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Excerpt from an interview of author Viraj Mahatme in The Navhind Times, 10-11-23
“I took online storytelling courses before writing the story and sought feedback from others to revise it. I received support from my Bengaluru-based editor Shivani Adib. Our interactions played a crucial role in my growth as a writer. I would like to mention an incident where I had described a bird’s sound incorrectly in one of my stories. Adib advised me to visit the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to get the accurate sound. This experience taught me the importance of having a good editor,” he says.
Testimonial from Pranay Varma ((co-founder, Mountain Hawk Publications)
Shivani is an extremely thorough editor who is thoughtful and thought provoking. She has cogent arguments for her modifications that make it clear that each change is crafted with careful thought and precision. She is a delight to work with.
Testimonial from Ishita Desai (author, Cricket-Crazy Girl!)
What stood out with Shivani Adib when we had our first conversation over email was that she was genuinely interested to know about the story, just the way a reader is excited to sit with a new book on the first day. I had a gut feeling that Shivani was the right person, and I gladly handed over my messy but treasured manuscript to her. To my surprise, her enthusiasm to work on the manuscript only intensified as she went through the rounds of editing.
As it was my first time working with a professional editor, I found it a bit hard to accept when she asked me to remove an entire section, some ten thousand words. It wasn’t easy. She explained all the reasons for it not belonging in the story. I agreed with her and gave her a green signal. And that was the best thing she did with my manuscript!
Her comments were spot on. She meticulously tidied up my draft by pointing out the plot holes, chopping off useless words, and ultimately giving the story a good flow. She assisted me with finding a good cover designer, answered my endless queries about the publishing process, all along helping me find a publisher too. Her two kids, my audience, read the book and gave me their valuable feedback. That came as a bonus!
All through the journey she treated my story as hers. For her it was the book-in-the-making and she was committed to bringing out a good story into the world, contributing her part as an editor and a reader and in whichever possible way she could.
Thank you so much, Shivani, for being an exceptional editor and, above all, a wonderful person to work with!
Testimonial from V. Shyamala (founder, Princess and Paniyaram Publications)
“My God! You are awesome!!”
“I would never ever have noticed these errors.”
“I never knew even a blurb can be edited”
“Thank God! I found you!”
These were some of the messages I sent her when we mailed back and forth while Shivani Adib edited the book I wrote for children “The Elephant who went to the moon”
She is not only completely professional in her approach, she also takes a personal interest in the project that she takes up.
Her feedback on story development and plot points is very insightful.
I am looking forward to collaborating with her on future projects.
Testimonial from Devyani Aggarwal (author, Luna’s Magical Lunchbox)
It was an absolute pleasure and privilege to work with Shivani. As a first-time author, I felt very supported by her at every step. Shivani is, evidently, very gifted at her craft. She is intuitive when it comes to thinking from the perspective of the reader and her inputs encouraged me to make my work more palatable and attractive to my audience. Further, her command over the language is impeccable and she has brilliant ideas on how to enhance the narrative of any story while respecting the original tone and vision of the author. She invests herself fully in the process and takes a holistic approach to the writing and presentation of an idea, from start to finish. Thank you SO much, Shivani! I could not have done this without you and wish you the very best in your future projects! You are truly a fine and talented editor.
Testimonial from Faith Del Rey (author, Meeting Bella)
I have had the pleasure of working with Shivani Adib, and I have been nothing but satisfied and appreciative of her experience as an editor. She’s thorough, offers guidance and has taught me a lot, as a first-time writer, about the writing process.
Testimonial from Rani Ramakrishnan (author, The Murder Suspect, Treacherous Bloodline, Operation Turquoise)
Dear Shivani Adib thank you for editing The Murder Suspect and for being on my team for this project. This may be our first collaboration but I am already looking forward to our working together again in the future.
Over the past month or two, my perspective of the editing process has undergone a sea change. The thing is, we don’t know what we are missing until we experience new things. And working with you was that transformative experience for me.
You cleaned up the grammar issues in my manuscript with professional dedication, as any editor should. The big difference was, you did two rounds of editing and one proofreading round; meaning, you went through my book with a fine comb three times!
And that’s not all.
Until I worked with you, Shivani, I didn’t know that editorial inputs could go beyond grammar and copy editing. You added pertinent developmental questions along with the first round, making me sweat over some parts of my story. I mean, some of your questions were so insightful, they made me see things in a different light. Thanks to you, I know that I have brought out the best possible version of the book.
What I liked most was that you don’t stop yourself from asking uncomfortable questions. It is so much better for these questions to pop up before publishing than for a reader to ask them on a public forum. You covered these touchy gaps in my story without once implying that they were shortcomings.
And that’s not all!
I was already in seventh heaven with the editing when I received the edited blurb! Your corrections just blew me away. Now, when I read the blurbs of my other books, I can only see the mistakes I have made in them. I am that spoilt, thanks to you.
The truth is, you have raised the bar of expectations from the editing process, for me, for life.
From your eager readiness to address my doubts about the editing issues to your genuine interest in the non-editing parts of the book’s publication (your inputs on the cover were invaluable too), it felt as though I had found someone who cared as much about my book as I did.
Having you on my team has made the biggest difference to this entire project. Thanks a million for that.
I wish you the best for your other assignments and look forward to working with you on my next book, soon.
Testimonial from Rose Anjali Krishna (author, A Garland of Full Moons: The Divine Child in World Spiritual Traditions – Selected Poems)
Gratidão
The transformational process, from the early drafts to the final manuscript in its full content development and editing from line level involvement, demanded a Herculean task, toilsome hard work, remarkable zeal, and thoughtful in-depth feedback. Such skills and expertise, with flexibility, discipline, persistence, insights, and dedication, were vital to giving to the poetic voices an opportunity to express their feelings and perceptions, to be listened to and understood. Above all, to encouraging wholeheartedly this project from the very beginning, and giving to it a cradle in which to be born. Thank you forever, Shivani Adib, for your impeccable professional editorial assessment, and literary consultancy.
Shivani Adib 