My thoughts on writing tips found online and in published works (with some random thoughts thrown into the mix).

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Freelance Editing


Up until recently, I have worked exclusively with Grit City Publications. During the past few months, I worked with author Scott McKenzie on his holiday piece, A Gitmo Nation Christmas Carol, outside of the company. Due to the wonderful time I had, I am spreading my reach even further and going public as a freelance editor. Here is a quick look at what I have to offer:

If you are here, that means you have a passion. You love the emotional thrill of writing and have plunged into creating your own magical story. You are giving bodies to the characters in your head and you can feel the fire in your fingers as you bring them to life. Sometimes you write with such fervor that you wonder at how fast the ideas came into your head and slammed onto the paper. Before you really know that you have begun, you realize that you will need an editor to help improve your piece. Now that you have written such a wonderful project that you know will change the reader's life, if only for a moment, you need to make sure it is perfect. There can be no punctuation errors, your facts all have to line up, and your story needs to be consistent.

That's where I come in. Your passion is writing; mine is editing. My name is Rebecca Hoffman. I am a freelance editor, both for independent authors and for Grit City Publications. I started correcting my mother's grammar and spelling when I learned the concepts and I've been thrilled by proofreading and developmental work ever since.

I enjoy working with fiction of any length, from flash stories to novels, and nonfiction pieces, including handbooks. I base each rate on the project at hand, factoring in length and amount of work required, so I will send you a quote after reviewing your manuscript. I am more than happy to work on a project that is in any stage of completion, so it doesn't matter if you have just finished the first chapter or have reached "The End." I am also able to adjust to your specific needs, doing everything from basic copyediting to intense developmental editing.

If you would like to preview my editing work, please check out the Grit City Publications handbooks, the Lily Dair mystery/thriller series, or the Financial Success for Creative Professionals marketing plan handbook.

When you are ready to begin your journey down the editing road or would like more information, please email me at rebeccamhoffman1@gmail.com. I look forward to working with you!

You got an iPad or tablet! Now what?

On Christmas morning, you ripped off the crinkly bow and the shiny wrapping to behold a slightly heavy box. Inside was the iPad or tablet you have waiting for all year! Fantastic! Now that your highly-anticipated Christmas gift is in your hands and you have played with all the nifty features, what do you do with it? The answer: read an Emotobook!

What are Emotobooks, you may ask? Well, if you don't know that answer by now, you are certainly missing out! Emotobooks are ebooks that are jammed full of hard-hitting emotions and abstract art that packs a punch. They are designed to be consumed during your morning commute, during your lunch break, or as you are winding down for bed. They come in EmotoSingles, which are short stories designed for one sitting, and EmotoSerials, which are longer stories broken down into bite-sized chunks, much like a TV series.

Ready to get your first taste yet? Check out the following titles:

To learn more about Grit City Publications and the Emotobooks Revolution, visit the website.

Happy reading!

Thursday, December 20, 2012

It's getting closer...

Christmas time is almost here! Are you having trouble finding last-minute gifts for the loved ones in your life? Or maybe you just need a gift for your neighbor or coworker because they already got you something. Either way, Grit City Publications has the solution!

If you have a creative professional in your life, such as writer, artist, or actor, you can help support them and show them the way to success with the new marketing plan, Financial Success for Creative Professionals. This ebook will help them find a way to dig in to their career and make sure that they get the recognition and business that they deserve.

For the readers in your life, Grit City Publications has many fictional emotion-packed Emotobooks to share! You can choose from EmotoSingles, bite-sized stories to consume in one sitting, or EmotoSerials, which are longer novellas and novels split up into easily-consumed chunks (much like a TV series is split into episodes).
You can find them all, with links to their Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes listings, at the Grit City Catalog page.

To learn more about Grit City Publications' goals and missions, visit the Emotobooks page of the Grit City website.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas!


Thursday, December 13, 2012

Guest Blog: Jason D. Bryant

For today's post, Jason D. Bryant (@Jason_D_Bryant) has stopped by to talk about his new short story coming out in January, TABAKA, with Grit City Publications. Dig in!



I began writing my 1st book back in 1998, simply giving a concept an idea. In 2000, the idea grew and I gathered personal real life experience to the book idea, thus creating an outline. It was here I learned that full length novels were not going to be my forte but instead, short stories were my ticket. By 2002, the book was well underway with a cover, a title, a concept, a fluid arrangement of consecutive short stories that interlinked, and a series of plots that fed off each story. The book was called BLOODDAY. In 2005, I finished it, and put it on a shelf in a manuscript box until 2009. I loved it but was embarrassed by it for it never saw the light of a real editor. In late 2010, I put the book on Amazon.com for the Kindle and I sold 13 copies. I removed it in 2011, again embarrassed for even putting it online.

