S & L Editing, Two Editors for the Price of One

You may have seen the terms “content editor,” “copyeditor,” and “line editor” out there when looking for someone to polish your manuscript. In today’s day and age, your editor must be capable of doing all three: pointing out plot holes, inconsistent character voices, and continuity errors, and suggesting fixes; smoothing out language, ensuring subject and verb agreement, verb tense consistency, and recommending opportunities to clarify and restructure; and proofreading duties, including fixing typos, grammar, and punctuation, researching historical data (i.e., ensuring the museum Character A visits in Boston really is in Boston, and is spelled correctly), and fixing formatting and typography errors. Paying a content specialist to do one job, then paying a proofreader to do a second, can get costly and confusing. S & L Editing offers the solution to this problem.

Stacey Longo and Rob Smales work as a team, thoroughly vetting your manuscript, providing content, copy, and formatting suggestions. They offer two services: full editing, for writers who need a more comprehensive review their manuscript, and proofreading only, for those who are comfortable with the content of their work, and just need help with grammar, typography, formatting, and spelling. (Rates for these services can be found at http://balzertown.com/slediting/rates/.)

“We’re offering two experienced professionals for the price of one,” Longo said.

They do provide free, no-obligation quotes on any project. S & L Editing’s services are available for any writing project.

“We’ve revised novels, term papers, resumes, PowerPoint presentations, short stories, advertising campaigns . . . you name it, we’ve done it,” Longo said.

They’ve worked with and for publishers large and small, Fortune 500 companies, individual authors, and students. Their past client list includes Pearson Education, MetLife, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Wargoat Press, and many self-published authors, and they serve as the exclusive editors for Books & Boos Press and The Storyside Press.

“Given the diversity of our clients, we’re well-versed in several different style guides, including The Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, APA, and MLA formatting. We can also advise you on which style guide is best suited for your project,” Longo said.

What to Expect

Once you’ve reached out to S & L Editing, they’ll provide you with a quote for the full project and an estimate of when it will be completed. (“We have a 100% success rate on meeting that target date,” Longo adds.) Either Longo or Smales will take the lead on the project, running through the first edits, with the other following up behind them, reviewing the revised copy and providing a second set of eyes.

“If questions arise as we’re going over the material, we’ll e-mail you,” Smales said. “And if you have questions about our progress, we’re happy to keep you updated.”

When the job is complete, the client receives two files: one showing the tracked changes of every single suggestion and comment made, and one with the proofreading changes accepted to provide a clean manuscript, but with the comments on content still intact.

“We’re also available for follow-up questions after you’ve reviewed the material,” Smales said.

Whether you have a novel, college admissions essay, work presentation, or poetry collection, S & L Editing will polish your manuscript and help you submit the best work possible. Don’t put off this vital step any longer: contact S & L Editing at www.slediting.com today for more information!

Pictures from Northeast Comic Con December 2016

By Jason Harris

 

Northeast Comic Con took place at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington, MA this past weekend.

 

Dean Cain (The Adventures of Clark and Lois, Supergirl).

Authors Stacey Longo and Rob Smales at the Books & Boos Press table.

Lew Temple (The Walking Dead).

Candy Clark (American Graffiti).

Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy).

Billy West (Ren & Stimpy).

Gerald Casale and Josh 2 of Devo.

The next two pictures of Scooby-Doo and Shaggy are great. The kid is so cute.

Book Sale Ends in Two Days

By Jason Harris

 

Books & Boos Press, a small press located in Connecticut, has a sale on some of their titles including Secret Things by Stacey Longo and Echoes of Darkness by Rob Smales. This sale ends this Friday, Dec. 2. You can find out what titles here.

You can check out the presses sale video on YouTube here.

Pictures from the 2016 New England Author’s Expo

By Jason Harris

 

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Author Tabitha Lord.

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Author Katherine Silva.

Editor Tanya Gold.

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Books & Boos Press/Rob Smales table.

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Author E.J. Stevens.

Author Jackie Leduc.

Author Ian Hiatt.

Joe Ross of Rosstrum Publishing.

