Meet Kris Emery
Meet Kris, non-fiction editor, author and linguist.
With over 10 years of editing experience, the founder of her own successful editorial company, and now author of Destination Author, who better to talk to about the self-publishing journey from the perspective of both an editor and an author? Kris shares her expertise on author mindset, her opinion on taking the self-publishing route and some must-read advice for first-time authors.
Tell me how you came to the editing and writing world
I didn’t come to editing the typical way – I wasn’t a literature graduate or studying English or working in publishing. I did foreign languages at uni and then a translation and linguistics master’s, but what I took away from that is that I really didn’t want to do translation! Because it’s actually not so much about playing with language; it’s a lot of machine-aided translation and glossary keeping. But the bit I loved was the written discourse analysis and it was really fascinating to hang out in that space for quite a long time because I was looking at the purpose of a text and who it’s for and what devices we use to make it effective. And that is basically the basis of what an editor does, which I didn’t realise at the time but it’s something I now use every single day.
I then became a staff writer for a corporate reporting company and that was a really formative job because it taught me about deadlines and fast turnarounds and how to be commercial about editorial decisions. I then moved over to the editing side of that business and then took a job in New Zealand for a similar corporate company but, ultimately, I got to the point where I wasn’t reading anything interesting and I didn’t want to be so much behind the scenes; I wanted to be the person with the voice. So I became a freelance editor and started off doing all things for all people and then niched down as I found what I liked. I’ve always worked with entrepreneurs but by focusing on books, I learned about self-publishing in particular. I wanted to translate my editing skills into something that really mattered and that was really important to me and felt that I was making a difference in the world, and also writing my own stuff as well, for my website, ghost-writing and now my own book.
What made you decide to write Destination Author?
I get asked a lot of the same questions by my clients and while the information is all out there, I was probably the best person to curate it for the people who are coming to me, because, like a lot of my clients that are not at all in the publishing world, I wasn't from the publishing world, either. I've learned all of this through the last ten years of my editing career and business. And it was also a product of seeing the same kinds of mistakes that writers were making and wanting to address those once rather than hundreds of times, particularly for people who aren’t in the writing world, because if you're an entrepreneur or running a small business, or a memoir writer, you’re maybe thinking of writing just one book, so you're probably not going to join lots of writing groups and even if you do, a lot of them are full of irrelevant information, because the majority of people in them are fiction writers, writing novels, and what is relevant for them might not be relevant for my clients. Destination Author is about writing a very specific kind of book that falls under the umbrella of business books, and so it was really to just be of service to my clients and also to help them raise their game.
Did you ever consider traditionally publishing?
“Self-publishing isn’t the poor cousin to traditional publishing
… It’s a stepping stone to it.”
No, I never thought about traditionally publishing, because one of the major purposes of Destination Author is to be an example of what you can achieve by self-publishing. And I wanted it to be as best practice as possible within my own means, like budgetary constraints and audience size. Also, I literally do not have the kind of platform that is going to appeal to a traditional publisher and I didn't really have the inclination to grow my platform through content marketing before doing it. I wanted to do it this way because I knew what I was about. And I knew what was going to go into the book. I wanted to do the exact strategy that is talked about within Destination Author, which is self-publish first and use that book to grow your platform to then potentially take it, or a different book, to a publisher later down the line by having already proven your concept. That’s what I teach. And I wanted to be an example of doing it really well, to give my clients hope that self-publishing isn't the poor cousin of traditional publishing, because it’s definitely not; it’s a stepping stone to it. And also, some people who are traditionally published come back to self-publishing because they have more control, and I am also a bit of a control freak when it comes to self-expression.
How did you find being on the other side of the author–editor relationship?
Well, I would love to say I identify with the struggles of a writer, but I actually found it really pleasurable and quite easy, because I have a decade of editing experience, and I know many of the places where people trip up. Also, I'm not an island. I’ve got my editing experience but also I know a bunch of editors; I talk to other people in the self-publishing and work within the creative space. And I really enjoyed it, every single minute of it. It was no less nerve wracking to be edited than other people experience, but I probably had the confidence to push back if necessary. I also appreciate that, as an editor, that could be intimidating for my editor, so I wanted to make sure I worked with somebody who could really stand up to that and would push me and wouldn't pander to my experience. I didn't need somebody to rip it apart. But I needed somebody I could trust to be upfront and honest. That’s why think it’s really important to click with your editor and to speak to them first. Also, I think the mindset that helps me the most being on this side of things was to remember that it’s a long-term project, a long game for recouping the costs, not something that I was going to launch once and then be done with it. I see lots of books being put out there and then fizzle out, never mentioned again. I feel like I'm just getting started.
