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If you’re just starting to think about writing for publication, you probably don’t need an editor yet. First you should learn writing skills and hone your craft. Although a freelance editor can certainly teach you what you need to know, that can get expensive. You may want to start by reading books and taking classes about how to write for publication, or attending a writers conference, getting one-on-one critiques with editors, taking all the workshops you can, and visiting writing blogs or some of your favorite authors’ Web sites (many have a page or two of helpful tips).

But if you have done all the above and can afford to hire a developmental editor, then here are some things to consider:

1. Acquisitions editors—representatives of publishing houses who are looking for new manuscripts and new authors to “acquire” for their houses

2. Publishing house editors—hired by the publishing house to polish your manuscript after it has been accepted.

3. Copy editors—correct grammar, punctuation, etc.

4. Freelance developmental editors—people hired by authors to help them improve their manuscripts, catch mistakes they missed, and increase their chances of acceptance by a publisher.

They line edit, changing and polishing the text, but also larger conceptual problems like story, plot structure, characterization, visual description and other big picture choices and necessary revisions. The developmental editor has to enter the consciousness of the author and help make the book better wherever it needs it. This may mean suggesting language for new material, including dialogue. Or it may take the form of requests for explanation and amplification that only the author can supply.

A good developmental editor will let go of their own egos and enter the world of the writer’s consciousness. They’re there to help you create the book you want to write.  He or she should never take over a book, conform or contort it to their way of writing, or make any changes unilaterally or without your approval. That’s why the tracked changes tool on your Word document manuscript is so useful. You can see everything in the original with any edits, deletions, or additions, highlighted in another color, and can be either accepted or rejected.

Alan Rinzler, a noted literary developmental editorial consultant says, “It’s uncanny how many draft novels have very weak and boring opening sentences, paragraphs and pages, which make you want to stop reading and lie down immediately. Or huge information dumps, meaning tedious back story explanations of what happened before the book started and who are two dozen  characters and their ancestors. Another common flaw is no dialogue, all telling what’s happening from a distance. Or dialogue where all the characters talk like the same person and you can’t tell them apart. Or all dialogue and no visual description, no pause between quotes to explain what else is going on, where they are, and what they might be feeling internally.

Another major flaw for many beginning writers is too much material, stories that are hugely but unnecessarily complex, flashbacks within flashbacks so you can’t tell where or when anything is taking place, and a general sense of a writer being unfocused and overwhelmed by his material. As a developmental editor I go through page by page making deletions, edits, polishes, suggesting specific new language and material, and requesting explanation or amplification for text that only the author can supply. I don’t think this approach is at all unsuitable for either the author or potential publisher since their goals are the same: to p

I decided to post this, because I know a lot of you have written books with character that would be perfect on television.  It’s so hard to get your idea in front of the right people that authors are told to get their book published first as a way to make that happen.  Well if you are one of those people, you may want to consider submitting to this contest.  The winner is flown out to LA to pitch their idea to the TV executives.  

The Sarasota County Film and Entertainment Office (SCFEO), a division of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County, has launched “TV ME!” a new, innovative writers competition seeking creative content ideas for television programming. The contest is open to U.S. citizens over the age of 18. Entries will be accepted through Nov. 30, 2010.

The Grand Prize for the best entry across all categories will include a trip to Los Angeles, California, to “pitch” the concept in person to a select group of industry professionals. Category winners will receive the opportunity for their concepts to be reviewed and considered by executives and decision-makers in the television industry. Additional prizes include cash awards and gifts from sponsors, as well as publicity and a winners” luncheon.

“There is no other contest quite like this,” says Jeanne Corcoran, SCFEO director. “Unlike ordinary competitions that require full-length scripts for television, screenplays for movies, or manuscripts for novels, our competition accepts only short (five-to-15-page) “pitches” of a concept for television programming. It”s like a fast and forceful “elevator pitch” where you give the most powerful and concise summary possible.”

Partnering with the SCFEO to administer the competition is Charles Meyer, executive director of The Scriptwriters Network, a Los Angeles-based organization with a 24- year history in the television and film industry.

“The “TV ME!” contest promises to be a dynamic experience for creative contestants who believe they have the next new, bold, bright or off-beat idea for television,” Meyer says. “This opens up a myriad of opportunities for great ideas without the necessity of a trunk-load of scripts.”

Individuals as well as creative teams may compete for awards and prizes in three categories: ” scripted series (from comedy to drama, animated to children”s programs, science fiction to hybrids and other genres of recurring and/or series television), ” unscripted/partially scripted (reality programs, game shows, demonstration/training programs such as cooking, crafts, skills, documentary, interview and investigative programs, etc.), and ” one-offs (single standalone programs such as an award or sporting event, a movie-of-the-week, a special televised gala, benefit, tribute, fundraiser, concert, staged performance, etc.).

Contestants will pay for entries via an online form and then submit concepts via email. No hard copies of submissions will be accepted. Entry fees range from $15 to $30 per concept, depending on date of submittal. Click Here for Information and Submission Guidelines.

The Sarasota County Film & Entertainment Office (SCFEO) is a division of the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County. It seeks to attract film, television, commercial, documentary and other media production to create content, produce and shoot on location in Sara