Minnette's Worlds - Real or Imagined

My good friend from Ireland, Aidan Lucid, asked if I could put a bit of a plug for his new editing business here and I was glad to do it. He very kindly reviewed Centurion for me and got the word out to help me with sales in Ireland. Welcome, Aidan...


Lucid Eyes Editing Blog

Hi guys, my name is Aidan Lucid and I firstly want to say thanks to Minnette for very kindly giving me the space on her blog to talk about me and my proofreading business.

OK, here’s a bit about me. I’m 28, in a relationship (sorry girls! ;)) and hail from Co. Kerry, Ireland. I began writing back in 2002 but have always been an avid reader ever since I was a kid. Since 2004, I’ve had various items such as articles, short stories, poems etc. published in magazines, e-zines and poetry anthologies. In 2005, I decided to take the plunge and write my own young adult fantasy novel and last year, I obtained a publisher for it and hope to have it published late this year or early 2010.

Earlier in 2009, I decided to set up my own proofreading and editing business and called it, “Lucid Eyes Editing”. Here’s the website link: www.lucideyesediting.com. I set it up because I’ve always been told that I have a keen eye for detail and I’m also very meticulous in my approach to my work. One of the main reasons I set up Lucid Eyes Editing was because I wanted to help unpublished authors stand a better chance of being published by assisting them in eliminating the usual mistakes that screams “amateur” at an editor. Another reason why I set up my business was that I wanted to give writers a service that they could afford. From my own experience of hiring proofreaders to proofread my novel, a lot of them charged very unrealistic prices that a struggling writer could not afford. One lady charged me €1,000 (Euro) and as you may well know, in this current economic climate, this is well out of the reach of a lot of writers and this is something that I wanted to change; to give writers a service that they could afford and improve their chances of getting a publisher.

There was, of course, my initial fears of “What if I don’t succeed?”, “What if people don’t like my work?”, “What if they think I did a lousy job?” and so many negative “What ifs” but despite all these self-doubts, a little voice inside me shouted “Go for it!” and so I have. That was back in April of this year. So far, I’ve had nothing but positive feedback and the work keeps rolling in. At the moment, I am proofreading a book for a client and it does have bestseller potential and I hope that the client finds a publisher.

So if you’re looking for a proofreader/editor that won’t charge the socks off you, then why not give Lucid Eyes Editing a try? Here’s my website link again: www.lucideyesediting.com.

Thank you again, Minnette, for very kindly giving me space in your blog and I do appreciate it. And if you haven’t bought one of Minnette’s books by now, shame on you! You’re missing out on some great writing. I read The Centurion and the Queen and it was a fantastic novel! Keep up the good work, Minnette.

- Aidan Lucid