The Well-Presented Manuscript

<p> Do you want to be taken seriously by editors readers or reviewers? Do you make errors in your fiction writing? This book is for you.<br><br>Mike Reeves-McMillan is a fiction author reviewer and former copy editor and technical writer. He's analysed the errors he's found in hundreds of books both indie and traditionally published and written a simple clear guide to avoiding the most common issues.<br><br>Learn:</p><ul><li>Why editors reject 90% of what's submitted to them-and how to increase your chances.</li><li>How to get punctuation right every time.</li><li>The special conventions of dialog.</li><li>The most common word confusions typos and research errors-and how to check for and eliminate them.</li></ul><p>The fourth edition (2025) is 20% longer than the 2022 edition and has been completely restructured to focus on the 10 most common types of errors:</p><ol><li><strong>Vocabulary.</strong> Now almost 200 entries on pairs trios or single words that are easily confused with each other or used incorrectly.</li><li><strong>Apostrophe usage.</strong> Two simple rules will enable you to get the apostrophe in the right place every time.</li><li><strong>Narrative tense.</strong> How to stop jerking your readers around in time so they have a smooth reading experience. Revised and expanded.</li><li><strong>Commas of identity</strong> (vocative and appositive commas). How to fix one of the easiest ways to spot amateurish writing.</li><li><strong>Commas of sequence</strong> (coordinate commas and lists). How to avoid an error that even some good writers still make. Revised and expanded.</li><li><strong>Commas of grammatical structure</strong> (phrasal commas). How to know where-and where not-to put a comma without having to guess.</li><li><strong>Capitalization hyphenation and other punctuation marks</strong>. Many different errors described and corrected.</li><li><strong>Dialog punctuation</strong>. A persistent problem for a minority of writers with a few easy rules.</li><li><strong>Clarity of reference</strong> (number agreement pronoun errors dangling modifiers). Make sure your readers understand exactly what you're talking about without having to stop and work it out. Revised and expanded.</li><li><strong>Research and knowledge</strong>. Common slip-ups that are easily corrected. Revised and expanded including an extensive guide to differences between British and American English for authors who speak one but whose characters speak the other.</li></ol><p>At the back of the book is a simple reference for grammatical terminology and concepts and a resource section for further reading.<br><br>Everything is still directed at improving the working fiction writer's grasp of mechanics and usage so that your prose reads smoothly and your readers can immerse themselves in your story.</p><p> </p><p> </p>