fast response times. Editing services may cost you a few bucks, but the amount you spend is nothing compared to the disaster that would happen once you find out that your work reeks of grammatical errors and confusing statements. Simply put, you may have to spend more money for a book or a printed thesis that is inferior in quality.

Many editorial services offer editing and proofreading services for a wide array of writing projects such as books, magazines, newsletters, brochures, college essays, among others. To find the best editing firm or freelance editor for your writing project, do a background research online, read feedback and testimonials made by customers, and ask around for recommendations.

If you are a freelance editor, you may target providing basic editorial services like copyediting, line editing, and proofreading. There are clients who require more. That is because many manuscripts may require more work. For such kinds of editing work, authors, publishers, and other clients turn to the more experienced and well-seasoned editors who are very familiar about the industry and the entire genre. Advanced freelance editorial services are necessary to make copies more marketable and publishable.

If you are a seasoned editor, you may offer advanced freelance editorial services. Of course, you may charge higher rates for rendering the following important services.

Acquisitions editing

This kind of editorial service is usually required by publishing firms. The acquisitions editor should be well educated and trained to cope with the market or industry where he or she would be working. It is important for such a professional to constantly get updates about marketing news, data, and even printed works of competitors. This editor is also responsible for finding publishable materials that could be logically and obviously accepted and patronized in the market. Other responsibilities include reviewing submissions, signing new authors, and recommending several other editorial services in preparation for any publication.

Developmental editing

In general, developmental editing involves evaluation of manuscripts for possible broader inconsistencies. This kind of editor is tasked to closely examine a copys content, level of detail, organization, style, and tone. The editing task includes deleting and flagging text that is found to be inaccurate or inappropriate. He should also identify gaps in the content and eventually fill up those gaps. Developmental editors should also move sentences as well as paragraphs in copies to improve overall organization and flow of ideas. There is also the task to rewrite portions of the content of a manuscript for consistency and then recommend other ways to improve readability and effectiveness.

Ghostwriting

Have you heard of a ghostwriter? Ghostwriting is one of the most popular advanced editorial services provided by freelance editors. The ghostwriter is tasked to write a copy on behalf of an author. He should use the authors research or original draft to make an article for different purposes. In the end, all the rights to the written piece would be held exclusively by the author instead of the ghostwriter. This is more of a writing task (instead of editing) but it is usually considered as among the advanced freelance editorial services.

Fact checking

Of all the freelance editorial services rendered by independent editors, this one is the easiest. Fact checking does not require changing any part of a manuscript. It only involves verification of the accuracy of the manuscripts content before it gets printed. Publishers consider this a very important service specifically for publishing periodicals and nonfictional books. In most cases, publishers consider fact checking as an entry-level service. However, fact checkers who work for large publishing firms are truly paid well. Even freelance fact checkers are compensated attractively. No wonder, many editors openly offer this service to their clients.

What is an economic recession? This occurs when there is a significant decline in the economy which usually lasts for months. This is visible in terms of consumer spending, employment, industrial production, real income and wholesale trade. A technical indicator of this is 2 consecutive quarters of negative growth which is measured by the countrys GDP or gross domestic product.

Experts say that an economic recession is normal because it is part of the business cycle and things usually improve within 16 to 18 months.

During the business cycle, there is a period of recovery, expansion, slowdown and then recession. During recovery, the GDP of a country starts to move up. When the GDP grows robustly, this is the time that it expands. When consumers are not buying that much, this is when you have a slowdown. Because there is weaker demand, you have a recession.

The last economic recession occurred in 2000 u 2001 which featured three quarters of negative growth followed by three positive quarters then five more quarters of sub par growth. Experts say that the same trend will happen right now.

One solution that the government usually does is lower interest rates to help stimulate the economy. Just last year, the Federal government slashed interest rates three times towards the end of the third and fourth quarter year so that overnight loans between banks could be borrowed at 4.25% which happens to be its lowest in the past 2 years.

What makes the economic recession different from what occurred after the Second World War is that this one is caused by falling home values and a crisis of confidence among fixed income investors.

Despite the fact that the country has endured this time and again for over 50 years, there is still no way to predict when it will happen.

Some use the stock market as an indicator. Others use the inverted yield curve which uses yields on a 10 year and three month Treasury securities and the Feds overnight funds rate. The unemployment rate is also another which happens to be one of the things that make up the index of leading indicators.

There are people in the Bush administration who do want to call it an economic recession because this will make people panic but there are others who are brave enough to admit that it is here. Since it is going to be some time before the economy recovers again, everyone is advised to stay calm, save up and look for long term investments worth going into.

Apart from the war in Iraq, the economy is going to be one of the critical issues that both candidates have to address as they are campaigning for the highest post in the land. Whoever wins, they have to find a way to reduce the unemployment rate, help people save their homes and a lot of other things that affect the average American household.

