Guest Laura Carroll is an editor, author, bookseller, and public speaking coach. She has worked over the last 15 years as a business and litigation psychology consultant and used her expertise in behavioral sciences, psychology and communications to advise business, legal and nonprofit professionals on their communications strategies and goals. Laura has been featured on a variety of television shows, including Good Morning America and The Early Show, and has been a guest on many radio talk shows.
This episode of DIY Author features a great conversation with editor, author, book seller, public speaking coach, and all-around busy lady Laura Carroll. But before we get to this interesting conversation Chris has a great new resource for you…
Promo Rocket Author Media Campaign Blueprint
If you’re an author, you may have figured out by now that promoting a new work is so multifaceted that you can easily get lost in the process. To help you get organized and overcome some of the hurdles, DIY Author has created the “Promo Rocket Author Media Campaign Blueprint.” This FREE resource will help you organize and manage your very own book promotion campaign in a successful manner. Get your free download today!
OK, now on with the conversation with Laura Carroll…
I don’t care how good an editor or proofreader you are, no one can edit or proof their own work. I’m convinced of that.
Laura Carroll is a multi-talented lady! First off, she’s author of three very successful non-fiction books: “Finding Fulfillment from the Inside Out,” “Families of Two,” and “The Baby Matrix.” She’s also a skilled editor, having edited almost every kind of non-fiction–from blog posts to non-fiction books to speeches. She also owns and runs Carroll Communications, an editing, book development, and media campaign service for authors.
Laura has tons to share in this great interview so make sure you hit the “play” button and give it a listen. One of the highlights she shares has to do with how she uses Twitter to find editing tips, what’s trending in the publishing world, and how to make great connections that can fuel her success and the success of the authors with whom she works.
You’ll also want to listen so you can find out about a featured book collection on Laura’s website: The “Live True” collection is a grouping of books she’s found to be powerfully helpful in guiding individuals to live in a way that is true to themselves, and in sync with their purpose in the world.
A BRIEF OUTLINE OF THIS GREAT CONVERSATION
Chris asks Laura about the wide variety of Laura’s editing services
Book development services – in 3 packages, unique to your needs
Laura’s public speaking coaching and skill-building
Why every author should develop good public speaking skills
Why Laura began featuring her “LiveTrue” book collection
Laura’s books and how they tie-in to her contributions to The Huffington Post
How Laura came to contribute to the Huffington Post
How Laura got involved in so many different niches and how she connects them all to the art of good communication
The young beginning of Laura’s interest in books and literature
Laura’s focus on non-fiction
Laura’s advice for authors who come to her (or any editor) for help
An outline of the author/editor process – which varies widely
The biggest pitfall authors face
What Laura wishes most authors understood about the editorial process
Why an author needs to work with a professional editor
Laura’s best resources for authors and editors – including how she uses Twitter
2 simple things authors can do before sending their work to an editor
LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
The FREE Author Media Campaign Blueprint
LauraCarroll.com
The Huffington Post
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TRANSCRIPT FOR DIY AUTHOR EPISODE 21
Chris Well: Let’s start with you as an editor. Tell us about your editorial services.
Laura Carroll: I’ve been editing professionally really for about twenty years in one capacity or another. Since 2007, I’ve run Carroll Communications, and in the editorial side of things I mostly work with professionals and non-fiction writers on their non-fiction books. I also do a variety of editing for businesses, non-profits, from their corporate communications, fundraising materials, all kinds of documents. If it needs editing, I’ve probably edited it.
Chris Well: I notice looking at the list here, it’s almost … I don’t mean to diminish it, but it almost seems like no job is too small. Any kind of writing that a non-fiction person is working on, from a blog to a book, anywhere in that gamut, you have clients that run that gamut.
Laura Carroll: I have had clients that pretty much run that gamut, yes.
Chris Well: Then you also do book development. Tell us about the part of your company that does book development.
Laura Carroll: I work with a great team. I have a cover artist as well as a really great interior formatter. We’ve developed three packages. One is really just a manuscript evaluation that I do. I just look at manuscript drafts and do an analysis of what the strengths and the weaknesses are of the book to that point, then discuss that with the client. The other packages really include my cover artist and the interior formatter, where level one, I have the cover artist come up with some cover images and we go through the process of selecting a final one, and it includes the formatting. Level two includes the cover art as well as the formatting and then one round of comprehensive editing that I do. It’s a stair-step approach.
Chris Well: Part of your company is public speaking services. It says public speaking coaching, speech, writing and editing, and media skill building. Could you tell us what all those are about?
