[stylist] Names and Editing

[Lynda Lambert]

Hi David,

My viewpoint is a different one than others.

I have 2 books published and each experience is different.
For the first one, I worked with an editor and publisher - 2 different 
people - simultaneously.
They are a small press in Washington state and it was a great experience.
That book is "Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage."
We communicated daily after they received the draft. We had conversations 
about everything.
I am a visual artist and so they chose one of my art works for the cover 
design. I also did design work throughout the pages - several photographs 
and drawings are included in the book. I created them, and the graphic 
designer on their team did the graphic  layouts throughout the entire book.
A well-known author/philosopher (Dr. Bernard Freydberg) and 2 fine artists 
( Professors Akiko Kotani and Howardina Pindell)  wrote blurbs for the book. 
An English professor ((Dr. Terry White, Kent Stat U.) wrote the Forward to 
the book.
It was exciting to work with them and the final product was excellent. 
(Because I am  a professor, I wanted like-minded people from different 
disciplines for my book's cover and texts inside.

For my second book,  "Walking by Inner Vision: Stories & Poems," I went with 
DLD books because I was very pleased with the other books by them that I 
purchased through Amazon dot com.
The editor and designer are husband and wife.  The editor has experience in 
three languages, and is a teacher. The designer has high tech skills and is 
remarkable.
Once I finished my draft, the work began with them. WE communicated 
sometimes several times a day. From morning to late nights we either talked 
on the phone or via E-mail.
I did the photography for the book cover and several photographs that 
illustrate stories or poems in this book. The book cover is striking and 
perfectly fits with the book's content. For the back cover, my husband did 
the photograph of me.

For this book, unlike the first one, I did not ask for anyone else to write 
blurbs or write the Prologue. I wanted this book to be in my own voice from 
the beginning to the end.
The team at DLD Books is remarkable to work with and the costs are fair. Not 
only did they completely do the book, they also created some promotional 
materials for the book that are gorgeous and very professional. I could 
highly recommend them to you. The reviews on the book are excellent and the 
comments coming in very good. One reader said, "I would buy this book just 
by seeing the cover of it - it is so gorgeous I am going to have it framed."

I would never deal with anyone for my projects who is not working full time 
in the field.  I do not rely on friends or acquaintances - I want 
professionals who have extensive experience in in design, editing, marketing 
and production.  I want the best I can find to do my work once my manuscript 
is completed on my part.

You can find information on my most recent book team at: 
www.dldbooks.com/lyndalambert
You can find a review of the book at a number of locations such as the 
Vision Aware Blog (American Foundation for the Blind has the book on their 
Bookshelf at their website.)
The book is also on the Indiana Voice Journal (literary magazine) website 
and it's in their Bookshelf section.

I just posted a new blog post today on my www.lyndalambert.com site - and it 
contains a book review by Ann Chiappetta, which is excellent.
http://www.lyndalambert.com/need-a-little-inspiration-touching-and-creative/
(Sorry, I could not get the links to be hyper links!)

I believe we have to seek the best in all we do. For me, it would be a waste 
of time and a disappointment to not call in the top people who can do the 
job for me.
After all, our name is on that book. You want to put forth the best 
impression you can find. Don't cut corners, that would be my best advice.

I wish you every bit of success as you begin to think about getting your 
book "out there."

Lynda McKinney Lambert
www.lyndalambert.com




-----Original Message----- 
From: David Russell via stylist
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2017 9:19 PM
To: stylist
Cc: David Russell
Subject: [stylist] Names and Editing

Hello Writers,
First, I am not certain if my earlier message made it through or not
but if it didn't, I want to apologize to Bridgit for getting her name
wrong when replying to her reply this afternoon concerning Four Steps
to Finding Voice. We do agree on the particulars of dialogue.

Moving on, I would like to invite discussion on the matter of editing.

For those who publish manuscripts that may be book-length, do you use
the services of a qualified professional who may be with a given
association, or some other alternative?

What kind of communication guidelines do you have in place?  For
example, how often might you connect over the project at hand?

I am currently producing an anthology and have an editor who is a
writing acquaintance remote to me. We have worked well together, and
allowances were made from the outset for some personal things
occurring on their end in exchange for a flat rate for all services. I
would not recommend this in the future.

Cheers,
-- 
David Russell
david.sonofhashem at gmail.com
Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.
James A. Michener

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