Editing How-To and Self-Help Books (self-paced)
$90.00
Description
$90 (Members: $81) | How to edit how-to and self-help books | 4 lessons | self-paced | Intermediate
Prescriptive nonfiction, as self-help and how-to books are sometimes collectively known, is one of the most popular categories of nonfiction for both readers and writers.
Nonfiction editors with skill in effectively editing prescriptive nonfiction can find clients among indie (self-publishing) authors, traditional publishers, and hybrid publishers.
Indie authors in particular gravitate towards writing self-help and how-to, as they are typically trying to show their expertise and what better way to do that than as an expert author? For them, a prescriptive nonfiction book is a credential that helps them get clients and succeed in their business.
You can help them reach their goals by ensure their book meets the needs of its audience.
We’ll look closely at:
- structuring prescriptive nonfiction
- ensuring a clear narrative arc, whether chronological or topical
- providing sufficient support for the overall argument and for individual points
- identifying missing elements, such as case histories
- determining what to do when the author’s main source of information is their own experience
- recognizing audience needs and expectations
- understanding how to be an effective reader proxy
- and more!
Each lesson includes an assignment for you to do and an answer key for you to review your work.
Intermediate classes are intended for those with some developmental editing experience or who have taken the Basics of Developmental Editing for Nonfiction and Principles of Developmental Editing for Nonfiction classes.
The class is entirely online and asynchronous (you don’t have to be in any particular place at any particular time to participate) and runs at your own schedule.
