Tag Archives: proofreading

Request a Free Electronic Copy of Be Your Own Editor

Be Your Own Editor is a crash course in grammar and writing basics. It covers a wide variety of topics from common errors in punctuation and word usage, to structuring nonfiction material and essays, to developing strong characters and plausible dialogue in fiction.

Until midnight on Mother’s Day, I’m giving away free electronic copies of BYOE. Send me a note at sigridmac at rogers.com and I’ll be happy to send you a copy. Please let me know if you have Kindle so I can send a Kindle version instead of a PDF.

All I ask in return for the free version is that you review the book on Amazon. Your review can consist of a couple of lines — just a few comments.
After Mother’s Day, anyone who sends me a direct message requesting a copy of my book will receive a discount.  The regular price is $17.95 but for you it will be $15, and $5.00 for shipping and handling.  Just let me know that you heard about the book here on Freelance-Zone.
I’ll be back again on Monday, starting my new series on how to write a smashing e-mail.
Fellow writer, Sigrid Mac

Introducing Sigrid Macdonald

Hello there! I’ll be doing a biweekly column on writing tips, and I’m very excited about that. Before I begin, I want to tell you a bit about myself.

Sigrid Macdonald
Sigrid Macdonald

Some of my earliest memories in grammar school are of being in the library and asking the librarian for suggestions about books to read for fun. She gave me a book called The Trouble with Jenny’s Ear, which was about a girl who could hear other people’s thoughts. I was so entranced with this book that I wrote to the author, Oliver Butterworth, and he wrote back! That was the first time I ever seriously considered becoming a writer.

Since then, I’ve published three books and countless articles. I blog on a regular basis, act as a book coach, a manuscript evaluator and an editor. I’ve made mistakes — who hasn’t? — and my editing clients have made mistakes, and from that I’ve learned a great deal. I’d like to share this knowledge with you, in the hope that it will improve your writing.

Starting with all the components that make for a smashing e-mail, I’ll move on to other areas, including how to establish strong characters and background in fiction; how to organize nonfiction; important tips for proofreading; how to ensure consistency and eliminate redundancies; if you can trust your spell-check; and anything else that you’d like to hear about.

Writing is one of life’s greatest pleasures that is neither illegal, immoral nor fattening! So hop on board and join me on the road to polishing and perfecting your writing skills.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, available at Lulu.com.