GetBookHelp.com: Helping new authors put their best book forward

#StetSprint | Done! With minutes to spare, even! ♥♥♥

#StetSprint | Greetings, all! I'm @teneshalcurtis.bsky.social in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. I have 7 items I need to add to a webpage. I always seem to jump into #StetSprints with too much confidence, so I'm hoping this goal will be more reasonable today! 😅

#StetChat | Yay! I am reading this as: "You've made so many silly mistakes in your career and share the lessons you've learned from them freely enough that I can avoid them too!" LOL! And I do hope what was a mishap for me can prevent mayhem for you. 🥰🥰🥰

#StetChat | Agreed! Doing a sample edit from the middle of a piece feels like only seeing the middle 20 minutes of a movie and being expected to provide guidance on changes for the entire 2-hour film.

#StetChat

#StetChat | Thank you, thank you, thank you! ♥♥♥

#StetChat | Trick question since I'm a night owl (normally going to bed around 2 or 3 in the morning) anyway! LOL! Decent communication with clients and making sure I always provide "estimated" and "approximate" timeframes instead of hard-and-fast deadlines helps eliminate that pressure completely.

#StetChat | We get what looks like requests like these all the time at the EFA. The two main ways I've avoided involving myself in Franken-edits are to (1) charge for sample edits and (2) require that all sample edits start from the beginning of the manuscript, not some random chapter in the middle.

#StetChat | I'm not a copyeditor so...all of them! LOL!

😄🥰

#StetChat | They are the air I breathe!

A3 #StetChat I've been lucky so far, but I did have clients like this in my previous career in hospitality. You try to learn what prompts their Hyde to pop out, and it's like walking on eggshells. If it happened as a freelancer, at least I'd know I could refuse any future project with them.

#StetChat | Just another reason I'm glad I'm not a copyeditor! LOL! I'll let the grammar pros handle that type of work AND those issues. 😌

#StetChat | Unfortunately! :D A woman asked me to help her write a screenplay and all seemed well at first, but the relationship eventually ended with her drunk-dialing me and leaving a voicemail in which she called me everything but a human being. All over the course of a week or two, mind you. 🫨

#StetChat | Always that I will lose something I'm working on in its entirety. My clients don't see it, but I always have multiple copies of their work saved with timestamps (10-21-439p-RacLap-TTRPG Workbook.indd, 10-21-927p-RacLap-TTRPG Workbook.indd, 10-22-202a-RacLap-TTRPG Workbook.indd, etc.).

#StetChat | @teneshalcurtis.bsky.social in Atlanta, GA. Running super late, but hoping to catch up and chime in as I can! ♥

#StetChat | Yes! For my fantasy & sci-fi authors, I consistently run into them having an army of characters with the same initial. And they honestly don't even realize it until I point it out! :D They've got 26 letters to use, yet half their character names will start with C, for example.

Q1. What zombie rule do you wish you could kill once and for all? 🧟‍♀️ #StetChat (A zombie rule is a grammar “rule” that isn’t really a rule—it’s often a stylistic preference or sometimes straight-up incorrect!)

#StetChat | Thanks you all for the fun and furriness! ♥

A8: I'm the only person at my business. My #StetPets provide companionship and breaks throughout the day, and they're good listeners when I read manuscripts aloud. I think of them as morale officers for the company, except for my judgiest cat. He's a quality control officer. #StetChat

#StetChat | Nothing at all. It is a horrendous experience literally every single day. 😆

But their edits could be seen as improvements! You're thwarting their graciously given help! (I'm being very sarcastic here) #StetChat

#StetChat | That my decision to never have kids was 1,000,000% the correct one.

#StetChat | They were burning a healthy amount of calories at home and since we were feeding them the same amount of food each day, the walks were overkill!

#StetChat | We thought they were getting sick shortly after we bought this house because their weights took a serious nosedive. Our vet helped us deduce that, because we now had such a large, forested back yard, they no longer needed daily walks.

