For all black writers/authors

[Justin Thomas]

My silence means I'm working, but I'm opening my mouth now. Lol! The latest project is coming along very well and just finished with its first stage of editing. I post here a link to my latest blog post. It's about editing, and I think a lot of new black authors need to read it. Concerning the editing process, I've seen a lot of new black literature have some of the worst editing (even when they're part of mainstream publishers, which I believe is a setup if I've ever seen one. 

No publishing company should ever allow a piece to be put out with terrible editing unless it's being run by one person doing everything [something I know about personally when I first started my company] or they want the work to fail). 

I've seen narratives shift tense (and not in a creative/artistic way), typos, and a total disregard of the language used. You can't just write to call yourself a writer. There needs to be great respect to the form itself. Unfortunately, writing is probably the easiest art form to jump into. You can tell real quick if someone can play an instrument, understands the technique for drawing/painting, or can sing, but because we've all learned how to read and write, many believe it's reason to believe they can be authors. 

Put the ego aside. This isn't 'hating'. And more than God can judge you. Put away the protective things we say to shield our ego from tough love. This is boot camp. As a friend of mine said (don't know if she's the originator of the quote, but I give her credit for the words). Miss Yolonda Jacobs: "Anyone can write, but it takes a special person to be an author." 

The editing process is just as important (if not more) than the actual writing. There's a lot of bad writing unfortunately representing the black literary community, I'm trying my best to put something out worth shining and reading. Let me tell it paraphrasing Raekwon from Wu Tang. This is my word, when you see me flashing and shining and building and adding on, just watch it. Hear me? Only ones that I got respect for, is peoples I say peace to. Hear me? pay attention, put your shoes on! 

http://www.the1120spot.blogspot.com/2012/07/we-last-spoke.html

[Kim Richardson]

Hello,

I have been a professional copyeditor for 15 years. I now copy edit fictional books/poetry/short stories on a freelance basis. I would like to lend my editing experience to authors who need accurate, precise, and thorough editing to create an inspirational and marketable novel. Please contact me if I can be of service to you as a writer.

Kim Richardson

An Editor4Authors

website https://sites.google.com/site/editor4authors/

email [e-mail]