Welcome Back Kelly McCrady

Kelly McCrady is back today with part II her article on being a writer AND an editor. Last time she spoke to us wearing her writer's hat. Today, take cover, because she's an editor - and she and her furious red pen have plenty to say!

Part II: “Dishing it out”
We turn now to the dark side, the Cave of the Editor.

The inbox dings. Message incoming from Senior Editor. “We have a query that looks fairly decent. You want to take this one?” Attached synopsis and query letter read okay, though the author is most likely unaware of how her lack of polish in the spelling, grammar and syntax makes her appear. No matter. The story seems to fit my line and the basic premise of a romance book, so I contact the author. I ask for the partial manuscript.

The partial arrives, and I schedule a time to do the read-through. Contact author, let her know the file arrived and when to expect an answer.

Edit books 1,2, and 3 currently on my desk. A gap will happen after book 3 is sent to galley-land, so at that time (no more than 60 days from receipt of initial query) I open the partial manuscript from Hopeful Author and read.

What you need to know as an author is that a book is judged as good or bad within the first six pages.

Six pages.

This does not mean the content cannot make or break the story’s potential after that, merely that my impulse to continue reading is generally triggered either direction by page six. If the prose isn’t up to publishable standard, as set down by my superiors at the publisher, I begin to compose the rejection letter. I look specifically for craft areas the author can improve on. That’s what we do at The Wild Rose Press—no form letters allowed.

If the first six pages have grabbed me so well that I’ve read to page fifteen without noticing, that is a good thing. I usually stop there and email the author to send me the full manuscript.

When that full arrives (you’d be amazed at the speed of email when it’s a positive experience for both parties), I open the file to be sure it is in one piece, alert the author that it did arrive, and again schedule a time to do the read-through.

The most difficult part of reading full manuscripts for consideration is NOT EDITING THEM. Forcing myself to read, and read only for content, plot, character, structure, voice…any one of those can go sadly awry beyond what I expected from reading the polished partial.

If I reach the end of the book and don’t have that “Yay! Good book!” feeling (and yes, books with problems such as head hopping, too many adverbs, unclear transitions, echo words, “junk” words, poor use of commas, etc. CAN give me that feeling, if everything else is right about the plot and structure and characters) then I have to compose a rejection. So hard to do that, when a book is almost there but not quite yet.

A fair percentage of the books I have rejected were excellent, well-written, stirring prose…but were not romances. Authors, make certain you follow the publisher’s submission guidelines. Look through their catalogue to see what else they publish, read blurbs, excerpts, look at cover art. For example, a good adventure with a love story entwined in the plot cannot be categorized as a romance if the hero and heroine marry on page 60 of a 380 page book and continue to work together to bring down their foe.

When a manuscript is accepted for publication, that manuscript will undergo at least one round of copyedits. Some writers are so clean that the only marks the editor makes regard pulling the punctuation in line with house style (for example, the serial comma in a list with a conjunction—leave it in? Take it out?). More often, though, the editor will have questions about content that is inconsistent within the manuscript, and guide the author into smoothing these bits so the reader will not hit “speedbumps.”

My favorite trick for tracking consistency within a manuscript is to set up a chart, a style sheet, broken down into pairs of letters, A-Z, and a column for miscellaneous facts. While reading for the first edit, I write down the name of every character as I run across them, every fact (Brandy lost her locket on Tuesday), and when I get tidbits of character description, I add that after the character’s name, to keep a running list of how this person is described.

This style sheet helps in two ways—easy to see if facts such as a character’s hair or eye color suddenly changes, and also to find repeat descriptions. One of my authors caught that she referred to the hero’s hair as “shaggy” way too often, and that she alternated between the words “couch” and “sofa,” ultimately choosing only one.

The editor’s job is to make the author look good. I polish my “babies” and declare when they are ready to go out into the world, the proud auntie of all the books I’ve worked on. In the end, few acknowledge the editor’s hand in making the story richer, better, deeper. The publisher’s name is on the book, and the author’s name. Once in a while, you’ll see a thank you to an editor in the dedication.

Remember, your editor is invested in your story too. She loved it when she read it the first time. And she contracted it knowing she’d have to read it over and over and over…

Be professional in your communications with your editor. As gabby as authors are, editors are just as talkative. If you have not received an answer, feel free to ask your questions again—emails can and do disappear. But be polite on the second ask as though the first was not heard. Allow your editor time to find your answer and reply. Sometimes she or he is waiting on someone else in the company in order to give you the best information.

I enjoy editing. I enjoy interacting with authors. I enjoy being an author. I do not enjoy interacting with editors as an author LOL. So I hear you. I’m still going to change the wording in that sentence, because it does not mean what you wanted it to say.

Kelly McCrady’s newest short story “Martial Hearts” is available October 15 from The Wild Rose Press http://www.thewildrosepress.com/ . Author website is http://www.kellymccrady.com/

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This is worth a second, maybe even third read. It's chock-a-block with little tidbits, great advice, and "soft knowledge" every writer needs to know. I know we all want to be the writer who produces that "Yay! Good book!" feeling in an editor. Let's keep at it!

I bid you good writing.

Welcome Guest Blogger - Angela Harms

Alright! From the last article on Fiction Matters, the one where John Ramsey Miller scared us out of our cotton socks, we all understand that we need a lot going for us as writers to get noticed, and to stay noticed. But what's a good first step? Besides actually writing something, I mean. The answer just might be: editing.