#StetChat | But if you must volunteer for this nonsense, make sure they have a comfortable place to be (toys, blankets, water, etc.) while you work can help. Regular vet visits, consistent meal times, and plenty of time to burn off energy outside are all helpful.

#StetChat | :D I do what I can!

#StetChat | Don't do it! Especially don't adopt dogs. They will RUIN YOUR LIFE! 😄😄😄

#StetChat | I still haven't done this! LOL! My brain is still in awe that I can get paid to read and write, things I've been doing for free since childhood, so there is no separating the daily segments of joy! 😍😍😍

#StetChat | Not normally. If they need to go out, I talk on the phone while opening the sunroom door, so no biggie there. I try to make sure they're already outside or have recently been outside prior to teaching a class or being on a panel for an hour or more. Prevention beats treatment! :D

A2: When I have a dog to take care of, I'm way better about taking movement breaks throughout the work day. Getting nudged with a cold nose or paw is a great reminder that I can't ignore. Big sad eyes are also very effective for getting a #StetWalk. #StetChat

Hi #StetChat I'm Steph (Otters Editing 🦦✍️) I edit LGBTQ+ fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ I don't have any pets as I'm not allowed to in my current living situation. But I love pet pictures so I'll be lurking! Also have this fun gif of an otter!

Hi #StetChat, I’m Malcolm, an academic copyeditor and developmental editor in London (UK). My two cats, Luna and Stella, are my work-from-home companions, pictured here in their previous domicile in the US.

#StetChat | I'll give them credit for this not usually being an issue. When the accidents started increasing, it was a vet visit (to make sure it was just old age and nothing else) and new digs in the sunroom (that has concrete floors and easy access to the backyard)!

Exactly! Made no sense to me.

#StetChat | I'm neurodynamic, so deep focus has never been my strong suit. I switch tasks rapidly throughout the day in order to keep my productivity up. If I try to focus on any one project too long, I inevitably end up distracted. It's bizarre, but it works!

#StetChat | Not by much. They were able to snooze or amuse themselves while I was working. Besides getting up for bathroom breaks or meals, it was pretty chill.

#StetChat | Up until a few months ago, under my snack station table (mini-fridge, tea service, etc.) in my office. But at this age, they've started to lose reliable control of bodily functions, so now they hang out where there isn't any carpet! :D

#StetChat | Thank you! I really wanted a Doberman, but all the ones I found at the time cost triple- or quadruple-digits.

We can count plants as pets! #StetChat

#StetChat | Hey, everybody! I'm @teneshalcurtis.bsky.social in Atlanta, Georgia. Not at all looking forward to chatting about the gremlins I had the misfortune of adopting. Biggest mistakes I've ever made, I swear! :D

Yesssss you got this! MS cleanup is so fun! #StetSprint

#StetSprint | ♥♥♥

#StetSprint | Well, that didn't go as planned! 😄 I got a few percent in, but was interrupted by closing tasks related to one of my homes that I'm selling. Good reason to not finish within the hour, I suppose. In this economy, making sure large deposits are headed my way is a bit of a priority! 🥇

#StetSprint

#StetSprint | Hey, folks! @teneshalcurtis.bsky.social in Atlanta, GA here, and I'll be shooting for getting through the next 10% (to reach 80%) of a client's fantasy manuscript evaluation. Wish me luck and I'll do the same for you! ♥

Mary McLeod Bethune said it, but do you apply this principle? You'll get your next chance at this month's Open Office Hour tomorrow at noon! #ASPC27 registrants, check your inbox for your invite and reminders. AtlantaSelfPublishingConference.com #Booksky #AuthorSky

If you are creating a fantasy species or a fantasy race, please, please, please, make it clear how to make the name plural. For example, if I said there was a rose-viola hybrid flower called a riola, is it a bouquet of riolas? Or a bouquet of riola? #AmEditing

Authors, please remember that hiring a firm or individual based solely on the speed with which they claim they'll get something done can be risky. It's okay to give professionals the time they need to give you the most bang for your buck. It's rare for things to go well when you rush. ⏩ #BookSky