{"id":17021,"date":"2017-06-05T01:00:39","date_gmt":"2017-06-05T08:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/?p=17021"},"modified":"2017-06-05T15:11:41","modified_gmt":"2017-06-05T22:11:41","slug":"manuscript-sale-catharine-bramkamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writersfunzone.com\/blog\/2017\/06\/05\/manuscript-sale-catharine-bramkamp\/","title":{"rendered":"Manuscript for Sale by Catharine Bramkamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Manuscript<\/a>Let\u2019s welcome back monthly columnist\u00a0Catharine Bramkamp<\/a> as she shares with us \u201cManuscript for Sale.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing a manuscript for sale is like improving a house for sale:<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s annoying.
\nIt\u2019s exhausting.
\nAnd it involves many more people than you think it should.<\/p>\n

I could sell my house myself. I have just enough background (see Real Estate Diva Mysteries<\/em><\/a>) to be really dangerous. I also know just enough to realize I don\u2019t know enough.<\/p>\n

I am unfamiliar with current trends, rules and disclosures (every time a disclosure form is signed, a lawyer gets his wings). To that end, I hired a Realtor who not only must spend precious minutes a day reassuring me and my husband, but also must manage a whole team devoted to the sale and closing of a house: the broker on record, the agents in the office, the escrow officer, the assistant, the photographer, the drone operator, the mortgage broker (for the buyers).<\/p>\n

Home quirks and bugs (that have been upgraded to features) I never bothered cleaning or painting now take on enormous significance and become top of the panic\/must do this weekend list. I\u2019ve lived in this house for quite a number of years and it has been lovely and comfortable, and I haven\u2019t worried about cleaning behind the refrigerator for, well since it was installed seven years ago.<\/p>\n

That has all changed.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As I scrub the inside track of the living room windows, I briefly wonder if I can\u2019t just do what I always do: lower the blinds. But I fear that the casual open house viewer will peer into the dirty window tracks and conclude that the whole house was poorly kept. All 2,600 square feet of home is at risk for rejection based on seven inches of grime.<\/p>\n

I spent a whole afternoon cleaning the damn window tracks, an effort that demonstrated I was not up to tackling all the window tracks. The baseboards were beginning to look suspicious as well.<\/p>\n

I had to call for and pay experts.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

And as you probably know, once you start cleaning or repairing a house, one thing leads to another:<\/p>\n