"I've written a book. Can you help me?" What to do if someone says this to you. Moira Butterfield

 I reckon that all professional authors will - at some point - get the question above, probably more than once. Someone you know contacts you to tell you they've written something and they want your advice - to judge it, edit it and/or pass it on to a publisher. It might even be about to happen a bit more regularly, as more people may have started writing during their Lockdown furlough time.  

It's hard not to feel irritated - for all sorts of emotional reasons you will be familiar with. You are spending your time putting your heart and soul into your own work, after all. Plus said heart will probably sink because, let's face it, the work could be dire. What are you going to do then? 

Here's what happened to me recently. It taught me the best path, by far, to take. 

An old friend sent me a novel out of the blue. This old friend lives far away in another continent and we don't communicate much. I had no idea he'd been writing a novel. I immediately sighed and worried. What if the book was rotten? How would I handle it? 

In fact, in another twist, my friend had already had a 'publishing offer', which had made him very excited. He wanted my advice on whether to say yes (but also would I read the book). He'd googled publishers who would take submissions and top of the list was an infamous company who calls itself a publisher, with marketing et al, but is really a 'hybrid publisher'. Its marketing and list-building was plainly perfunctory - nothing like a true publisher - and it asked my friend for upfront payment. It also took care to flatter him immensely on his wonderful work. It was a vanity publisher in disguise. 

With some help and wise words from the other authors on this forum I was able to convince him not to go down this route. I sent him quotes of other people's experiences and directed him to some damning online comments. 

Meanwhile I read the book. It wasn't bad. It made me laugh. But it was a first draft with lots of issues. I wasn't surprised. Anyone who writes for a living knows about first drafts not being the finished item - and I felt really angry that the vanity publisher had tried to suggest it was the finished book, so they could get a payment from my eager friend. 

What to do? Should I edit this draft? I could make suggestions and point out weaknesses, but it would be a lot of work and what would it do to our friendship? The answer was obvious...It was a big NO! I didn't think our friendship would survive the honesty I would need to employ, and though I am used to people pointing things out about my work, perhaps he wasn't. In fact I felt pretty certain that he wouldn't be too pleased by me telling him there was a lot still to do on the manuscript. 

The answer 

I directed my friend to a reputable editorial agency. Thank goodness they exist. I searched 'editorial agencies UK' and researched a few further. I found a number of my own author colleagues involved in them and felt confident in passing on a list of links. The cost was remarkably reasonable for top-notch editing and mentoring, including helping with the process of agent-finding. 

My friend took this route and so far he was been helped brilliantly, it seems to me - and is very content to be supported by the editor he was paired with. I did check in with him and she sounds great. 

So, to recap - I was supportive. I steered him away from the fake publisher. I did not 'pile into' his manuscript. Instead I helped him find a professional who knew how to handle the work far better than me. 

I'm so relieved I didn't criticise because I then discovered that my friend had a serious illness and that this writing probably mean a lot more emotionally to him than I had known. That's something really vital to take onboard - We don't know, when we receive these requests for help, what emotional freight the work is carrying. It's like being tossed an emotional grenade! 

So recommend a good professional editing agency to help instead of trying to do it yourself. Pass your friend onto someone who is objective and can help without smashing up a friendship. 

PS: If you provide editorial services for any genre - or have recommendations - perhaps you could add them to the comments below. 

Good luck! 

Moira Butterfield writes for children, including international success Welcome To Our World (Nosy Crow). This year saw three non-fiction books published - Dance Like a Flamingo (Welbeck), The Secret Life of Trees (Quarto) and A Trip to the Future (Templar). 

www.moirabutterfield.com

Twitter: @moiraworld 

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