Easter Rushes

This was the Easter bank holiday weekend and I went with the family up to Lincoln for four nights.  It was the most relaxing weekend I’ve had in ages, but almost totally unproductive. 

            I say almost, because while I didn’t get the blog done, or any writing done, I did get about a third of my book “Foreshadows” read for errors.  I’m re-doing this because one Amazon I had a review I had said there were typo’s on every other page.  At least with e-books you get to double check and sort these out, so that is my aim.  I still have another third to go.   Now I have been away from the book so long I find that the reviewer was right and I am horrified that I let the book fly so riddled with mistakes.  Mind, that said I have had four number four-star reviews and one five-star review, which is pretty good really.

            Knowing this I feel I need to get my next book professionally proofread. To this end I found an advert in “Writing Magazine” offering a sample edit of a chapter.  So on Sunday morning, 11:24, I emailed off chapter one of my next book, “Solutions”.

            To my utter amazement, I had a response at 16:09 asking me, of all things, if I am Welsh or live in Wales.  Since the answer is that I do live in Wales, I responded with that confirmation and expressed surprise that they’d asked and done so, not only so quickly, but on a Sunday.  I hadn’t been expecting a response until the middle of next week at the earliest.  Turns out that there is a reason the question was asked, the company, Jefferson-Franklin, is based in Merthyr Tydfil, and are currently offering a discount to Welsh writers.  By sheer and freaky coincidence, the book I’ve sent to them is also based in Merthyr.

            Well I have to say, I can’t believe the service I’ve had. 

            The sample I sent was 3124 words long, but I got the full edit and critique document in my email at 23:09 that evening.  Good turn around and really good result.  I have to say I am taking some of the comments with a touch of salt as these are businessmen touting for work, so I doubt the response was ever going to be overly negative.  Still I was impressed at some of the oddities they picked up, certainly things I would never have spotted, some edits I wouldn’t have known to make.  So I will be sending the full manuscript to them, just have to decide if I’ll go for just proofreading or full edit.  Of course, I also have to find the money and that’s always easier said than done.

            Anyway, I should be off now.  Thanks for reading.