Book editor Kristen Hamilton is the owner and sole employee of Kristen Corrects, Inc., where she provides manuscript editing services for traditionally and self-publishing authors. Several authors whose books she has edited have won awards and have topped Amazon’s best sellers lists. Reading is Kristen’s passion, so when the workday is over, she can usually be found curled up with a good book alongside her four cats. She loves watching cat videos and scary movies, eating pizza, teaching herself French, and traveling, and she is likely planning her next vacation. She lives outside of Boise, ID.
One of the best ways to get the word out about your book is to do a book signing event or attend a book festival. Here in Boise, for example, in the past I attended the Boise Book Fest—where admittedly, I stand out like a sore… Read More »6 Critical Things Authors Should Bring to a Book Signing
Every time I go through an author’s manuscript, I find words or phrases that don’t always lend themselves to making the author sound eloquent. To put it a different way: Too much wordiness in a sentence can make an author sound amateurish. As a book editor, one of… Read More »#1 Tip for Avoiding Wordiness in Your Novel
Many times, I’ve checked back with a client on the progress of their manuscript only to find that they haven’t made much progress at all. “What happened?” I ask them, expecting something major—like a house fire, a financial catastrophe, or a death in the family.… Read More »How to Overcome Writer’s Block
One mark of a talented author is rhythmic writing, but this can be a difficult writing strength to master. Rhythm in writing is defined as the way the words and sounds come together, usually to create a beat. Long sentences might sound smoother but more… Read More »How to Vary Your Sentences to Create Rhythmic Writing
As a book editor, I’ve seen fiction novels take place in a variety of settings and even a variety of times, from Tanya S.M. Kennedy’s The Terarch Rebellion (which takes place in a medieval fantasy type setting) to David Charles Shaw’s Brain in a Jar (a futuristic sci-fi novel). If… Read More »The Rules for Referencing Specific Dates in Your Book
What is a writer’s voice? As an author, is it important that you have a unique “voice”? And can every writer have a distinctive writing voice? These are some of the questions my clients ask me. An author’s voice is the unique style, tone, and personality that… Read More »3 Steps to Develop Your Writing Voice
If you’re an author, you should know that your purpose is to create books that are as concise as possible. (After all, that’s my number-one goal as your book editor: To help you create incredible, well-written books!) What does that mean? That means cutting out whatever… Read More »Don’t State the Obvious
I frequently work with first-time authors, most of whom choose to self-publish their book on Amazon Kindle. Still, a good chunk of my clients opt for traditional publishing—which means they’ll first send out query letters to agents, and once they find an agent who will… Read More »A Warning to New Authors with a BIG Manuscript
What are YOU doing to get the word out for your book? If you’re a self-publishing author—and especially if you’re serious about your writing career, and want to publish more books, build up a following, and make money on book sales—marketing should be a serious… Read More »Ideas to Boost Your Book Sales
There is a common misconception in the writing community that immediately after you write your manuscript, you should send it off to a book editor. While a book editor will help improve your book before publication, the best books (and I’ve found, those by the… Read More »3 Crucial Tips for Self-Editing Your Book