👆 Angela James presents a Live Writing Class 👆
5 Editing Secrets to Become Your Own Best Editor
Free to watch, just press play!
SPEND LESS TIME EDITING AND HAVE A BETTER BOOK TO SHOW FOR IT
Imagine having the know-how to create a self-editing strategy tailored to your books, to your voice and writing style — a career-spanning strategy you can use book after book, series after series...
Magic can happen in editing!
In Before You Hit Send you'll learn all the editing concepts, tactics and tips you need to become your own best editor.
WHAT IF YOU COULD...
- Know exactly when, where, why and how to start editing your book — and always know what to do next!
- Get quick wins and instant polish to build editing energy and momentum.
- Be strategic and targeted with your editing and save yourself hours of work.
- Confidently identify issues with your story and have ready-to-go processes for fixing them.
- Level up your writing career with an editing checklist you can rely on book after book.
In Before You Hit Send you'll throw out the so-called writing "rules" and build a comprehensive, repeatable editing process that works reliably for you and your readers.
BEFORE YOU HIT SEND...
BECOME YOUR OWN BEST EDITOR!
Before You Hit Send is an at-your-own-pace online course that gives you an industry-standard grounding in fiction self-editing.
You'll learn how professional editors analyze stories, identify writing and editing issues and strategize solutions.
Before You Hit Send is a career-spanning investment — what you learn here will help you edit book after book, series after series.
MEET ANGELA JAMES
EDITING EXPERT &
AUTHOR CAREER SPECIALIST
Here's What We'll Cover
Editing Bootcamp introduces you to key editing concepts and gives you an overview of editing strategy — where to start edits, the stages of editing, how to use a style guide and more — so you can begin your course by creating an editing checklist tailored to your books and your needs.
Copy Editing and Proofreading takes you on a deep dive into these crafts, including lessons on using apostrophes, punctuating dialogue, using contractions, formatting and more.
Line Editing delves into editing at the word, sentence and paragraph levels, including lessons on adverb use, figurative language, overwriting, passive voice and more.
Developmental Editing takes you through editing at the story level: show vs tell, deep point-of-view, character dialogue and more.
Your course includes
- 46 captioned video lessons in 4 units, designed so you can complete one unit per week.
- Time-friendly lessons ideal for lunchbreak learning.
- Private podcast feed of lesson audio so you can listen on the go.
- Access to my Publishing Insider Facebook group where you can ask me questions about what you're learning.
- 320 page PDF textbook plus 54 page PDF workbook, with the option to purchase a quality, coil-bound print edition.
Plus these bonuses
- Characterization worksheet to help you develop your characters.
- Scene structure worksheet so you can get your story flowing.
- How to Hire a Freelance Editor: What to look for, what to ask, what to expect when hiring a freelance editor.
- How to be a Great Critique Partner: Your go-to guide for being the best critique partner you can be.
- Query Letter Template: What do you write in a query letter? How long should it be? This template answers all your questions.
BECOME YOUR OWN BEST EDITOR
Before You Hit Send
Winning Tactics for Editing Your First (or Next) Bestseller!-
OR 5 x $95 MONTHLY PAYMENTS
-
Editing Bootcamp — more than you've ever learned about editing in 1 week!
-
320 page textbook + 54 page workbook
-
Time-friendly lessons won't dominate your schedule
BIRTHDAY FLASH SALE ENDS 9PM EASTERN on FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022!
Before you hit send is for you if...
- You struggle with editing because you don't have a systematic, strategic process — the kind that works best for your brain.
- You want clear explanations of editing concepts plus ready-to-go action items that professional editors use every day.
- A writing career is your priority and you're ready to invest in a course that will get you to an editing strategy you can use throughout your career.
- You want to freelance edit and you want your editing know-how to come from one of the industry's top editors.
This course may not be for you if...
- You're looking for a "quick fix" approach to editing or you want to minimize the amount of post-drafting work you do. Before You Hit Send only works if you're ready to commit time, focus and persistence.
- You don't like the idea of working without rules. We're going to throw out the idea that writing “rules” exist, and go on from there!