Laura Carroll: Sure. That was an outgrowth of some things I did earlier in my career where I was involved in education and training. I led many seminars and really honed my own presentation skills over the years and also have worked a lot with attorneys for their courtroom communications on opening statements, closing arguments, speeches. I have worked professionally with executives who need to write speeches, do well at public events, et cetera. Then I’ve published three of my own non-fiction books that have gotten very good media, syndicated radio and television.
With all of that, I honed a really good set of skills that I can help not only authors with when their books come out, to help their own public speaking skills become more effective, but just professional clients that I may have that want to hone their skills in that way as well.
Chris Well: Looking at media skill-building versus public speaking, you’re talking about both, “I am standing in front of a crowd,” but also, “This is how I conduct myself in an interview.” Right?
Laura Carroll: Correct. Yes. It could be an author who has to go to a book-signing and talk about their book for an hour and want to do that more effectively. It could also be someone who just needs to give a speech at a professional event, that sort of thing. Yes, it’s two different animals, but really, some of it’s very similar in terms of how to be comfortable, how to be articulate and be prepared for the kind of communication you need to get in front of an audience.
Chris Well: Now is this something that all authors should be thinking about or are there particular kinds of authors that are ideal candidates for help with public speaking?
Laura Carroll: I think, in my opinion, every author should have some level of good public speaking skills. No matter if you’re a novelist or non-fiction, to feel comfortable in talking to more than just one or two people at a time and to know the goals of your communication I think is key in the whole publicity process.
Chris Well: As we mentioned, you’re also a bookseller. Why don’t you tell us about your bookstore?
Laura Carroll: A few years ago, I wanted to start a unique non-fiction book collection on my site just as a way for people to learn about some books I thought were great. I have over time categorized them into different areas, but I saw that a theme was building there that I call it the LiveTrue Book Collection. It’s just a theme that’s about books that in one way or another are about how to live your best life, how to live true to yourself. Those are books that I look for and that I review on the site. I thought it was a unique way to get a slice of a really good book collection that people could learn about.
Chris Well: You’ve written three books. You’re also a Huff Post contributor. It’s all the same topic, isn’t it?
Laura Carroll: Oh, on HuffPo, I think my posts are really … They relate to more of two of my books rather than all of them.
One would be my most recent book, The Baby Matrix, and it really looks at society’s assumptions about parenthood and reproduction and in some respects challenges those and looks at how we think about it today. How is it no longer serving our society as it is today? How are those assumptions? Maybe they were never even really true to begin with? It really takes a sociological look at parenthood. That was really driven by my previous book that really received international acclaim. It was called Families of Two, and it really looked at couples who chose not to have children by choice.
It’s a collection of interviews of people married a long time who made that choice. I learned a lot about that in the process, and it eventually led me to write The Baby Matrix because I started to ask the question why does society look at people who don’t have children as so odd? Why do they find it hard to accept, et cetera? I find that the themes of both of those books do drive many of the HuffPo posts. I led a top blog called La Vie Childfree for awhile when Families of Two … on the heels of some large publicity efforts. I find that people seek me out for topic related to that.
Chris Well: How do you become a Huff Post contributor? Are they reprinting things you wrote somewhere else? Are you writing them specifically? How does that work?
Laura Carroll: You write specific, unique content for HuffPo. Now it could be different now, but when I first approached them, you have to approach them with a post. They look at it, and if they decide they want to post it, then they do. Once you make that hurdle, you’re pretty much in, but making that first hurdle is pretty competitive. Although there are a lot of people who contribute, they still screen people pretty aggressively, I find, but once you’re in, you’re in. These days, even with the post … They used to go through and really edit it and make sure that there were no typos, et cetera before it went on. Now, they leave it to you.
When I prepare a post, I usually draft it on the back end of HuffPo, and then I leave it for at least a few hours, maybe a day. I plan it like that so I can look at it with fresh eyes to make sure there’s no typos that I see once it goes live.
Chris Well: You have this wide variety of things that you do; they’re all part of your business. How did you come to create a business that is all of these different things at the same time? They are related. It’s not like you’re a janitor and you’re an engineer and you do cars, but on the other hand, it’s a lot of different things.
Laura Carroll: I look at it more as one reason I called it Carroll Communications. It’s all about communications. Editing is definitely a way to make communications, no matter what the purpose is, more effective. Again, that can take many different forms. Verbal communication in this world today, anything we do professionally, I think knowing the goal of your oral communication is key to really doing it effectively. The two really work together. It may seem like I’m in two particular areas, but I think they dovetail each other beautifully.
