If all goes as planned, Lights Out: A Cuban Memoir of Betrayal and Survival will be available on Amazon next week. My plate is full as I work on promotion and marketing.
Writing this memoir has been a labor of love. I would like to share partial editorial letter I received as part of
line editing process.
EDITORIAL
LETTER (LINE EDITING)
Lights Out, by Dania Rosa Nasca
Main
Objective
The preface sets the tone well, providing the
context for your memoir and an overview of pre-Castro Cuba and Castro’s ascension
to power.
I
thought the history and personal stories were well balanced, with the
historical elements providing context for the personal stories.
Because this was so well written, my focus was
on punctuation, formatting, and some grammar issues.
Structure
Your
comment in your questionnaire about the chronological structure sounded like
you think it might not have been the best way to go, but I think it works well
with the story you are telling. You let the reader see what Cuba was like
before the revolution, how support for the revolution and Castro continued to
build to a fever pitch, then the devastation of communist rule. Interwoven in
this history lesson is a glimpse into the experiences of you, your family, and
your friends during this time. I thought you skillfully used foreshadowing when
telling a story of happier times to let the reader know that so much was going
to change in such a short time.
The
manuscript is divided into chapters and smaller subsections indicated by
subheads. There are many transitions within the subsections, moving from
history lesson to personal experiences and back, but I didn’t feel lost in the
transitions. There were some instances where I thought transitions were abrupt,
but I left them as is because, in this case, it jolts the reader from everyday
family events to the harsh reality of the political climate.
I
hope these edits and comments are valuable in helping the manuscript achieve your
publishing goals. Good luck in your revision, and I wish you all the best for
this manuscript and future books.
—Kate,
CreateSpace Editor
