Sunday, September 1, 2013

Four Tips to Understanding Your Editor

Boy have I been busy editing books, reviewing books, and proofreading documents, and I have so much to share with you since I last wrote. My goal in this post is to pass along a few secrets about what your editor wants you to know, and to help you understand how an independent editor like me operates. These four tidbits can ensure an enjoyable relationship for the two of you.

1) Editors Want to Edit Finished Works
I know you’re excited to have finished the first three chapters of your book and you can’t wait to show it to an editor. But first you must finish the book. Most editors do not want to edit an unfinished manuscript. It is far better for you, and the story, to receive feedback on a completed work. The editor must be invested in the characters and the plot before commenting on the book as a whole. I take notes on the story as I go, and I often change my mind throughout. I recently edited a humorous novel about a woman who gets hired to write a blog on spirituality…a topic the character knows nothing about. Many of the relationships did not fully play out until the end, so I would never have been able to edit this before reading it in its entirety.

The exception to this is if you’re looking for a developmental editor, who will help you create the story as you go along. This entails a collaborative relationship between the author and editor and is more intensive (and usually more costly) than a substantive edit, which is performed on a finished manuscript.

2) Clarity is Key
It’s important to be clear about what type of editing you’ll be receiving, and to iron out the specifics before your editor begins. Most editors will spell out the terms of your project in a formal agreement. I use a very simple one, but it states the name of the project, the flat rate or per-word rate, the date it will be delivered, and specifications about how additional work will be handled. I used to differentiate between types of editing, but I have since changed that to a “whatever it needs” approach because I have found that this best serves the author. However, flexibility reigns, always.

I also always ask authors if there’s anything in particular they would like me to pay attention to while editing, such as the ending, the pace, a particular character’s motivation, structure, or any number of things. Give this some thought before hiring an editor.

3) You Want Me to What?
When your editor returns your finished project back to you, by all means ask questions if you have any. You might need more clarity on why he deleted a certain section or why he asked you to expand another section. The editor should provide you with detailed notes, but if anything is fuzzy, ask.

It is not the editor’s job, however, to go back over the entire manuscript after you have made all the changes. That is almost another full manuscript edit. Your editor would be starting from scratch again with all the new changes, and would have to charge accordingly. The exception to this is that you might want to hire a copyeditor and/or proofreader to check the sections you changed. I offer to do this at a reduced rate.

I also offer my authors a “manuscript evaluation” service, which is not an in-text edit, but an in-depth analysis of the work, including detailed commentary on plot, characterization, flow, etc. Some authors opt for this, then make the necessary changes, and then come back to me for a full technical edit at a much-reduced rate. This is an ideal situation because it gives the author an opportunity to fine-tune the work before doing the technical edit, which should come after the manuscript is mostly intact. It also allows me to read the manuscript again, which can give me deeper insight into the work. And it saves the author money.

4) Respect Your Editor’s Time
The author-editor relationship, like any other, is two-way, so both should respect the other’s time. I often handle editing projects strictly by e-mail, but if an author wants to speak on the phone, I am more than happy to do so. Some authors take this as carte blanche to treat me like a friend they’d have lunch with, where they discuss everything from politics to Lindsay Lohan’s latest imprisonment. I am very phone-friendly and love getting to know my authors a bit, but time is money, and I often need to cut conversations short when they stray too far beyond the scope of the project.

I don’t mind a question or two about the publishing field in general—should I self-publish, or try to get an agent?—but it’s not appropriate to engage your editor in prolonged discussions about the publishing industry. Keep the conversation (and the e-mails!) about the project at hand. And be mindful not to flood your editor’s inbox. She is being hired to edit your work, not provide you with a crash course in publishing.

Please let me know your thoughts on this. I love hearing from readers! Happy writing…

My next blog entry will help writers gain even more favor with their editor!
3 comments (1 new) | Add a New Comment
1. Mark | August 30, 2013 at 02:02 PM EDT [ delete ]
Interesting to learn the difference between a 'developmental edit' and and a 'substantive edit.' Are there other levels?
2. Norma Alonzo | August 30, 2013 at 04:23 PM EDT [ delete ]
It was interesting to note when an editor is needed and when a proof reader is sufficient.
I also appreciate the \manuscript evaluation\ process. This seems like a desirable way to proceed.
3. Katherine Roe | August 30, 2013 at 06:18 PM EDT [ delete ]
So informative and nicely explained with lucidity . Thank you for clarifying the questions that one should not hesitate to ask and subjects that might not be worth the time and money of the author. That was illuminating and encouraging , as well.
4. Cissy | September 01, 2013 at 01:24 AM EDT [ approve | delete ]
Thanks for the info. Curious, do editors often work on multiple submissions at one time? In the beginning, when my editor and I were working on my book, she seemed to have so much time answering emails. But later on it tapered down, and it felt like she was busy with something else. Maybe I was emailing her too much...

The Write Edit Blog

The Write Edit Blog

Bridging the Author-Editor Gap

Have an open mind. This means that if an editor tells you that your story would benefit from a different point of view, or that the three paragraphs you wrote to describe the meal your protagonist had for breakfast should be deleted, consider that you might be too close to the work to see it at its potential best. The choice is always yours to choose or reject an edit, but if you’ve hired a good editor, she knows what works and what doesn’t.
Love my editor

Did you know that the comma is one of the most controversial punctuation marks? This means that even the geekiest grammar Nazis at the Chicago Manual of Style will occasionally disagree on this cute little curlicue. What this means for the author is that you might wonder why we inserted a comma in one place but not another. Most book editors use the rules set forth in the Chicago Manual of Style. We use this in conjunction with Merriam-Webster. For issues covered in neither, we make our own editorial decision. There’s a reason the comma warrants an enormous number of pages in style guides. So, trust that your editor knows what he’s doing. Although hard and fast rules certainly apply to most areas of grammar, gray areas still abound. Chicago often defers to what they call “editorial judgment.”

If you hire an editor to comment on character, plot, etc., and to copy edit, and to proofread, understand that no matter how meticulous the editor is, you will find a mistake here and there. With traditional publishing houses, your work goes to an editor first, then a copy editor, and then at least one proofreader. Independent editors often do the job of all these people, unless you have the resources to hire separate individuals. I perform all of these functions on every manuscript, and I use the finest toothcomb to scan for errors before returning it to the author, but human error says that I will not have caught everything.

The best editors (read: egos in check) are interested in nothing more than making your work the best it can be. I can sleep at night (cuddled up to Sienna, my pug mix) knowing that I’ve cut no corners in helping my author achieve the highest standards.

Now…what do you wish your editor would know? We’re listening.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me

Thomas Jefferson once said: "The sun has not caught me in bed in fifty years." Okay, so there's clearly no chance I am related to him in any way. In fact, I wonder just how many writers can even relate to being in bed only during the darkening hours. What is it about us that makes us, as a rule, late risers? Why does inspiration hit at 4AM? Any clues? The way I see it, East Coast writers have the advantage because let's say an article is due by midnight Pacific time. They really get to hand it in at 3AM. Shouldn't there be clemency for other time zones? 

Okay, signing off now. By the way, it's 9 PM (11 PM Eastern).

-Valerie

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Coolest bookstores EVER

Warning: You may drool all over your keyboard while looking at this. http://travel.spotcoolstuff.com/shopping/worlds-best-bookstores

Sunday, January 23, 2011

The Glamour of Grammar?

Who woulda thunk it, but Roy Peter Clark's book "The Glamour of Grammar," is, well, glamorous. No, really. It's entertaining, and even funny. I actually gaffawed once.