The third is the bookselling. I want to encourage people who have books and they want them to be a downloadable product, an eBook, for example. I want to build a library of really good non-fiction books that fit that LiveTrue theme. The bookselling piece is something that’s more adjunct and that just supports the other two. Also, it’s a way for the people to learn about great books on my site.
Chris Well: Starting out, how were you first introduced to books and reading?
Laura Carroll: First introduced probably very young. I was one of those kids where I loved to sit in a corner and read books. Pippi Longstocking is one book that always comes to mind that I remember reading over and over and loved it. I was a kid who just loved stories, loved reading novels. My nose was in a book from an early age. I’ve always loved books. I always was the kid who … I could sit in the library for hours, and that’s still true for me today. It’s one of my favorite places to go.
Chris Well: With the business that you have now, are there any particular kinds of authors or genres of books that you specialize with or that you would rather avoid working with?
Laura Carroll: No. I really specialize in non-fiction, just because I think that’s where I have the most extensive experience. Also, non-fiction is really where … Of the two, fiction versus non-fiction, really I’m a non-fiction lover. It keeps me in the genre that I like most, at least these days.
Chris Well: With the other pieces of your business, are you more likely to gravitate towards those kinds of authors that would also go in your store or does that not cross over that much?
Laura Carroll: Of course, I look at the topics of a book to see if there is that possibility, for sure, but it’s certainly not a criterion that I would use to say, “No. I don’t want to have you as my client.” I think that if it’s a good idea … Sometimes, honestly, even if I’m not sure of the salability, I go at it anyway and help that person make that book be as best as it can be and give them some tips on really how to do the publicity about it.
Chris Well: What is the best thing an author can do when they contact you?
Laura Carroll: I think just really to know … At the very least, have a draft of some kind, even if it’s incomplete. Also have a vision for what they want that book to accomplish. What inspired the vision to write it to begin with? What would they say on their deathbed about that book if it was really, truly a success? What is it they really are wanting to do in the big picture and on the heart level? To at least have a sense of that I think is a great place to start the conversation.
Chris Well: Once an author becomes a client, what does that process look like? I guess it would be different for each of the pieces of your business, right?
Laura Carroll: Boy, I’ll say. It can look a variety of different ways. Sometimes I’ll receive a manuscript that’s incomplete and we’ll spend some time discussing on structural issues, organizational suggestions for the person to finish it. Sometimes I get the manuscript and it’s in pretty good shape and really only, say, line editing and copyediting is necessary. Sometimes I get clients, they have a project, a writing project. It’s not a book but it’s a writing project they’re doing personally or professionally, and they could be at any point along the way where we pick up and I help them, again, craft it, hone it, finish it. That’s one thing I love about the work is each project and each person is very different. I learn a lot with every client.
Chris Well: What do you see as some common pitfalls that authors should avoid?
Laura Carroll: I think the biggest pitfall is not truly committing to taking the time to actually write. I know you’ve probably interviewed people who have said that in one way or another, that in order to finish a book, you really have to take the time to actually draft it and write it. I talk to many people that have every intention to make sure they write it between 2:00 or 4:00 on Saturday, and then they break that agreement with themselves, so they don’t make their timeline.
Every time they break that agreement, their enthusiasm nicks away and it gets harder to sit down and actually write. It’s to treat that writing time like you would a very important work meeting or a very important event with a loved one that you would never miss and to not just say that and put it on the calendar but actually do it. I think that’s what I see more often than not is people, they say they’re going to do it and then they don’t.
Chris Well: What do you wish more authors understood about the editorial process?
Laura Carroll: I think if they’re experienced authors, if they have a book or two under their belt, I think most understand different kinds of editing. In my experience with first-time authors, they can tend to think that editing just means one thing, whether they think it’s copyediting or they think it’s the developmental part of editing. I think if they understood that there are different kinds of editing and to be able to know what kind of editing they need, they get that with experience.
Chris Well: Why should an author work with a professional editor?
Laura Carroll: Ooh. I think the easy answer to that is that no one … I don’t care how good an editor or proofreader you are, no one can edit or proof their own work. I’m convinced of that. I’m here to tell about it with my own books. With my first book, I really thought I could proof it. Then it came out and, boom, there were several typos. As much as we think we can do it, we’re too close to the material, even when we leave it for a little while. A professional editor can look at the content with fresh eyes to make sure it’s being stated the best way possible and error-free.
