editorial horror stories

[mizkit]

I’ve certainly been following the Mandy De Geit Saga, though I don’t know if you have been. Short version: a sorry excuse for a publishing house rewrote the story they’d accepted for an anthology, without telling her about it, then got snitty when she objected. But that doesn’t really do the horrors of it justice, so you should go read the link.

It

Comments

[marlowe1]

Well, she's a beginning writer. Tony G's awful publishing house was her first "sale" such as it is. If she's still giving her stories to the no-pay markets, it will probably be years before we know if she has the potential to be a professional in this field. Sadly, by that time this debacle would have passed from memory.

[ursulav]

Good god, I can't think when my editor would have TIME. I get frantic notes that say "I'm sorry I don't have edits yet! Crap! I'm so sorry! I swear I'll have them soon!"

The biggest edit I've ever gotten from a major publisher (and my books are much smaller, mind you, so the rewrites are proportionally smaller!) was "This scene here interrupts the climax, and I just don't think we get the momentum back--can we move this scene over here and that other one to here?"

Seriously, if they think the book needs a complete rewrite in order to be publishable, I can't imagine why they'd buy it in the first place. (On a first sale, anyway--it's always possible for something in a series to go weird, I imagine.) Nobody's ideas are that novel/good/fascinating.

[rfrancis]

Well, the answer in this particular case is (a) it was a story, not a book and (b) they didn't buy it; they're a non-paying "for the love" market. So in summary, they accepted her story because then they could just screw around with it instead of having to write a story on their own plus they could pretend it was a legitimate anthology. Also, because they're scum.

[anthony_lion]

Actually, the DID 'purchase' the story. Or the EXCLUSIVE right to publish it for a year, to be specific. They 'payment' in this case was exposure.

Unfortunately, with their extensive rewrite, the 'exposure' she got is very different from what she expected, and not that likely to build a healthy fanbase.
Almost like being paid in Greek Drakhmer instead of $USD or Euros.
(Sure, they have some value - to collectors - but you can't bring it to a store and buy a loaf of bread. And frankly, people who collect coins are a bit stranger than stamp collectors... Says the one who has 200+ computers... )