Editing F.A.Q.

7/12/08

HELP SONNY & AIS PUBLISH

We've received multiple requests from readers to publish "book one" (prologue to epilogue in what we're now calling In The Company of Shadows, all 46 installments of which are available for free at www.aisylum.com/sonnyais).

We've discussed it and have decided that we're interested in possibly self-publishing; this would give us the ability to provide the book in ebook, paperback and hardcover versions, and it also ships internationally. We would keep the current story available for free online as-is for those of you who can't afford to pay for the book or are uninterested in purchasing it, but for everyone else you'd have the chance to bring Boyd and Sin around with you wherever you may go.

In order to make the published version the best it could be, we want to do a full re-edit of the story from start to finish, making sure we put in and take out all the information that will make the book even more enjoyable. We're also considering adding a bonus or two; more details on that in the future. We don't have time to do this on our own, though.

TO PUBLISH THE BOOK(S), WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We are both very busy and are writing the story on the side of our other commitments -- work, school, family, friends, and all the other little things that keep popping up. We only have so much time to devote to the story and currently we think it's most important to write the sequel and other future stories in this universe. We need someone (or several someones) to volunteer to edit the story for us, start to finish. Only serious applicants apply, please, but we really hope that several people will contact us.

Below, we've answered some of the main questions you may have about the editing process.

If you have additional questions not answered here, please contact us; we will add more FAQ topics as we receive feedback.

• What Sort Of Editor Are You Looking For?
• How Would I Edit?
• How Soon Do I Need to Finish Editing the Story?
• Do I Need To Be a Native English Speaker/English-Proficient?
• Do I Need To Do All The Things You Listed That You Want From An Editor?
• What Do I Get For Editing?
• How Do I Sign Up To Edit?

What Sort Of Editor Are You Looking For?

The chapters released online have already been edited for basic grammar and spelling, but we've missed some simple mistakes here and there. We're most interested in editor/s who will:

• Help us determine what information for the reader needs to be added or taken out (especially in the beginning, where we feel we need to add more basic information about the world)
• Tell us when something doesn't make sense and suggest ways to correct it (for example, what confuses you and why)
• Help us streamline the story (the main constructive criticism we hear is that in places the story is too wordy; where, when and why do you feel that way? What information/introspection specifically do you think could be taken out while the story would still get across to you the main point?)
• Catch the basic grammatical and spelling mistakes we've missed
• Catch inconsistencies (ex: we spell a character or place one way for the entire story but once or twice spell it the wrong way, or call a group something and later use a different term)
• Tell us what stands out -- good, bad; what you like and don't like as a reader

Basically, we want to know what you, as an editor, feel would improve the story for the readers. Although as editors we're expecting you to look for the things that are wrong, we also really love to know what we're doing right.

Back to the top

How Would I Edit?

You would need a gmail email account (it's free and gmail rocks so we suggest you have one anyway). We would put the chapters up on google docs and share the docs so Sonny, Ais and you can all see it. You can edit as you get the chance and as you feel most comfortable-- you can leave comments with a color of your choice, highlight parts you like/think we should change, etc, and suggest corrections as much as you'd like.

We only ask that you don't directly change anything bigger than spelling mistakes or obvious grammatical mistakes (like, if you think dialogue or narration needs to change, we'd rather you highlight it and tell us in a separate comment/other colored highlighting what you think about it and how you think it should be changed). There may be points where you suggest we do something that we don't change for reasons of our own, but we welcome and encourage as much feedback as possible so we'd love it if you left as many comments or suggestions as you're inspired for. The more feedback, the better!

Back to the top

How Soon Do I Need to Finish Editing the Story?

We have no specific timeline, but basically, the sooner the story is finished editing then the sooner we can publish it for everyone. We may have multiple people edit at the same time, so even if you finish early we may be waiting on a few other people. It could be a fun summer project, though! (Well, at least for those of you living in the hemisphere in which this is summer right now ^_~)

Back to the top

Do I Need To Be a Native English Speaker/English-Proficient?

It doesn't matter to us whether English is your first or seven hundredth language; what we want in an editor is someone who can tell us what can be done to improve the story for the readers. Of course, if you're going to try to check for grammar or spelling mistakes, we'd want you to know what you're talking about. But if you want to help us edit and you can read the story well enough to give us good, constructive feedback about what you think could make the story better (including what you may think, from your cultural background, would help if it was better explained) then that's all that matters.

Back to the top

Do I Need To Do All The Things You Listed That You Want From An Editor?

No. If you only feel comfortable looking for inconsistencies or the general flow of the story and think you suck at grammar, that's fine! We want whatever feedback we can get. The same goes for any other combination of skills you're comfortable with (such as, you love grammar but think you'd be bad at inconsistencies, etc). Just tell us when you contact us what your strengths are and what you intend to look for while editing.

Back to the top

What Do I Get For Editing?

Number one, you get our extreme gratitude (and probably that of the fans who want this published as well). You'll get to help us improve a story that you like. You'll have the opportunity to possibly directly influence parts of it via your suggestions (of course, we won't automatically do everything an editor says; you may recommend a lot of changes that we won't do, which is nothing personal against you but is simply us going through with what we think is best for the story as we see it). You'll also get a thanks in the acknowledgement portion of the published book (see your name, or username, in print!) Depending on the number of editors, there's a possibility there can be other bonuses involved, but we won't know that for awhile.

Back to the top

How Do I Sign Up To Edit?

If you're interested in helping us edit, email us at sonnyais@gmail.com with your email address (initially, it doesn't matter if it's a gmail or other account). We'll send you a short example/excerpt to have you edit so we can get an idea of your editing style. If we think your style will help us edit In the Company of Shadows, we'll set up the chapters from the first book and send you invitations to the online documents (if you hadn't already provided us with a gmail address, we'll need it then).

Back to the top

THE SOONER BOOK ONE IS EDITED, THE SOONER WE CAN HAVE IT AVAILABLE FOR PUBLICATION.

Thanks for your time and thanks especially for reading our story and being interested in helping us out! Without readers like you, we'd have stopped sharing the story long ago.

If you have any questions about this, email us at sonnyais@gmail.com or check the contact page for more info.

Back to the top