EDITING TLC

PETER A. BRANDT

It was over a year ago that I sent a copy of “Crown Prince of Texas” to Joyce for a book review. When I received an email back from her stating she didn’t want to give me a review for my book because she couldn’t give me a good one, I had to admit I couldn’t remember who she was. It soon dawned on me.

The realization that she thought my book sucked soon came into focus and like most people, I was a little upset at her response. I thought of a few things I would love to tell her in my email about her decision, but I reflected on what Jack Canfield had said in his series “The Success Principles.” He states that feedback of any kind is so very important for people to be able to understand what needs to be worked on to improve their business, or in my case, my writing. To be angry with her and lash out would only persuade her to stop giving me honest feedback.

I decided to cool down and I sent Joyce an email the next day thanking her for her input. I realized she must have cared enough about my work if she took the time to write me an honest response about the many formatting and grammatical errors that she found that were a major distraction from my story.

Joyce and I have not looked back since.

Joyce sent me the first two chapters edited and I was startled to find the amount of little things other editors had previously missed. I hired her on the spot and we are now working on three of my novels as well as a fourth one that I am in the midst of writing.

Joyce has proven to me that if I am going to commit three to six months of my time writing a novel it would be a real shame not to polish it and make it the most professional manuscript possible before it goes to print. I know that I am a good storyteller but a terrible editor of my own work.

Joyce and Editing TLC have now become my editor of choice. I will no longer write a book of any kind without getting it edited by Joyce when it’s done. Her prices are reasonable and the work thorough. What more can a writer ask for?

Finding a good editor is as difficult as finding a good accountant, doctor, lawyer and so on. Now that I have found her, I will be keeping her. I want Joyce’s feedback. I want her to tell me if it works or if it doesn’t and I want her to fix the many grammatical issues that crop up. I have learned so much from her edits, especially about things I consistently get wrong. Being Canadian and working in both the United States and the Middle East, my writing has become a mix of both American and British English. Joyce helps me clean this stuff up, too.

Her input as an editor has shown me that I must stick to my strengths of writing stories and I can rely on Joyce’s strengths as one of the finest editors in North America. Writing has become fun again because I know I can count on her to review and fix things when I am done writing.

Thanks for all your help. Here’s to a long and prosperous relationship as both my editor and my friend.

Peter A. Brandt

NAVIGATOR BOOKS



KATHLEEN M. RODGERS

From the acknowledgments page of the new Kindle version of THE FINAL SALUTE written by Kathleen M. Rodgers:

"To my dear friend, Joyce M. Gilmour, of Editing TLC. Thank you for your professionalism and grace in fixing some things that slipped through the cracks in the original publication that came out in 2008 by another publisher."

Robert S. Ruehrdanz

Joyce M. Gilmour and I met through the MWSA (Military Writers Society of America) and I would like to praise her for so graciously consenting to edit my novel Chitose Road. I had been looking for an agent or a publisher to give me an honest answer to a few questions that every writer would like to know, such as: “How good is my book? Can it sell?”

Only a number of agents would even comment on my efforts.  Then I came across Joyce’s ad in the MSWA e-newsletter for her workshop to be presented at the conference this fall, and said to myself, “Why not?” So I decided to contact her. She called me right back that night and we discussed her abilities and after seeing her edits on my manuscript, I am impressed by the detail of her knowledge of the English language, but even more so, her ability to grasp almost any subject and make sense out of my attempts to tell a story. She has the patience and the tenacity to tackle a dry subject and bring it to life.

Her style is above reproach with a giggle tucked in here and there. After thirty-five years in teaching, she has the patience angle pretty-well covered, and her depth of knowledge about our language is amazing. Welcome to the editing world. I will gladly put her name on the cover of my book, without hesitation: “Edited by Joyce M. Gilmour.”

Sincerely,
Robert S. Ruehrdanz
Author of Chitose Road

KATHY ROWE

I was given Joyce’s name by Jim Greenwald from MWSA.He reviewed my first novel, Project: Dragonslayers. Although he enjoyed it, he offered some constructive criticism — I would benefit greatly from the assistance of an editor. Wanting to be a good author and put out good books, I decided I needed help. My grammar and punctuation were rather lacking, and I was always getting tangled up with certain spellings of words. Since then, she’s edited my recent project, Dragonslayers: Mind Games, and also a contemporary romance called Cowboys and Olympians, which I have submitted to Harlequin for consideration.

Joyce is easy to work with and offers good, honest thoughts on a project. I discovered that it’s not a bad thing to see your manuscript returned with lots of “blood” on it—it simply means I need to work harder and grow in my own writing and editing skills. Will I ever be perfect? No, but that’s what Joyce is there for. The extra set of eyes which make sure the commas and semicolons are in the right place, the spelling is correct (for lack of Spellchecker always being right) and those darned hyphenated words are the right ones. She helps put the polish on a manuscript. And don’t we all want to put our best foot forward? It could mean the difference of getting that contract or not. 