Now, there are lots of books out there about self-editing (some are better than others), but my experience tells me that, no matter how many times I comb over a section of my WIP, no matter how many times I tweak the words and fuss with punctuation, I'll miss something. Sometimes it's the whole boat I'll miss. That's where hiring an editor BEFORE you submit your work to an editor comes in. Confused? Our guest blogger Angela Harms is here to make it all make sense.

Angela Harms is a freelance editor and writer from the Pacific Northwest. She has been writing and editing for over 20 years, and particularly enjoys substantive editing of fiction. Her website is AngelaHarms.com. More of her articles can be found at WritersEditingWorkshop.com.

Writers have told me that the idea of working with an editor can be a little intimidating. I’d like to talk about what it’s like, how it works, and what an editor actually does.
Do you need an editor?

“…everybody needs an editor.” —Michael Crichton

You’ve heard the advice before: everybody needs an editor. But surely that doesn’t mean everybody, right?

Your grammar and spelling are excellent. You understand that the revision process is vital, and you’ve asked friends to read your work and point out typos. And that’s all important, but—while I’m surely biased, being an editor myself—you might be surprised what a difference a professional editor can make, even after you’ve done all you can.

The difference between a talented friend and a professional editor

Being a professional is not a matter of memberships in professional organizations, and it’s not accomplished through years of formal education. It’s really a combination of two things: fascination with the language and the art, and commitment to the profession. A professional editor has studied what’s required to do a complete job, and knows how to find errors that a friend or family member may miss.

For example, I once had a writer who used the word shanghaied, as in “We got shanghaied.” The setting was about 1800. Trouble is, the term didn’t come into use until the 1850s. It’s not that editors have memorized those kinds of facts. But we are practiced in flagging them, and checking.

Another novel had a lovely woman in it, with the bluest eyes you’d ever seen. Until the next chapter; then they were green. Oops.

I’ve never seen a manuscript that didn’t need some level of editing.

What will an editor do?

Collaborating with an editor should not be a painful process. In fact, it can be a lot of fun. Now you have someone to talk to about your novel who is as interested in it as you are—or almost!
As author, you make the decision about whether to accept any changes your editor suggests, and an editor should remind you of this. Anything that goes into your manuscript should go in there because you love it, not because you feel pressured to modify something to please the editor. That said, it’s also a good idea to talk to your editor about changes you disagree with, because if you talk about it, you’ll often discover that your editor was right, or—even better—the two of you together will come up with an even better solution. But in the end, it’s your work, and your decision.

Levels of Editing

Editors will talk about “levels,” but none of them talk about them the same way. Each editor has his or her own hierarchy, but here’s a basic breakdown of the levels your editor might recommend.

Light Edit: proofreading
Proofreading originally referred to comparing the edited manuscript with the galleys, or typeset pages, to be sure that they match. But in the twenty-first century, it usually means a light copyedit.

A proofreader checks that a finished piece says what it was intended to say. That is, if a word is is repeated (Did you catch that?) it was probably not intended, and a proofreader will correct it. However, a proofreader won't comment if something is phrased awkwardly or a passage is wordy. Briefly, a proofreader looks for typing or typesetting errors, formatting errors, straightforward grammatical errors and misspellings that may have been missed during copyediting.

The proofreader should be the last person to work on the manuscript, and it should be a new person, a fresh set of eyes. Every published work needs a proofreader.

Medium edit: copyediting, or line editing
A copy editor will look for grammatical problems, spelling errors, factual or plot inconsistencies, too much use of passive voice, and anything else that will make it hard for the reader to enjoy the novel.

The editor will also create and follow a stylesheet. This is a guide that allows anyone who works with the manuscript to make sure the novel is consistent. How do you spell the main character’s name? How many commas do you use in a list? (“Peanuts, almonds and walnuts,” or “peanuts, almonds, and walnuts”?) What’s the correct name of the agency that’s investigating the UFOs, and how is it abbreviated?

You will receive queries asking you to clarify things or suggesting that you rephrase something to correct an error, but the copy editor won’t do the rewriting for you.
Fact-checking is usually part of the copy editor's job. Easily checked facts (that can be checked on-line in a moment) may be included in the copyediting fee (ask!), but extensive checking will usually cost extra.

Heavy edit: substantive editing, content editing
A substantive editor works as a partner with you, to help you create the best writing possible. The editor will help you to
¨ make sure the organization of the story makes sense
¨ find the perfect word or phrase
¨ strengthen your beginning
¨ remove words, paragraphs, even chapters that aren't doing their job
¨ move things around for better flow
¨ make your dialogue and descriptions more powerful.

A substantive editor will challenge you, and also help you create a novel you can be proud of.
Find out for yourself

Try this: google “free sample edit.” Visit a few of the websites, and find a couple of editors who appeal to you. Request a free sample. I’ll bet you’ll be surprised at what they are able to tell you. It’s worth your time to find an editor you enjoy, who understands your writing and who you understand as well. Once you do, I think you’ll find that your editor becomes a valued friend.

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Thanks Angela!

Often a factor writers bring up about hiring an editor is the cost. Let's face it, writers (most of us!) aren't wealthy, we don't have money lying in drawers waiting for a rainy day. Hiring an editor costs money, and poor writers are reluctant to part with hard earned money. It may be helpful to think of this step in the process as a different kind of investment toward your writing goal. You've been investing huge amounts of time, talent, energy, and money already. Take time to evaluate the benefits of hiring an editor to work on your manuscript. Working with an editor before you submit your work to a publisher or agent will help you understand the process of editing, and better prepare you for when that big royalty paying publisher tells you, "YES!"

I bid you good writing.