Subtitle: 21 Steps to the Clear Prose  Publishers and Agents Crave

Most writers toil their whole lives without ever getting published. The reason? Foggy writing — writing that’s full of unnecessary, misused, and overused words. Foggy writing drives editors crazy, and makes publishers and agents reject manuscripts at first glance. Veteran editor Don McNair lays out an easy-to-follow, systematic method for clearing up foggy writing and producing sparkling copy that attracts readers, agents, editors, and sales in his new book Editor-Proof Your Writing: 21 Steps to the Clear Prose Publishers and Agents Crave.

In his more than 40 years as a professional editor and writing instructor, McNair found that most writers make the same mistakes over and over again, and nearly all of these mistakes can be corrected simply by removing specific words. In Editor-Proof Your Writing, McNair presents his classroom-proven, systematic method for rooting out foggy words and phrases, producing clear, vigorous and powerful prose.

In just 21 steps, Editor-Proof Your Writing teaches how to edit weak verb forms, strip away author intrusions, ban redundancies, eliminate meaningless phrases, correct passive-voice sentences, slash misused and overused words, and fix other writing mistakes.

Editor-Proof Your Writing doesn’t present theory; it shows how to apply knowledge. McNair asks readers to use the first chapter of their manuscripts as a practice text. Each chapter introduces a step to defog writing and then asks the reader to try it out on his or her own work.

A superb addition to any writer’s toolkit, Editor-Proof Your Writing won’t just make you a clearer and more grammatical writer; it will make you a better writer — more expressive, more entertaining and more likely to sell your work.