What would you say is the number one mistake you see authors making?
“the book process is a process”
I actually wrote the whole first chapter of Destination Author on the mistakes – there’s quite a lot! So it’s really hard to pick just one but I think the main message that actually ties in quite a lot of the rookie errors is comparing your beginning to somebody else’s end. Because lots of authors romanticise what it’s going to be like, and then when the reality is just sitting there in the chair and typing for hours and hours and hours and hours, with nothing coming back the other way, they’re just like, “This is boring. This is annoying. This is frustrating. I can’t. It's not coming out like I imagined.” Like those Pinterest cake flops, where there's a perfect one. And then there's the ‘nailed it’ version, where it's just a total mess. Entrepreneurs are very used to writing a blog, posting it and getting people raving about it and engaging with it, and then they're on to the next thing. With writing a book, you’re not getting any engagement, so you're on your own for a really long time and it's really easy to lose momentum and never get it out there. I think a lot of people look at books on their bookshelf and compare the end product of their favourite authors, like Glennon Doyle or Brené Brown, with their Google document, forgetting that Glennon and Brené have been where they are: spending their days going, “Oh, this is a bit crap,” or, “Oh, I'm really in flow today.” And then it's gone to several editors and worked on it so much with their team. So I think the biggest mistake is not realising that the book process is a process, and you're just doing this little bit of it right now. It might mean that they never show it to anybody to get edited. Or it might mean that the book becomes something that it wasn't in the first place and they go off the plan, because in their real life they're now interested in something else. And so it can look like lots of different things, but the underlying thing is that they are not really aware of where they are in the very long-term process of creating a book.
What is the first thing someone should do when starting to write a non-fiction book?
So, don't just start writing; that's not the first thing to do. There's a lot that comes before writing. The very first thing to do is to scope out the book and test your idea. So when a book idea is coming together, it's usually quite hazy. And it usually could go in lots of different directions. And especially if they're entrepreneurs, they've probably got a lot of content or a lot of stories that they could include. So there's work to be done and that looks like checking in with why you want to do it in the first place, because that's what's going to get you to the end: checking in with who it's for and why they would care. Because a lot of writers are writing the book they want to write, but as soon as you have an idea that it's a book and it’s going to be published, there's an assumption of an audience, and you have to think about who that audience is. Because otherwise, if you're the only person that matters, that's just journaling. As soon as you have the intention of publishing, it's a conversation; it's not one way. So think of your own motivations, think of the motivations of the people who are going to be reading it, and then do a bit of research around that. And check that your book actually speaks to someone and has a reason for being, a reason for existing.
How we helped Kris
In Kris’s own words, she was looking for an editor who “could handle some pushback”. Honesty and thoroughness were high on Kris’s agenda and having been in the editing industry herself for over a decade, Kris knew what her book needed, and choosing the right editor was key. Before we started working together, we met on Zoom to make sure we were going to be a great fit and we worked collaboratively throughout the editing phase to make sure that Kris was happy and in control of every editorial decision. Kris had her own proofreader and book design team lined up, so once the edit was complete, we provided a ‘clean’ version of her edited manuscript and style guide to help her proofreader carry out their consistency checks.
“Thank you for being the best editor an editor could wish for!”
Check out Destination Author
Destination Author: A Guide to the Adventure of Writing Your First Non-Fiction Book is a pathway and a permission slip to write your book in a way that feels good to you and gets it finished. With insight into the book-writing process and workable options for creative minds, non-fiction book editor Kris Emery gives you the path to self-publishing from end to end. From testing your idea to getting down the words and turning your book into something you can hold in your hands, Destination Author helps you navigate the world of books... so that you can get your book out to the world.
Join Kris’s book club!
Kris’s book club is 6 epic weeks of implementation, connection and trouble-shooting on every aspect of writing a non-fiction book.
You can expect to:
- Set clear goals for your book
- Learn about what you'll need to do to get your book ready to publish
- Connect with a professional editor (that's me) during office hours
- Get your questions answered
- Find writer friends (who could even become beta readers and book launch supporters)
Connect with Kris
Instagram: @krisemeryeditorial
Facebook: @krisemeryeditorial