A Sawmill's Hope Kickstarter - Meet the Editor!
While researching professional editors for A Sawmill's Hope, I left no stone unturned. No stone available to me, anyway. I asked each forum I'm a member of for their two cents... I googled every combination of "fantasy" "fiction" "editor" and only-God-knows what other relevant word... But the way I discovered my editor, I would not have expected.
I'd learned online that professional edits run about $.02 a word, which sounds easy-breezy if you aren't familiar with typical novel word counts. But for my book that would come to over $2,000. And although that is daunting, I'm cutting no corners. I want this book to be as good as I can possibly get it or never to exist at all. Anne frankly, I don't understand any other way of looking at it.
So I approach Faceboot and say, "Any editors out there?" And among the responses comes one from my friend Jamie Cain.
If you're anything like me, you're immediately skeptical. Friend AND editor? Doesn't that mean conflict of interest? How honest will he be? What are his qualifications?
Now, I can't show you a bunch of beautiful illustrations or works in progress like I did when I introduced the artist. But I think some insight into Jamie's portfolio as an editor suffices as an answer to all the above -
He has over a decade of editing experience. He's principally edited dozens of books, in large publishing houses and as a freelance editor, and has worked as part of an editorial team on even more. Jamie's worked on every aspect of book production, from story brainstorming to developmental editing and proofreading... on books of fiction and nonfiction... Thrillers, Scifi, and (of course) Fantasy. He's served as editor for several New York Times best-sellers and for bestselling authors.
Jamie is also a writer himself, of fiction and nonfiction, and has published articles and book reviews.
Last and most important, he loves books. All sorts of books. And to seal the deal even further, he's an enthusiastic fan (although student may be a more appropriate word) of J.R.R. Tolkien, who is amongst my favorite authors.
Jamie asked for an excerpt to see if it held his interest. And it did. So I'm trusting him with A Sawmill's Hope. And I'm asking you to trust him, too.
UPDATE -
The Kickstarter has trampled over the threshold of 30% funding. There are now THREE Silexare / A Sawmill's Hope secrets available to all who pledge - if only a dollar - on the Kickstarter site.
Things will move quickly this coming week. We're inside the final 10 days of the event. Do not be left behind.