I loved each story and I liked the unique way each story tells the entire book, like ores in a canoe, guiding the book along. What I was most embarrassed about was simple: me. I write as passion; a hobby, for fun. I can write anything and I can say, “I like this.” Someone else’s opinion is a different story! If John Doe from The Windy City says, “You’re book sucks.”, I wouldn’t care. I would smile, thank him for reading it, and be on my way to write some more, hopefully better. But if some famous author said that, I admit, I’d be in the corner re-enacting The Fly crying, “Heeelp Me! Heeelp ME!” I didn’t go to college to be a writer, nor have I taken any creative writing courses. Just College Comp I & II, that’s it.

I began helping others with their stories, ideas, overview, drafts, concepts, illustrations, directions, and projects; completely ignoring my own. But then, in the midst of discovering Twitter, I met someone. A ‘THE WALKING DEAD’ fan who also is an editor: Alexis Jenny, and she told me about Grit City Publications and what they do. A month later, I submitted all 7 stories from BLOODDAY and another short story to them, just to see what they thought, nothing thinking any of the 8 would be liked. To my complete surprise, they accepted 5 of the 8 to be formed into Emotobooks! I never saw this coming!!!

I’m proud to say that after under a year of learning the company’s mission goal, discovering what an Emotobook is (which is the future of eBooks, ladies and gentlemen), and the incredible production staff, I am proud to announce that all my 10 years of hobby writing short stories, wrestling episodes, and project building with other authors has FINALLY paid off, and in a BIG WAY! With the powerful help of my editor Rebecca M. Hoffman, the Grit City Publishing CEO Ron Gavalik, and the newest illustrator to the company Darcy Lynn, my debut Emotobook TABAKA will be hitting eReaders world-wide!

Click this link to learn about Grit City Publications from Pittsburg PA, Emotobooks, all the Emotobook authors : http://www.gritcitypublications.com/Grit_City_Publications/Emotobooks.html

But as for what TABAKA is about begins with a question for you: If you were able to have perfect posture, self-healing capabilities, scar free and unblemished skin, uncontrollable pheromones, be ageless for decades, and be completely desirable to anyone; what would you sacrifice about yourself to have such a life? Your dignity? Your morals? Your soul? And what if you had no choice but to subdue to this lifestyle under restraint, forced to be attractive and beautiful for people were your meal ticket to perfection, as well as your meal itself? How would you live? How would you cope? Well, meet Sarah Dayer.

An ageless and pompous creature named TABAKA inhabits itself into Sarah Dayer for the rest of her life, offering her everything she needs to exist like no other human. What would be considered medical gifts, such as being physically flawless and immune to all diseases, Sarah finds these so-called miracles as bounded traps to keep Its existence inside her body. After a year of dealing with Tabaka’s existence, and after self-analyzing everything she’s ever learned about It, she believes she knows the way to remove It from the world before it can cause the living nightmare of Tabaka to exist in someone else. (TABAKA, the debut Emotobook from Grit City Publications written by Jason D. Bryant, edited by Rebecca M Hoffman, and illustrated by Darcy Lynn; coming January 2013!)

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Computer Issues and TABAKA

Well, when I got my computer back, I did some updating, cleaning up, and resetting. I think I may have solved the issue! I haven't seen the dreaded blue screen since I got my laptop back. Victory! (Now let's just hope that I haven't jinxed myself).

In just a few short weeks, the newest short story from Grit City Publications (@Emotobooks) will be making it's big debut. Entitled "Tabaka," this EmotoSingle is written by the brilliant and enthusiastic Jason Bryant (@Jason_D_Bryant). I have had an absolute blast working with this author! He has an incredible wit, genuinely enjoys his craft, and has an intense desire to learn anything and everything he can. It is being illustrated by Darcy Babines (@deadartssociety), who is a new illustrator for Grit City. This is her first rodeo, so to speak, and she is doing a fantastic job! Her artwork is spot-on and greatly amplifies the emotions already strongly presented in the manuscript.

Now, you may be wondering, what IS Tabaka about?
For years, Sarah Dayer had been locked in an abusive relationship. Living with her fiancé in a small town in Ohio, Sarah finally escaped his violent outbursts and mental battering by running across the country to Arizona. She reinvented herself and her life, going back to school to become a nurse and eventually working in the local ER. Now, an unexpected new nightmare is about to catch up with Sarah Dayer. She will need to return to her past in order to change her present.
This excellent EmotoSingle horror will keep you locked to the edge of your seat. You will squirm, you will gasp, and you will smirk. You will ache with Sarah as she recalls her regrets, past and present. You will root for her as you follow her journey across the miles to reclaim her life. Are you ready for this emotional experience?
Prepare yourself, because it's coming!