Chris Well: Okay, they’ve decided they are going to look for a professional editor. What tips do you recommend for finding the best fit, the best editor for that author?
Laura Carroll: It relates to when a potential client comes to me, things I look for and talk to the potential client about. One is I think as their editor, I really want to make sure I get their goals. As I was speaking to earlier, I really want to understand just the big picture of why they’re writing what they’re writing, what do they really want to accomplish and how, and know their passion that’s fueling why they’re writing what they’re writing. I think it also helps the author with their potential editor to get some examples of previous work, even if it’s just to download an eBook. As an editor, sometimes I’ll just send them things that I will show them, this one is the before and this was the after kind of a thing. I’ve got a collection of those that I have permission to do that with.
Almost more importantly are the last two things. One, I think the editor really needs to have excellent interpersonal and communication skills. You’re on the phone, you need to communicate effectively. E-mail must work well, must be timely. Their e-mail writing skills, I know it sounds simple, but with some client-editor relations, they just need to be copacetic in that way. That leads to the fourth, and that’s compatibility. I really find that there’s so many editors out there that, really, it’s important before you hire someone, you really think that you’re going to enjoy working with that person. I think on the editor’s end, I feel like I need to know the same. We’re going to work on this project together. We’re going to make it the best it can be. In the process, we really want to enjoy it and enjoy it together.
I’d say those four things I put on my checklist.
Chris Well: When I talk to editors, I always like to ask, indispensable resources, what do you consider the best reference books or books on the topic? What do you recommend?
Laura Carroll: There are so many great resource books out there. You know what I find today? I find I go on Twitter. I know this sounds odd, but I go on Twitter and I do hashtag and I look with the hashtags editorial tips, writing tips, things like that. I look at tweets and then go to different websites and see what those people are up to. Very quickly I can see whether that editor seems to know what they’re talking about or they don’t, they have great posts that are very topical, they’re very current. I think that realm, in that world, I find that I get the most hot-off-the-press information than any book could really give a person. That’s what my practice is these days for what I do.
Chris Well: Is there a particular hashtag that you’re following?
Laura Carroll: I follow editorial tips. I follow writing tips, edit tips, editorial services. I’ve found some great colleagues through that. There’s several, but those are ones that I go to more often than not. In fact, I might even have found you on one of those.
Chris Well: I think it’s important to tell people that you and I met on Twitter. A lot of authors still think that Twitter is a place to just blurt out, “Buy my book,” and don’t understand that the real power of Twitter is finding people and meeting people. I think it is good to bring that up, that we met on Twitter and that’s what Twitter is great for.
Laura Carroll: I feel that Twitter is a fantastic piece of a book campaign. You’re right, it’s not just a tweet, “Buy my book.” In fact, that can shoot yourself in the foot. That’s really not the power of it. As you say, the power is to create tweets that relate to your book and relate to the audience that you’re trying to find that’s already on Twitter roaming around. It’s just like any other piece of a book publicity campaign. It’s where are your readers, and on Twitter it’s very efficient to find them and to build community with them. Yes, once they know about you, they’ll know that you have this book. I treat it just like any other piece of a publicity campaign. I think authors, if they knew more of that and weren’t so shy to really use it as a tool, boy, it could make publicity campaigns a heck of a lot cheaper. Authors really need to know that.
Chris Well: Then if somebody listening wants to invest in a professional editor, whether you specifically or somebody, what do you recommend as these are the ways to have the manuscript as clean as possible before investing in a professional editor?
Laura Carroll: I think two simple things. One is at least … I work in mostly Microsoft Word, but is to go to a review function, whatever your word processing program is. It finds grammatical potential issues for you; it finds typos for you; tries to catch as many things as possible. Do one round of that and then set it down. Close the file for at least a couple of days, maybe even more, whenever you feel you’ll be able to go to it and pretend that you’ve never read it and you can go to it with fresh eyes and read it again and feel your own responses. It’s like, “Oh, that paragraph sounded great when I wrote it, but now I’m reading it as a subjective person and going that paragraph is too long.”
Try to look at it with an objective eye as much as possible. At the very least, try to look at it with fresh eyes so that you can catch what you didn’t catch in the review catch process. That’s two steps that an editor, once you give it to that person, he or she can just do more rounds of that and hone it and hone it and hone it even more. I think authors can start themselves, but it takes time to just set it down and get away from it for a little bit before your eyes return to it to really see and feel what’s there.
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The post 021: Your book needs a fresh set of eyes – an interview with Laura Carroll appeared first on DIY Author.