Yes, that would be David Hilzenrath, an investigative reporter for the Washington Post who has published his book with Lulu. I think it’s great, and it definitely says something for Lulu and the quality of their offerings. And yes, I feel vidicated, (and I’m glad you do too!) it’s nice to see Lulu get kudos.

Regina

Another excellent suggestion, Regina.

“It’s great if you can afford to hire a professional editor to edit your book, but they can be costly.”

If I were devoting hundreds of hours to book for POD, I would aim for input from both a professional copy editor and friends. I’m not swimming in cash, but given the time needed to write a good book, yes, I would probably invest in a professional if I wanted the book to be reviewed.

In the end this is a “depends” issue. If I were to throw together a collection of tweaked TeleBlog postings and not be terribly ambitious about the project, I’d put less money into it. Even then, however, I’d take proofing most seriously.

To return to an earlier point, just to show that POD does not mean just self-publishing, I notice that none other than the Washington Post will use Lulu for a book project. Given the nice words I’ve written about Lulu, I feel a bit vindicated. You should, too, Regina, as a Lulu user.

Thanks,
David

It’s great if you can afford to hire a professional editor to edit your book, but they can be costly. I also suggest to beginning writers who cannot afford the cost to become part of a critique group. That way you can get several opinions at once, and there is usually one eagle-eyed individual who is good with grammar, punctuation and so on.

I hear you on the fact of a sharp eyed reader catching edits that need to be made. I actually tell people I want them to let me know if they see something in my books or on my website that needs to be fixed, those extra eagle eyes really help!

The Chicago Manual of Style is great, although I can never remember all the rules either. My personal favorite for the rules, because it is the quick and dirty version is Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. It’s less than a 100 pages and you can find what you need relatively quickly.

Regina

I’m hardly a stellar proofer myself, but at times the TeleBlog benefits from a very sharp-eyed volunteer, to whom I’m immensely grateful.

In a related vein, here’s a reminder for people to acquaint themselves with The Chicago Manual of Style. At least that’s the most common manual in use here in the States.

Most writers will never be able to memorize all the rules there or follow all the advice—I sin constantly—but it’s a start.

Thanks,
David

Yup, I’m hooked now, you’re stuck with me. I’ll be checking back often to comment and to read other’s comments.

As to taking the article in the right spirit, of course, that goes without saying. And you’re correct POD and self-published aren’t always the same, some traditional e-pubs do POD for their print books. This is just my preference for terminology.

Having someone help you edit is absolutely crucial when self-publishing. I had a couple of other people read my book Getting Out Alive, and I read it an additional time after that before sending it in to the publisher. It’s still possible to miss things, but you will have a much better chance than if you try and edit it totally by yourself, this is true.

As for POD vs. self-published, one isn’t always the same as another; so I’ll stick with “self published” in many cases. As usual, I would encourage people to judge by the book rather than condemn all SP works or praise everything from big publishers.

What really counts, no matter what the category, is a good editor. Few people can write a book without others doing the copy editing at the very least.

David

Thanks again for commenting, and the second part is on my content producer page should anyone be interested. Where to Find Free Online Romance Reads Part II. You can find it here.