Is a publishing professional going to steal your book?

There are plenty of things to stress over along the path to getting published, but theft of your story isn’t a likely one.

One of the quickest ways to make an editor, agent, or publisher not want to work with you is to send them an NDA before you’ll discuss the project.

Please, writers, skip the copyright notices and nondisclosure agreements before we’ve read a word. We need to see the writing and the nuts and bolts of the story before we can tell whether your work could be a good fit.

Unnecessarily concealing your writing and story screams “amateur hour.” And while there’s no shame in being new, these tactics can cost you a deal by making you seem difficult to work with. If you make it a hassle just to read your work, many publishing pros are likely to shrug it off and turn to the next manuscript.

So loosen your grip, O Writes-ers, and find out why manuscript theft isn’t such a looming threat in our practice of The Writes of Fiction.

Will someone steal my book?

Some writers are loath to show their work to a critique group or submit to an agent or editor, for fear that someone will take their title or idea or writing and pass it off as their own. Believe it or not, the estimable Steve Laube (He Who Insists I Call Him That) has had people slide a Nondisclosure Agreement across the table at a writers conference, saying, “Please sign this NDA before I pitch my idea to you.” (To which Steve responded by sliding it back, unsigned, saying, “If we can’t trust each other now, we never will.”)—Read Bob Hostetler’s Will someone steal my book?

More on sending your full manuscript to a professional: Some editors are willing to quote on editing work based on a small sample of the manuscript, but many (especially developmental editors who work at the whole-story level) need to review the entire work to see if it’s ready for editing. Demanding a quote without allowing a thorough review hog-ties their ability to give you an accurate assessment. It would be like going to the doctor for pain in your stomach but refusing to show them anything but the back of your hand.—Keep reading Is sending your full manuscript to editors a risk?

Everybody needs an ego bookshelf

When we moved into our place in Portland, I knew immediately that I wanted my ego bookshelf to sit at the top of the stairs, so that I’d see it every time I walked in the room. It would remind me why I have this room, and what, exactly, it is that I do in here.

Here’s the view from my morning commute. Do you see what I mean? It makes a difference.—Read Amy Stewart’s Everybody needs an ego bookshelf.

More on thanks and acknowledgements: Mention your entire publishing team in the acknowledgments section inside your book. It’s great to share the credit for the whole team, and as an editor, I warmly welcome the opportunity to be mentioned there. Broad language such as “thanks to my editorial and production team, John Doe and Mary Smith” ensures you won’t misconstrue anyone’s role. If you want to be specific, check with your editor about how to correctly attribute the type of work they did on your book (editor, developmental editor, coach, copyeditor, proofreader, and so on).

… Some editors like being acknowledged anywhere and everywhere, and others prefer to stay in the background. It’s so simple to ask first, when you’re writing your acknowledgements. Just as during your edit itself, good communication makes all the difference.—Read more at How to handle editing and feedback on your novel.

10 best practices for typing your manuscript

8. Insert a page break instead of pressing Enter 20 times to start a new page. That way, when you add a paragraph in chapter 7, the beginning of chapter 8 doesn't end up a the bottom of a page. In the MS Word ribbon, go to Layout > Insert > Page Break (or just press Ctrl+Enter; on a Mac it's Cmnd+Enter).

10. Limit your use of fonts and type sizes. Most agents and editors require MSS to be submitted in 12-point Times New Roman or Ariel. Anything more fancy will only cause more work for the professionals who acquire or copyedit or design your book.—Keep reading Carol Saller’s 10 best practices for typing your book.

More on manuscript formatting: My free Manuscript Prep Guide gives your fiction manuscript professional-caliber polish.

• The specs for industry-standard fiction manuscript format

• Which software programs and writing apps are compatible with professional editing and design work or submitting to a literary agent

• The right way to indent paragraphs in your manuscript

• How to make the next chapter begin on a new page

• Tricks for navigating and dragging and dropping scenes and chapters within a manuscript

• File names that automate version control

• What to do when an edited manuscript slows your system to a crawl—Get your free copy of the Manuscript Prep Guide.

How to self-edit your novel

New writers are especially prone to confusing sentence-level interventions with story-level interventions. Even when authors seek out developmental editing, it can be hard for them to grasp this distinction. You can’t fix structural problems by changing a sentence here and a paragraph there. Often, story-level editing requires making major changes to the story. You may need to add, remove, and completely rewrite multiple scenes. Yet that instinct to focus on the sentences—to polish each turn of phrase until it practically glows in its perfection—tends to be present throughout the whole process. Trust me, I know.

As hard as it can be, try to hold yourself back from fixating on your prose craft when you have structural issues to address. Also, make sure that you aren’t relying on sentence-level interventions to address story-level issues.—Keep reading the Alliance of Independent Authors’ How to self-edit your novel.

More on getting ready for editing: Many writers equate preparing for a professional edit with revision. We’ll cover a few revision tasks in this article, but revision is only half the battle. Preparing your manuscript is the first part of getting ready for editing. The second part is preparing yourself.

Knowing when a manuscript is ready to be sent off for editing is fairly straightforward. The manuscript should be thoroughly revised, incorporating a close review of the plot, character arcs, story, and writing, outside feedback, and a healthy dose of author-powered proofreading. The manuscript you submit for editing should be the very best ambassador of your storytelling and writing abilities it can possibly be.

Knowing when you yourself are ready for editing may seem less obvious. You could choose to approach editing as a brief but unpleasant course of medicine you should hold your nose and chug as quickly as possible. Or you could choose to make more of it, as a relatively rare window allowing you to peer inside your writing in a new way. You, as a writer, are ready for editing when you’re warmed up and ready to grow.—Keep reading When are you ready for professional editing?

The Writes is evolving

As The Writes of Fiction matures (you may have noticed a new color and logo), we’re tweaking the delivery process. Free subscribers get full access to every Saturday issue, which now arrives biweekly. On a weekly basis, paid subscribers will receive Wednesday Craft emails with even more resources.

To upgrade your free subscription (full access to everything plus monthly Office Hours calls with me—just $8 a month), hit the button below.

Each of you brings something new to The Writes of Fiction community. Thanks for being here as part of your writing story.

Onward,

Lisa

P.S. Not sure if your manuscript is ready for editing? Here’s how to find out—and get the first step of the editing process under your belt, too. 👇

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This is The Writes of Fiction, a curated trove of old and new thinking about writing designed to help you get better at the craft of writing fiction. And here’s your editorial assistant of the week (in a risky position under my desk chair). 👇

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