Sincerely,

K. Rowe

MARK LAVORATO

I have known and worked with Joyce Gilmour since the winter months of 2006, when Rain Publishing contracted her to copyedit my first novel, Veracity. Over the next several months, I exchanged countless emails with Ms. Gilmour, constantly being impressed by her sharp eye and keen professionalism. As the years have gone by, and I completed my second novel, as well as a collection of poetry, she has become the sole copyeditor that I trust with my work.

I think that Ms. Gilmour’s greatest strength lies in her dedication to learning and her eagerness to look up and inform herself on the subtlest nuances of the English language, something particularly important for me as a Canadian, where the spelling and grammar isn’t always consistent with that of her homeland in the United States. She adapts to it all effortlessly, catching the slightest of errors and discrepancies with the greatest of ease, and I have no doubt that she would be able to do the same with any in-house parameters or style. 

Often, while working in a professional environment as a copyeditor myself, I run into questions, concerns, or sometimes just niggling doubts that have me contacting Ms. Gilmour for the right answers. She is always there, always willing to research, is impeccably organized, and utterly dedicated in every way to the perfection of the English language.

I am completely confident that she would make a very strong addition to any editing team or publishing house. And while I wish her luck in her future career, I know that I’ll still be in contact with her, and confidently sending her my work, for many years to come.  

Sincerely yours,

Mark Lavorato 

DANIEL KUBAT

God alone directed me to Joyce Gilmour, of this I am sure. Prior to our meeting, His instruments, MWSA and Fr Ron Camarda, were directed angels leading me toward her. Joyce, and as I call her, “Mrs Joy,” agreed to become the “The Devil’s Advocate” for my book, Pachyderms. In the process, she taught this want-to-be aspiring writer, everything he forgot as an English Major from Creighton University, and she undertook this downright impossible task through patience, talent, diplomacy, and perseverance, while she was recovering from painful kidney surgery. The net result was her suggesting another similar angel, Maria Edwards, of Navigator Books and MWSA.

Bottom Line:  Pachyderms (updated version) will soon be published. Joyce is a skillful editor, and I recommend her to any want-to-be artists/writers, who like me, forgot that writers/artists can often be temperamental.

I am proud to call “Mrs Joy” my editor, and am honored to call “Mrs Joy” my friend.

Thank you, Mrs Joy, for teaching me, “How Green Is My Valley.”

Danny Kubat  a.k.a.  Danny Buoy (5/12/13)



T. C. MILLER

Whew! I can’t believe that BlackJack Bomber is finally done! I really appreciate your sup- port through countless hours on the phone, and a plethora of e-mails. I look back at the beginning manuscript and realize how much help I needed. The finished product looks so much more palatable and, I might add, marketable.

The advice you’ve offered has proven valuable and welcome. It has steered me in the right direction many times, and your experienced insight into the writing process has made my life as a writer so much easier. Your patience and easy-going disposition also helped to keep things moving along smoothly.

I only hope that you won’t get too busy to edit the sequel, which details the next assignment for the BlackStar Ops Group.

Oh, by the way, I completed the process of entering BlackJack Bomber into competition for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Again, your assistance in editing the pitch letter was greatly appreciated.

I would be more than happy to serve as a reference and testament to your professional services and can-do spirit.

Thomas Miller (January 31, 2012)



UTA BURKE

Writers are too close to their manuscripts to do their own editing, so I enlisted four beta readers to go over it after I finished the rough draft and had rewritten it to the best of my ability. After several more rounds of editing and rewriting, I was so sure my manuscript was good to go (the self- publishing route) that I initially disregarded the advice of fellow writing group members and published author Kathy Rowe to contact her editor, Joyce Gilmour. Luckily, I changed my mind.

Joyce found the most minuscule of mistakes. I wasn’t embarrassed to receive the manuscript back with marks on almost every page, just deeply grateful that after another three rounds of polishing, Immortal Link is now at its best and ready to go out into the world.

Editing your own manuscript is comparable to styling your own hair or baking your own wedding cake. No matter how accom-plished you are, a professional can do it so much better. My manuscript looks like a million bucks after Joyce’s “hawkeyes” went over it. When it was ready to be set in stone, meaning saved as a pdf file, and I was working on the cover for the book, Joyce wanted to see that as well and gave it the once-over. It felt good to be under her wings all the way to the end!

I was initially worried about the high cost of a professional editor, but Joyce’s fees are very reasonable and affordable. I highly recommend Joyce Gilmour’s editing services for any writer who wants to get a book out there that makes his writing shine.

