So Your Book Just Got Edited…

[ursulav]

Enough people made vaguely interested noises in the editing process that I thought I’d talk about it a bit. It’s definitely the tedious, grim, discouraging bit of the process, but it occurs to me that you, O Prospective Author, may find it even more traumatic if nobody tells you what to expect!

First, two caveats. I’ve had…I think…twelve books

Comments

[mel_redcap]

As another dear editor friend once said “You always take the longest possible route to get anywhere. Fortunately, it’s usually an entertaining trip.”

Usually? Try always! XD It's one of the things I love about your writing, the little side trips that are like snapshots of the world, expanding the background in fascinating (and hilarious) ways without devolving into "As you know, Ferguson..." conversations. :P It's also one of the reasons I adore the podcast, and I'm in awe of the way you can go off on an impassioned five-minute digression and then remember what the hell you were talking about in the first place. XD

[nomadicwriter]

As a novelist, I find there are three stages of reaction to editorial notes.

Stage 1, reaction to the first read: Aargh, this is all so stupid, how did they completely fail to get it, this is going to completely ruin the book! I can't make all these changes

[dornbeast]

You're not the only one that does that - Spider Robinson describes a similar scene between him and Ben Bova, except that his made-up example is spread out over the course of a year. (The way it's written, I get the impression that this happened more than once.)

[anthony_lion]

I've only ever been involved with the later stages of editing, fixing horrible sentences, awful typos and the all too often swapped word

[archangelbeth]

If I get the document back, and the same repeats still exist further down, I start getting sarcastic.

...been there, done that, wearing my Evil Editor hat. >_>

[niamh_sage]

Thanks for this! I'm an editor by trade, and just moving into fiction now after 14 years of mostly academic work. It's helpful to see that I'm doing much the same as you describe here (right down to the 'Ha!' and 'Love this bit').

[anonymous]

Another author posting good comments about editing & the writing process: http://ecambrose.wordpress.com/ The series hasn't been published yet (due this fall, I think), but I've read the original manuscripts. I can't imagine what could be improved upon, but apparently the author & editor are in agreement, so there is the inevitable delay in publishing dates while rewrites happen.