--- product_id: 8247298 title: "Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on \"Show, Don't Tell\"" price: "295 kr" currency: NOK in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.no/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit store_origin: NO region: Norway --- # Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" **Price:** 295 kr **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" - **How much does it cost?** 295 kr with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.no](https://www.desertcart.no/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Hundreds of books have been written on the art of writing. Here at last is a book by two professional editors to teach writers the essential editing techniques of the trade that turn promising manuscripts into published novels and short stories. In this completely revised and updated second edition, Renni Browne and Dave King teach you, the writer, how to apply the professional book editing techniques they have developed to your own work. Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples, many drawn from the hundreds of books Browne and King have edited. This essential guide for writers teaches you how to: Show, Don't Tell: Master the crucial difference between narrative summary and immediate scenes to draw readers into the world you’ve created. Sharpen Your Dialogue: Move beyond mechanics to eliminate formality, find each character’s unique voice, and make every conversation advance your story. Strengthen Point of View: Learn to control narrative distance and maintain a consistent viewpoint to build a powerful, intimate connection with your reader. Refine Character and Pacing: Unobtrusively weave in characterization and exposition, and use proportion to control your story’s rhythm and flow. Develop a Professional Voice: Identify and eliminate amateurish habits, from clichés to weak verbs, to give your writing a sophisticated, polished edge. Review: A must have in any indie author's library! - One of the biggest surprises I encountered as a new author was the reality that writing the first draft of a book is the easy part! Sadly, I've learned that my free-flow, stream-of-consciousness way of story telling doesn't end up on the page as anything even close to what most people would expect from a best-selling novel. Of course I knew that I was going to need to edit, but I thought that editing was basically a spelling/grammar check followed by a quick read-through looking for any wrong words/typos that might slip through the software. WRONG! This was the first book I bought after coming to that realization, and it is still my go-to for quick-hit tips (and now reminders) on good editing practices. The authors do a great job of leading a novice writer through important editing concepts like "show don't tell", writing good dialogue and the proper use of "beats" to keep readers engaged. Each of the twelve chapters focuses on an attribute of good writing, and the core concepts are explained clearly and supported with multiple helpful examples. There are lots of nuggets of sage advice sprinkled throughout the book, but I found my favorite in chapter one: R.U.E or "resist the urge to explain". As a one-time corporate learning professional, I appreciate the author's use of checklists and practice exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce what you learned. The checklists are handy quick-references that I refer back to frequently, and the exercises incorporate relevant examples that make it easy for you to apply what you just read. This book won't turn you into a professional editor over night, but it will help you improve the quality of your writing and give you a solid understanding of what professional editors look for. I used what I learned from this book to self-edit my first novel, and I was thrilled when the editor I hired told me that she thought I was a professional author with multiple books under my belt (I have one). Most of us are limited in how much we can spend on our writing habit each month but, trust me, your investment in “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” will be money well-spent! Review: Essential book for fiction writers - The two authors of this book formerly worked as editors for the publishing house Stein and Day, headed by the master writer and editor Sol Stein. Stein and Day published some of the greatest literature of the 20th century. In addition to his being an editor and publisher, Sol Stein is also an award-winning playwright and bestselling fiction author. On top of that, Stein wrote what are probably the two best instructional books of the craft of writing _Stein on Writing_, and _How to Grow a Novel_. I tell you all that just so you'll know the environment that helped shape the two authors of this book. They truly know their craft, and have proven it repeatedly. Stein himself has said that every fiction writer should read this book at least once a year. As for me, if Stein's two books are the most important books a writer can study, then _Self-Editing for Fiction Writers_ is tied for third with _The Elements of Style_. Just like Stein's books, the strength of this book is in its ground-level focus on the craft of editing, giving concrete and easily-digested examples and explaining things in a way you don't need a degree in English to understand. And it avoids any lofty or highbrow theory that is of little use to the average writer. No kidding--you sit down and read this book today (it's a quick read) and your writing will be better tomorrow. This book is especially valuable for those who are pursuing publication, as (so it's said) the publishing houses don't edit like they used to. So the closer your book is to a finished product when it hits the desk of the person who will either buy it or reject it, the more likely they will do the former than the latter. How important is editing? One need look no farther than the original published (and heavily edited) version of Stephen King's _The Stand_. That version was a fantastic book that was reviewed well and sold (as everyone knows) in the millions and still sells to this day. Contrast that with the version published later, the "expanded edition" that was King's original manuscript before an editor laid his axe to it. Bloated, confusing, tedious, and (for this reader) practically unreadable. All that fat the editor cut turned a bad book into a great one. A good example of the fact that the editing is every bit as important as the writing. If you're a writer, and hope to get published, there are very few books that will be as valuable to you as this one. And yes, Mr. Stein, I still read it at least once a year, if not more. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #18,261 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in Editing Writing Reference (Books) #6 in Education Research (Books) #8 in Authorship Reference | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 1,809 Reviews | ## Images ![Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print ― A Professional Writing Guide on "Show, Don't Tell" - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61qCAthLA5L.jpg) ## Available Options This product comes in different **Media Language, Media Format** options. ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A must have in any indie author's library! *by D***R on March 27, 2019* One of the biggest surprises I encountered as a new author was the reality that writing the first draft of a book is the easy part! Sadly, I've learned that my free-flow, stream-of-consciousness way of story telling doesn't end up on the page as anything even close to what most people would expect from a best-selling novel. Of course I knew that I was going to need to edit, but I thought that editing was basically a spelling/grammar check followed by a quick read-through looking for any wrong words/typos that might slip through the software. WRONG! This was the first book I bought after coming to that realization, and it is still my go-to for quick-hit tips (and now reminders) on good editing practices. The authors do a great job of leading a novice writer through important editing concepts like "show don't tell", writing good dialogue and the proper use of "beats" to keep readers engaged. Each of the twelve chapters focuses on an attribute of good writing, and the core concepts are explained clearly and supported with multiple helpful examples. There are lots of nuggets of sage advice sprinkled throughout the book, but I found my favorite in chapter one: R.U.E or "resist the urge to explain". As a one-time corporate learning professional, I appreciate the author's use of checklists and practice exercises at the end of each chapter to reinforce what you learned. The checklists are handy quick-references that I refer back to frequently, and the exercises incorporate relevant examples that make it easy for you to apply what you just read. This book won't turn you into a professional editor over night, but it will help you improve the quality of your writing and give you a solid understanding of what professional editors look for. I used what I learned from this book to self-edit my first novel, and I was thrilled when the editor I hired told me that she thought I was a professional author with multiple books under my belt (I have one). Most of us are limited in how much we can spend on our writing habit each month but, trust me, your investment in “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” will be money well-spent! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Essential book for fiction writers *by J***X on May 29, 2014* The two authors of this book formerly worked as editors for the publishing house Stein and Day, headed by the master writer and editor Sol Stein. Stein and Day published some of the greatest literature of the 20th century. In addition to his being an editor and publisher, Sol Stein is also an award-winning playwright and bestselling fiction author. On top of that, Stein wrote what are probably the two best instructional books of the craft of writing _Stein on Writing_, and _How to Grow a Novel_. I tell you all that just so you'll know the environment that helped shape the two authors of this book. They truly know their craft, and have proven it repeatedly. Stein himself has said that every fiction writer should read this book at least once a year. As for me, if Stein's two books are the most important books a writer can study, then _Self-Editing for Fiction Writers_ is tied for third with _The Elements of Style_. Just like Stein's books, the strength of this book is in its ground-level focus on the craft of editing, giving concrete and easily-digested examples and explaining things in a way you don't need a degree in English to understand. And it avoids any lofty or highbrow theory that is of little use to the average writer. No kidding--you sit down and read this book today (it's a quick read) and your writing will be better tomorrow. This book is especially valuable for those who are pursuing publication, as (so it's said) the publishing houses don't edit like they used to. So the closer your book is to a finished product when it hits the desk of the person who will either buy it or reject it, the more likely they will do the former than the latter. How important is editing? One need look no farther than the original published (and heavily edited) version of Stephen King's _The Stand_. That version was a fantastic book that was reviewed well and sold (as everyone knows) in the millions and still sells to this day. Contrast that with the version published later, the "expanded edition" that was King's original manuscript before an editor laid his axe to it. Bloated, confusing, tedious, and (for this reader) practically unreadable. All that fat the editor cut turned a bad book into a great one. A good example of the fact that the editing is every bit as important as the writing. If you're a writer, and hope to get published, there are very few books that will be as valuable to you as this one. And yes, Mr. Stein, I still read it at least once a year, if not more. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Mom Kat Reads *by K***A on August 17, 2025* This textbook is one that was strongly recommended for a class that I am currently taking. It covers a fair amount that can be problematic, especially for writers who have not previously been published. It covers such topics such as show versus tell, characterization, exposition, point of view, voice, and more. There is a lot of useful and helpful information in this book, along with examples of what the authors are talking about. There are also exercises in each chapter for the reader to put into practice what each lesson was about. The “answers” to the exercises are at the end of the book rather than at the end of the chapter with each exercise. I personally would have preferred them to be on the pages immediately after the exercises themselves, but being able to look at a potential solution to each one is in itself helpful, no matter where in the book it winds up. I would recommend that anyone reading this book attempt to complete them as it lets you put into practice what you are trying to learn. They are useful and the explanations on their answers are also helpful in teaching the why behind the choice to change the passage in certain ways. At times, this felt very much like I was reading a textbook, which is what it is, however that aspect does at times make it a little less interesting (causing it to feel a bit "dry") to me than the previous book assigned in this class. But overall, I believe this is a helpful and useful book for anyone seeking to not only improve their writing, but who is seeking to improve their self-editing skills in order to strengthen the impact of their stories. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.no/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit](https://www.desertcart.no/products/8247298-self-editing-for-fiction-writers-second-edition-how-to-edit) --- *Product available on Desertcart Norway* *Store origin: NO* *Last updated: 2026-09-18*