Your Book is Your Baby

By: Aleta Sanstrum, R2P Proof Editor
Are you ready to let your creation out into the wide, wide world? Are you worried about other eyes seeing this beautiful baby of yours? How old is your baby? Is it 6 months old? Two years old? Thirteen? No matter how old your baby is, please remember that it takes a village to raise that baby. You would never keep a real baby out of the daylight - hidden away from interaction with his playmates at the park and all alone at home so she couldn't make any friends! We all know that children need discipline. They need extended family with great advice and gentle ways. They need time to grow up and become polished! 

Editing is book discipline. If your book never truly grows up, it reflects poorly on its author - you. I am addicted to editing, diners and dives. Typos jump off the page at me. I'm not a structural editor and I'm not going to pay much attention to missing content in your plot or subplot unless it's huge. (My sister is great at that type of editing.) Enjoyment is the number one reason I read.

• If you want increased readability and input on creative words that flow out to your reader so that they can truly enjoy your book without the distraction of awkward sentences
• If you don't want your main character to eat everyone, i.e. "Let's eat grandma." VS "Let's eat, Grandma."
  
• If you don't want a discussion group to be confused because a detail was left out
  
• If you don't want your readers to be frightened of a beauty regime (It's regimen.)
•  If you DON'T want readers' comments on your book to include: "So many typos I couldn't enjoy the story!" or "Who edited this book? Did you just dump it onto the market without actually reading it yourself?" or even "Please don't let your relatives edit for you!" 

... Then I am your girl. Please, please, PLEASE let your baby out of the house! I'd like to give it some charm-school polish. 

I'm a mom, a SAHM to be specific. I have 3 kids, 2 cats, 4 backyard chickens, a fish, and a fabulously handsome hubby who has put up with my quirks for over 20 years. I enjoy walking (okay not really and I never watch sports on TV), reading, knitting, sewing, volunteering at our local schools, watching my kids swim or ride horseback, and camping. During the spring and summer, our family camped 15 nights in our tent trailer at various locations throughout Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. I am not a good cook according to my kids, but I make a mean grilled cheese and my strawberry smoothies simply rock.

My favorite reads are classics (on my Kindle), fantasy, and the occasional thriller. Lousia May Alcott makes me feel right at home and Anne McCaffrey writes dragons better than anyone else. Period. George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones series is up next on my reading list. I'm finishing the final book in The Hunger Games series, even though I know it has a tragic ending. Yep, the teen around here spoiled it for me.