Sid's newsletter

from When Once Destroyed

Hello again,

Thank you for signing up for my newsletter. I am very grateful to the people who made a donation. Working with a hybrid publisher like Wise Ink Media means that Judy and I are bearing up-front expenses for this project. I’ll explain how that works and how we came to Wise Ink sometime later.

Today I really want you to know about the progress we’ve made this month. On my birthday, July 29, I received the developmental edit assessment of When Once Destroyed from my editor, Imani Josey. A Chicago native, Josey is the author of two young adult novels. She graduated from Howard University and earned her Communication Masters at Northwestern.

“You are a storyteller,” she said, and, “Your beautiful word choices had this element of simplicity that was quite compelling.” That was nice to hear. Imani also made positive mention of my journalistic efforts. I have worried that the 300 source citations in the text would be distracting for the reader but when I look it over now they slide by.

The story is a weave: Each of the 56 chapters falls under one of three headings, Somerset, Vern, and The Flood. Imani’s suggestions about order and organization were very helpful.

Since July 29, I’ve gone over the entire manuscript twice, with eyes on Imani’s broad and specific concerns, making adjustments and improvements to items that she noted directly and interjecting my own changes based on her broad observations. Especially on my second read-through, I recognized some places where I needed to give the reader a chance to digest, a quick aside after a serious moment, say. Addressing my grandson directly certainly opens the door for those opportunities.

I can say, “That’s a bunch of shit, huh, Vern?”

Friday, I returned the manuscript with my adjustments. A Wise Ink response will follow soon, and then it’s two more edits, a proofread, book design, and plans for the release. We’re also working on what to say about me on the back cover and in other places. It’s like we’re talking about somebody else.

I posted a new excerpt from the book on my blog at sidshroyer.com/blog. It’s about a time when a leader did the right thing for marginalized people because it was the right thing to do. I hope we can have a time like that again, soon.