When An Editor...Isn't

I have worked quite diligently over the last three years, improving my skills as an editor and expanding my client base. Currently, I am working as a line editor for four separate publishers, and two of those have multiple imprints. I've been lucky enough to work with one of the top publishers in my chosen genre, and I've learned from them how the editing process *should* work...in a perfect world. To my dismay, it does not always work this way.

As I said, I work for four publishers. One demands perfection. Every book goes through 3 full edits, and a proof. Two are mid-level presses, and I am happy to work for them, I enjoy the editing process, and their authors and editors and quite good. Books with these presses get a full edit, and a proof.

The fourth press is...a conundrum. I applied with this press because they publish three authors and series' that I just love. I buy these books, and I am distressed every time I read one, because the mistakes are staggering. A character will say "Awe" while gazing at a child, or the hero has "taught" abs (really? What in the world has he trained them to do??!) -- mistakes so egregious that I can't keep my mind in the story.

What I've learned by becoming an editor for this press is that these standards are set at the top. The press that demands quality control  - no editor turns in any edit without every change having a source citation (change a spelling - you give a link to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary). With the weaker press, they just make up the rules as they go along, and call it "house style."

When their line editors ask question, answers are given...and no one ever cites a source. No Chicago Manual of Style, no Bartleby Strunk and White, just... I think this is how it is, so do it this way.

I suppose they wonder why they don't sell as many books as the larger press, and why authors aren't clamoring to get a place with them...as they are with the others. They certainly have several extremely popular series, and I know for a fact that editors at the other presses BUY these books and read them...and they are saddened by the poor editing.

So. Incredibly. Frustrating.

Today has afforded me an opportunity to actually *think* about the editing process. I was asked, in my everyday job, to defend some choices that I'd made in primary source documents, and so I had to think about how and why I narrowed down an infinite field of reading material to just those 200 articles. As the hours passed, I began to think about the editing process, as it applies in my business...

Every author has a story to tell. My job as an editor is to help them tell that story so that it appeals to the broadest audience possible -- after all, the ultimate goal is to SELL the book. Sometimes that makes me a mechanic, tinkering with the nuts and bolts, the grammatical errors, the punctuation, the word choices. At other times it makes me a gentle adviser, forced to suggest changes to a character or a storyline.

There are a few steps that almost every good editor takes, every time they take on a new project:

1. Set a goal, with the due date as an end, and divide the assignment into roughly even portions. You don't want to be up all night trying to edit a manuscript at the last moment - it won't get your best effort.
2. Have a separate word document open to take notes. Use this to keep track of character notes, locations, plot holes, overused words, etc.
3. You might consider using a checklist of common issues: commonly misspelled or misused words, items to search and replace, trademarks, etc.
4. Make it a point to leave positive comments for the author. If you laughed out loud at a certain line, say so!

Also, it's important to keep track of the work that you do. A spreadsheet, or some other tracking system, noting the title, author, word count, publisher, and date of edit will ensure you receive the proper payment for each work. We'll discuss this in more detail next time!

"I Could Care Less..."

Best quote I've seen today referred to that line - "I could care less" - and the response was: yes, it's grammatically correct, it just doesn't make sense! Can I make a screensaver with those words? 

They Don't Say That Here!

If you're going to write a book, or a series of books, set in Tennessee (say...Ellery, TN?), you may want to get an American, perhaps even a Southern, editor. They won't miss phrase like "have a lie-in" or "in hospital" ---I promise you, no one in Tennessee says it like that! 

Those are just the glaring errors that take a reader completely out of the story...which tends to ruin the sheer pleasure of reading. Boo.

Break Time is Over

Sometimes we need to take a break from our lives...emotionally, physically, mentally...but eventually that break has to end, and we have to resume our progress toward a goal. Without a goal, we never have a feeling of accomplishment, of achievement. 

Sometimes. editing is like being a detective. A sentence can be "technically" correct, but it doesn't "sound" right, it doesn't flow well as you read it. And if the sentence is grammatically correct, should you make a change to improve the sentence, and perhaps improve the paragraph as a whole? Or is this the author's voice, and you, as the editor, need to leave it alone?

Usually, it's best to make this sort of "correction" as a comment - thus leaving the decision up to the author. Perhaps the sentence was a mistake, and they didn't see the form it could have taken. It may in fact be the way they write, but they are open to suggestions for improvement. Or, this may be their preference, and they'll reject your suggestion. And that's fine too!

I think of editing more as a "conversation" with the author -- and try not to use the delete key quite so much. Most of the publishers I contract with have the utmost respect for an author's voice...l have come to believe that should be paramount in every project I undertake.