Shawna @ Magic Words Editing

228 Followers
219 Following
190 Posts

Freelance book #editor for #horror #fantasy #SciFi #IndieAuthors.

#Writer of dark fiction that will eat your soul. Debut novel coming sometime before 2035!

#Runner (13.1 x 2)
Love #music
Play #piano
#Progressive #witch
Believe in #magic
#Cat servant

Websitehttps://www.magicwordsediting.com
Linkshttps://linkin.bio/ig-shawnahampton
LocationSt. Charles, MO
God damn it. I hate reading stories by friends or acquaintances in high-profile mags and seeing tons of copyediting errors. (Not house style variables, issues of idiolect or dialect, or regionalisms. I'm talking absolutely basic shit.) I know many mags don't have trained copyeditors on staff for a variety of reasons, but when you've been around for over a decade, are self-sustaining financially, and have won awards, I don't buy the excuses anymore. Authors fucking deserve better. #editorproblems

"Honor the author's voice" does
NOT mean "Don't change anything."

It means: Pay attention to how the author uses words, to their choices, to their style. Make suggestions in the spirit of their voice. If they tend toward simple vocabulary, so should you. If they prefer not to use contractions in narrative, so should you.

It does NOT mean you can't help by changing up sentence structure or length. Show the author how that strengthens their readability.

It works.

#AmEditing

A semi-regular reminder to authors, editors, publishers, and artists to send fantasy and horror originally published in 2022 our way for World Fantasy Award consideration. http://www.worldfantasy.org/2023-world-fantasy-award-judges/
2023 World Fantasy Award Judges | World Fantasy Convention

The convention is generally held on one of the two weekends bracketing Halloween, with some light early-bird programming usually beginning Thursday evening and the convention generally concluding Sunday afternoon, usually shortly after the World Fantasy Awards Banquet.

If someone you thought was reputable refers you to a fee-charging publisher, it may be because...they're getting a kickback. This is NOT reputable practice. The screenshot below is from an email from fee-charger Atmosphere Press ($5,000-7,000), which multiple professional editors report receiving #WriterBeware #WritingCommunity #writer #publishing

Here are 9 of my favorite people!

#StarTrek
#StarTrekTNG
#SciFi

Photograph by Andy Gotts

All that time spent watching #StarTrek and wondering what they were doing pushing all those buttons on their consoles.

Now I know they are mostly entering their password and 2 factor authentication codes.

boost this cat whenever you feel like it. no rush.

Start of a long weekend. First, disconnect from the world to recharge batteries for 2023. Do what you love to do: try new recipes, weed plants, paint, read books . . . anything to release tension. Make this #holidaybreak a ‘no-knocking-on-my-door’ kind of days.

#amreading #bookstagram

Winter solstice at Newgrange, Ireland. Dating from c. 3,200 BC, its central passage is illuminated by sunlight on the morning of the the shortest day of the year. Light pierces the world of darkness, prefiguring the return of life in spring. #WinterSolstice

📷Ken Williams

Apparently there are people out there who think it's inappropriate to use Mastodon to talk about books you've written or promote projects you've worked on because it's marketing and self-promotion?

I am not one of those people. I implore you to write about the work you have done and the things you have made - I want to hear about that stuff!