- You'd prefer to be edited rather than self-edit. Before You Hit Send is a self-editing course focused on helping you thoroughly edit your own book before you submit or publish.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! I’ve had bestselling authors take this course to continue to level up their writing. Your experience/results may not be as dramatic as those of a less experienced author, but as someone who is a self-described lifelong learner, I firmly believe there’s always something new to learn and things I can help you think differently about in your writing throughout the course of Before You Hit Send.
This course is right for any fiction writer looking to improve their skills. It’s publishing agnostic — the course isn’t about how to publish via one path or another, it’s about how to write and edit for the best possible book and best possible reader experience. That’s something that’s important no matter what avenue of publishing you’re taking!
Not necessarily. I’ve had brand-new writers take the course because they want to learn the concepts taught and apply them while they’re writing. It is helpful to have something to apply the lessons to, but it can be a practice manuscript, something you’re critiquing, or a book you’re reading (just, you know, don’t ever EVER send an author feedback on their published book based on what you learned taking this course. That wouldn’t be cool).
Most genre fiction. I personally specialize in romance, mystery, and women’s fiction, so I use a lot of examples of those genres, but it will work for anyone writing any subgenre of romance, mystery, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, etc.
And will Before You Hit Send work for nonfiction? The course isn’t geared toward nonfiction writing but I’ve absolutely had nonfiction writers take it, since there’s focus on writing voice and style, and editing principles do overlap.
Yes. I’ve had several freelance editors take Before You Hit Send, because I teach very practical information about editing, voice, style, and how to think critically about it while also viewing each book as a unique thing. If you want to learn more about writing and editing on a broader level, this course has helped many do just that.
It’s not for you if you say things like “All Lives Matter” or you think people worry too much about books being “politically correct”. The program includes sections on editing your book for representation and microaggressions, as well as thinking about consent and misogyny.
We’ve also taken a hard look at the course material to change language such as hero/heroine to protagonist or main characters and if this offends you, the course is absolutely not for you.
It’s also not for you if you’re offended by swearing (I say fuck a lot), sex jokes, or other forms of humor.
No, the course is self-paced and you have ongoing access to the lessons.
Yes! All lessons are captioned and transcripts are available. All live events are captioned, recorded and available for replay with captions. We endeavor to make all content screen-reader friendly.
If you have an accessibility need we’re not meeting, please email us at support@angelajames.co and we’ll do our best to adjust the course to help you get the most out of it!
The intensive Editing Bootcamp, Unit 1 of Before You Hit Send, will be available first, and Units 2 through 4 will be available the following week.
We isolate the Editing Bootcamp to begin with so that you won’t feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information, and so you have the opportunity to settle in and ask questions.
Join me for Before You Hit Send and if after completing the first 7 days of lessons — the Editing Bootcamp — you don’t find I’ve taught you new concepts that you can use to apply to your writing, I’ll refund your money. No refunds will be offered after week 1. To request a refund, email support@angelajames.co
Before You Hit Send
Winning Tactics for Editing Your First (or Next) Bestseller!-
OR 5 x $95 MONTHLY PAYMENTS
-
Deep dives into copy editing and proofreading, line editing and developmental editing
-
Unlearn writing “rules” and release yourself from unhelpful constraints
-
Ask Angela questions in our Publishing Insider Facebook group
BIRTHDAY FLASH SALE ENDS 9PM EASTERN on FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022!
HI, I'M ANGELA JAMES
20 years in the publishing industry, 2 successful imprints launched and directed (Samhain and Harlequin’s Carina Press) and dozens of novels edited for private clients… plus I’ve been teaching Before You Hit Send for the past 15 years!
I’ve worked with 100s of authors and I know exactly where authors get stuck in editing and why edits can feel like an insurmountable task.
I created Before You Hit Send to bring professional editing strategies to authors who want to develop a decisive, repeatable, career-spanning editing process for themselves.
Before You Hit Send
Winning Tactics for Editing Your First (or Next) Bestseller!-
OR 5 x $95 MONTHLY PAYMENTS
-
Tried-and-true tactics used by professional editors
-
Create a self-editing strategy that gets the best out of your voice and style
-
Ongoing access means you can revisit the course whenever you need
BIRTHDAY FLASH SALE ENDS 9PM EASTERN on FRIDAY, AUGUST 26, 2022!