An economic recession lasts months at a time. If it should continue for a much longer period, then this is called a depression which is something that the world and not only the US experienced at the end of the First World War. This lasted for up to 4 years that many hope will never happen again.

Economic recession may be normal occurrence but it does not mean that it cannot hurt you. In Economics, recession refers to the period in a country’s economy when there is slowing down of progress and rising inflation rates. Like a cycle, a country’s economy is sometimes up and sometimes down. We just dont feel it before because the economy oftentimes bounces back fast. It is only now that recovery seems so slow and damage has become far-reaching with the crashes in the real estate industry as well as to the banking and insurance sectors.

So what makes an economic recession? What do you need to know about it and what is it all about?

1. Rising costs of living
Because of the slowing down of the economy, production will not be as active. This stems from the lesser demand that comes from the consumers. When this happens, prices will rise as there will be lesser products in the market than before. Basic commodities will usually rise especially those that people consider as basic necessities such as food, shelter and home. Oftentimes, what you will normally be able to buy for a specific amount money will not be as many. This is when we say that the value of the money lessened.

2. Job cuts
During recession, many companies will suffer from cash flow problems. Because of the lesser demand, more and more companies will shut down their production lines to cut costs. This leads to cutting off jobs just to make both ends meet. Right now, many companies in the United States have already done job cuts. Although it does not sound good, these companies do not really have a choice as often, they will need to let go of some employees to keep the company running and still employ the others.

3. Expense cuts
Because people do not have much money in their pockets, most of them will be scrimping on their expenses. They will only buy things that they need. Some do this because they want to save their money while others do this because they dont really have a choice, having a much lower income than before. This however contributes to the economic recession as low demand will also lead to low supply which can affect company earnings. When this happens, jobs may become at risk and companies may suffer from financial losses.

4. political turmoil
Although it is not often the case, most countries suffering from economic recession will have political turmoil. This is especially true if the country has not responded to the economic recession well and the situation has ballooned 10 times over. When this happens, people will naturally blame the people in the government and their policies. This is the time when people troop to the streets to protest or they announce their displeasure through surveys on job approval ratings of government officials.

5. Tax cuts
Because of lesser income and less value for your money, the government tries to augment people’s financial problems and also to help companies by giving people more money that they can spend on basic goods. They do this by giving back to their people a portion of their income tax cuts.

In this instance, the government is cutting off the income that they get from people in order to stabilize the economy during economic recession.

Economic recession is gripping the United States right now and people just don’t know what to do about it. In truth, economic recession isnt something new anymore. In fact, it has been happening all through out the decades. People don’t just know about it because it has not been as widely publicized as now. This is perhaps because of the ongoing political race between the Republican and the Democrat. And mayhap also because, the country has never experienced such downturn in economy than now, with losses in the real estate, banking and insurance sectors.

Economic recession is actually a term used to refer to the slowing down or downturn of the economy after a period of upturn. You can better picture it with a cycle that often turns. Economy is sometimes rosy and bullish but after a period of progress, it will slow down and become bearish as what they use in the stock market.

The cycle of economy

Often, economic recession is not a problem as the government’s financial sectors have solutions for it. One of the most common is tax cuts where the government gives up a portion of their income and gives it back to the people so that they will have money to buy goods. When consumerism becomes good again, companies who lost a lot of money during the period of downturn and low demand will regain their losses. This will lead to the hiring of new people and increasing their production. More supply in the market will lead to lower prices which will hopefully encourage higher demand for products. Thus, ending the recession.

Easier said than done

It is however easier said than done. Sometimes even with tax cuts, the government cannot balance the economy. This is especially true if the country do not have much budget to augment the situation or if there have been occurrences that are outside their control.

For instance, the problems in the real estate industry and near bankruptcy of a lending firm associated with properties are not exactly brought on alone by economic recession. Problems in the company way way back have contributed to its losses, only aggravated by the current economic situation. The same goes with the problems two major banks in the United States is experiencing right now and also the losses that are beginning to show from the portfolio of a multinational insurance and financial firm.

All these are not all the fault of economic recession. However, what is happening to their company is made much worse by the economic downturn as people will not spend as much. Because of the hard times, some will not also be able to pay their loans or pay off their mortgages like before. If a company has a solid money background, it will not matter as its assets can absorb the losses. Unfortunately, if a company is already suffering from problems even before economic recession can make it bankrupt.

Although economic recession is basically something that happens to a country, individuals are affected not only in the country where it is happening but also worldwide. This is especially true if the company has interest worldwide or the currency is being used all over the world. There is however not much that people can do except take a calming breath and just take one day at a time, hoping it will all come to an end soon.