Self-Help & How-To Books Editing and Proofreading

Your WordsRU editor will ensure that your manuscript complies with the essential structure and ease of user access guidelines required for books in this genre. WordsRU's professional online service will strengthen and rework your sentences to benefit the flow and readability of your manuscript, so that your work exhibits the best possible presentation.

Self-help and how-to books are some of the most popular in the book industry.

While you may be an expert in your topic, sometimes it is difficult to translate all your knowledge to your book's target audience. You must have an introductory chapter that serves as a road map for the work and you must ensure that your instructions are clear and direct.

Self-Help Books

It has been said that "nothing sells like hope"; the increasing number of self-help books overflowing from the shelves of major bookstores bears witness to human nature's inherent hope for positive change. People often turn to self-help books to work on personal issues and to change their behaviors in an effort to improve their outlook and their lives.

Your WordsRU editor will work with you to help you avoid the common writing problems that can keep your message from being read. Where possible, the chief editor will match your manuscript with an editor who is knowledgeable in your field, who will give advice on how to improve your manuscript in order to help make sure that your message rings true.

How-To Books

A how-to book differs from a self-help book because it is essentially a step-by-step list of instructions for how to accomplish a specific task. While the instructions given in a how-to book are more straightforward than the advice of a self-help book, how-to books have their own challenges.

Your WordsRU editor will work with you to make sure your how-to book is not only clear and concise, but well-organized and easy to reference. With this in mind, we ensure that each chapter links to the theme of the book and to previous chapters, retains a strong, clear focus within the set structure, uses headings and sub-headings that are clear and relevant, and uses bulleted lists effectively. We help make sure that your manuscript involves and stimulates your chosen audience and speaks to their level of expertise.

WordsRU's professional editors can help make the most of your manuscript. Above and beyond that, we will:

• Edit your self-help or how-to book for grammatical, spelling, punctuation, tense, and typographical errorsEdit your self-help or how-to book for grammatical, spelling, punctuation, tense, and typographical errors
• Review word choice and sentence structure to ensure that your language flows logically, using appropriate tone and style, to achieve a presentation that is clear, concise, and consistent
• Take great care to preserve your voice and meaning
• Provide comments to bring your attention to any issues with the storyline
• Address any particular areas of concern that you may have.

Upon completion of the editing, your editor will return:

• A marked copy, showing all corrections and comments*
• A revised copy, with corrections accepted and comments removed*
• A document with additional comments, recommendations, and suggestions that supplement the comments in the manuscript, if such exposition is necessary.

*Because PDFs are only a depiction of text that cannot be altered, the editor will return only one copy, with marks that show where and what changes are required. If you have us edit a PDF, you will have to go back to the original file and insert the changes yourself.

We are aware that you will likely require assistance after you have reviewed the edited work, and WordsRU will not close the door on your manuscript until you indicate that you are ready for us to do so. Once the edit is returned to you, your editor will:

• Answer your questions
• Explain any comments and recommendations provided in the edited document
• Review specific, short passages of text that you have revised or rewritten per the comments.

Finally, every editing project is overseen from start to finish by the chief editor, who will monitor the progress of your project and provide assistance to you if necessary. While communication with your editor occurs through our secure messaging system, your chief editor is available to you if you need to speak to someone "live."