Actor/Author Mark Goddard (Lost in Space).

Author Guntis Goncarovs.

Author B.B. Boudreau.

Christopher Obert of Pear Tree Publishing.

Author Christopher Paniccia.

Author M.R. Tighe.

Listening to Author Rob Smales

By Jason Harris

Today, I’m taking a break from my next post of pictures from ConnectiCon, which I have at least one or two posts left to bring you.

Last night I went to Pandemonium Books & Games in Cambridge, MA. to listen to author Rob Smales.

Smales read his story, “Those Little Bastards,” from his short story collection, Echoes of Darkness published by Books & Boos Press.

I would recommend if you ever have the chance to go to a book reading and signing by Smales then do it.He is an excellent reader. He really got into his reading and brought his story to life. It even had an unexpected ending, which you will have to find out for yourself. 


The perfect time to read “Those Little Bastards” and the other stories in Echoes of Darkness is now. There is a sale going on until July 18. The e-book is $1.99 and the paperback is $9.99. Click here for these great sale prices.

You can meet Rob Smales at the New England Author’s Expo on Wednesday, July 27, in Danvers, MA. He will be at the Books & Boos Press table.

New Release: ‘Echoes of Darkness’ is Here

 

Today, Books & Boos Press is proud to release Echoes of Darkness, a short story collection by Rob Smales.

Echoes of Darkness features thirteen tales that span Smales’s writing career thus far, including the first short story he ever sold for publication (“Playmate Wanted,” originally appearing in Dark Moon Digest #5 in 2011) as well as new pieces he wrote specifically for the collection.2016-01-10 16.12.33

Smales is a native of Salem, MA, a town best known for its dark history and witchcraft trials. He is the author of a previous collection, Dead of Winter (no longer available in print) and has had over two dozen short stories published in various anthologies and magazines. His works have earned him industry recognition since he began his writing career in 2010: he is a Pushcart Prize nominee for “Photo Finish,” a story that also won the 2012 Preditors & Editors’ Readers’ Choice Award for Best Horror Short Story. His story “A Night at the Show” received an honorable mention on Ellen Datlow’s list of Best Horror of 2014, and was also nominated as best short story by the eFestival of Words. Both of these stories are featured in the new collection.

Echoes of Darkness is already earning advance praise. “Rob Smales’s prose is seamless and effective, engaging the reader and enticing them in,” stated Bram Stoker Award nominee and author Hal Bodner.

Click here to check out the trailer for Echoes of Darkness.

You can meet Smales at the Books & Boos Press table at Queen City Kamikaze on March 12 and at the Author’s Night by the Sea event on March 18.

Echoes of Darkness is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and through book distributors Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Click here to purchase Echoes of Darkness.

Black Friday Deals from Books & Boos Press

2015-11-25 20.15.15We at Books & Boos Press wants to give our readers a chance to fill their Kindles and other e-readers with spiders. We are giving away e-book copies of Where Spiders Fear to Spin by Peter N. Dudar from Nov. 27 through 30! Don’t miss this chance to read this novella by Dudar, who is a Bram Stoker Award Finalist.

Where Spiders Fear to Spin tells the tale of former soap opera star Sadie Mills, a woman literally haunted by her past whose final days are filled with horror. Her daughter resents taking care of her, her former lovers are dying off one by one, and her dead husband’s vengeful ghost has returned from the dead to drag her to hell.

To get your free copy, click here.

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Along with giving away Spiders, we have lowered the price on Insanity. You can now get $2 off the e-book or print copy of Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear until Nov. 30.

The collection features eleven stories from six of New England’s finest storytellers. David Daniel, Stacey Longo, Dale T. Phillips, Rob Smales, and Ursula Wong each have two short stories in the book; Vlad V. contributed a novella. Multiple Bram Stoker winner Joe McKinney (Crooked HousePlague of the Undead) wrote the foreword.

The book is a themed anthology: each author based their stories on different senses, going beyond the traditional (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste) to elements such as a sense of doom, of powerlessness to control the future, and a sense of false hope.

If you want some Insanity, click here.