Sincerely,

Uta Burke

 JERRY WRIGHT

Hawkeyes, that's what they call her: Hawkeyes. If you are looking for someone to edit your essay, short story, or manuscript, she is the one you want. Joyce Gilmour is a "copy editor." She is a whole lot more than a plain editor.  She knows literary writing, what is acceptable and what passé is. She will check your document for punctuation, spelling, and grammar. She will see things that you read right over. She will see things that you haven't even thought about. When she suggests changes you will be wondering: why didn't I see that or why didn't I think of that? She will ask for your input with anything that seems particularly troublesome. If you want to do so Joyce will talk with you frequently via e-mail. That is great. You can get things done while they are still fresh in your mind.

I knew I needed someone to edit an essay. Having never done that, I was not sure of what to expect or what I might get into when hiring an editor. I thought I would send the document out; they would do the edit and send it back. Then I’d have to make the corrections. In my case I had only a few days to meet a deadline. Joyce was quick and I met the deadline. She far exceeded my expectations. She has earned the title, Hawkeyes. Joyce Gilmour is the only one I will have edit my writing.  

GL(Jerry) Wright

Colonel, USAR, Retired

JIM GREENWALD

I have had several books of poetry published and have always felt comfortable with handling my own editing, confident in my ability to get it right.

Recently, I decided to place my next effort into the hands of an editing service, arrogantly, more so to prove how good I am, not necessarily expecting much as after all "I am good."

Well, to call the experience an eye opener would be kind to me.  My level of being comfortable seriously diminished, as I went through my returned manuscript I was constantly amazed at some of the simple errors I had made, and repeatedly.

My level of checking my own manuscripts will be as a result, much improved. The feeling of need to have future works professionally edited has skyrocketed.

I am more than pleased with the service Joyce Gilmour provided and am thankful to her and for her improvement of my recent manuscript and would highly recommend quite vigorously that all authors consider using her service.  This may sound a bit like a commercial but think of it more as a fire alarm for your writing.  

Clearly from my experience I can say that editing makes the difference between a good book and just one more book.  If, like me, you feel you are that good that you do not need to have an editor go through your manuscript, welcome to my world of surprise.

Sincerely,

jim greenwald, Poet/Author   

PHILIP LAWRENCE

I am the author of Mirages and Flashbacks: Reflections of a Front-Line Gulf War Marine.  The book was edited by Joyce Gilmour. 

The first thing that impressed me about Mrs. Gilmour was her writer-editor/ team-concept method of editing.  I would email her sections of the manuscript which she downloaded, printed, edited and express-mailed back to me.  She not only made accurate corrections in the text, but added helpful comments, notes and questions in the margins which caused me to think – and led to a bantering of ideas back and forth between us – about how to make some sentences and paragraphs more under-standable and concise and make my work a better book as a whole.  I would thereafter make the corrections and send her an email responding to the comments and notes and answering her questions, often submitting to her questions of my own.  She would usually return my emails within a matter of hours and never more than a day or so later. 

The second thing – and equally as important – with which I was impressed was her editing abilities.  She caught even the most miniscule of grammatical and language-usage errors and assisted me with combining paragraphs and rewriting awkward sentences.  She also helped me with big-picture things such as ensuring events were in the right sequence, that disjointed parts were reworked so that they flowed, and that paragraphs and sections would make sense to targeted readers.  She did all of this while working within my writing style and without altering any of the themes of the book.   

I was very pleased with Mrs. Gilmour’s efforts.  I highly recommend her as an editor and I intend to retain her for my future books.

Very Truly Yours,

Philip Lawrence

DENNIS W. SHEPHERD

Re:  Reference Letter for Joyce Gilmour 

As a local Lexington, Kentucky author who has used the editing services of Mrs. Joyce M. Gilmour, I offer my highest recommendation as to the quality of her work.  To date, I have written two books, Returning Son and The Papaw Diary, and Mrs. Gilmour assisted me with the editing of both. These books may be found in the worldwide book distribution system, from the U.S.A. to Russia. They are print-on-demand publications managed by AuthorHouse, the world's largest such system.

As I readied my first book for publication, I employed the publisher's editing services.  I was extremely displeased, discovering it was nothing more than a Word(TM) editing program with no true human interaction with my text.  When I retained the services of Mrs. Gilmour, I saw just how much the programmed editing lacked, and how importanit it was to have someone actually discuss syntax, grammar, style, and even thematic development with me personally.

With over thirty years of teaching experience, I could not have found an editor with better qualifications in grammar and in recognizing clarity or lack therof in the written word.  When Joyce showed me all of the errors undetected by the editor assigned by the publisher, i had her finish the job on my biography, Returning Son that the publisher left undone.  I then hired Mrs. Gilmour as my full-time editor for my children's book, The Papaw Diary.  She is currently editing my third book, another biography.

I hope to retain her for years to come.  Her work is sterling and response time is extremely fast considering the whole-text review she gives to my manuscripts. In sum, I could not be more pleased with her work.

Sincerely,

Dennis W. Shepherd  (Author and Attorney)

How Can I Help You?

If you would like any contact information for any of the authors that have written reference letters for me, just email me and I'll get you in touch with them.