Pictures from Rock and Shock 2015: Part II

By Jason Harris

 

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Actor John Amplas (Creepshow).

Actor John Amplas (Creepshow).

Actor Sherman Howard (Day of the Dead).

Actor Sherman Howard (Day of the Dead).

Lydia Deetz and Betelgeuse.

Lydia Deetz and Betelgeuse.

Actress Erika Ervin (American Horror Story).

Actress Erika Ervin (American Horror Story).

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Authors Adam Cesare (right) and Matt Serafini (left).

Authors Adam Cesare (right) and Matt Serafini (left).

Actress Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp).

Actress Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp).

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Actor Bill Moseley (The Devil's Rejects).

Actor Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects).

Actor Bill Johnson (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2).

Actor Bill Johnson (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2).

Lou C. Fher a.k.a. the Devil.

Lou C. Fher a.k.a. the Devil.

Actor William Sanderson (True Blood).

Actor William Sanderson (True Blood).

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Actress Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story).

Actress Naomi Grossman (American Horror Story).

Authors on the Writer's Studio panel (from left to right): Joe Knetter, Stacey Longo, K.H. Vaugn and Jack Ketchum.

Authors on the Writer’s Studio panel (from left to right): Joe Knetter, Stacey Longo, K.H. Vaugn and Jack Ketchum.

Actor Tobin Bell (Saw).

Actor Tobin Bell (Saw).

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

Jim Dyer of Fenham Publishing.

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Actree/model Sarah Michelle (left) and a convention-goer.

Actress/model Sarah Michelle (left) and a convention-goer.

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Author Rob Smales holding the new anthology Insanity Tales II from Books & Boos' Press, which contains two of his stories.

Author Rob Smales holding the new anthology, Insanity Tales II from Books & Boos’ Press.

Smales has two stories in Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear.

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‘Insanity Tales II’ Cover Revealed by Books and Boos Press

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Books & Boos Press has debuted the cover for Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear. The cover plays off of the eye theme from the original Insanity Tales anthology cover. Both covers were created by artist Melinda Phillips.

Insanity Tales II: The Sense of Fear will debut in early October. According to Stacey Harris, co-owner of Books & Boos Press, she hopes to have copies of the new anthology to join the first one at their table at Rock & Shock. Two of the authors, Stacey Longo and Rob Smales, will be on hand during the convention to sign copies.

The collection features eleven stories from six of New England’s finest storytellers. David Daniel, Stacey Longo, Dale T. Phillips, Rob Smales, and Ursula Wong each have two short stories in the book; Vlad V. contributed a novella. Multiple Bram Stoker winner Joe McKinney (Crooked HousePlague of the Undead) wrote the foreword.

The book is a themed anthology: each author based their stories on different senses, going beyond the traditional (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste) to elements such as a sense of doom, of powerlessness to control the future, and a sense of false hope.

The anthology is the second installment from Books & Boos Press. Insanity Tales debuted in October 2014.

Discover Books and Boos Press

By Jason Harris

 

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Books & Boos Press first came on the publishing scene in 2013 with the publication of Secret Things: Twelve Tales to Terrify by Stacey Longo. This collection of wickedly entertaining stories will compel you to lock the doors, keep the lights on, and ponder what it might be like to embrace the darker side of human nature. Everybody has secrets. Sometimes they can kill you. These twelve stories will have you wanting more from this author. In 2014, two of Longo’s stories were included in the anthology, Insanity Tales. This anthology also includes works by Dale T. Philips, Vlad V., and Ursula Wong.

In 2015, this Connecticut based press published My Mom has MS by Longo in February and Where Spiders Fear to Spin by Peter N. Dudar in May. Dudar is a  Bram Stoker Award® Finalist. Acclaimed artist Morbideus Wolfgang Goodell illustrated the book.

These books will be available at the Books & Boos table at Connecticut Horrorfest this Saturday in Danbury, CT. Longo will also be on-hand to sign her books.

Books & Boos Press announced in June that they will be publishing works by Dan Foley and Rob Smales. This is a press to keep your eye on in the future.