Language & Grammar discussion
Literary Shop Talk
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What's an editor for?
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Jami Gold's blog has an article just today about what to look for in an editor: http://jamigold.com/2015/09/when-is-a...
Alex wrote: "The following is an excerpt from my publisher’s blog. If you want to read the entire article, which should be of interest to anyone who writes, go to this address:http://thecockeyedpessimist.blogs..."
Thank you.
Here is a quote from a GR pop-up "Sponsored Book" today:
A fictional unit set up to make newsreels to convince the civilians they were sake from enemy attack. Adventure, Romance develops[.]
The Ministry Communications Unit
There are so many problems with those two sentences and title. Rather than spending whatever it costs an author to have a book listed as "sponsored," hiring an editor and/or a proofer would ... [fill in as appropriate].
A fictional unit set up to make newsreels to convince the civilians they were sake from enemy attack. Adventure, Romance develops[.]
The Ministry Communications Unit
There are so many problems with those two sentences and title. Rather than spending whatever it costs an author to have a book listed as "sponsored," hiring an editor and/or a proofer would ... [fill in as appropriate].
http://thecockeyedpessimist.blogspot....
THE BOOK DOCTOR
Karen Owen is a freelance editor of manuscripts, a monthly opinion columnist at The Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, VA, and the former publisher of Van Neste Books. She lives with her husband, novelist and Hammett Prize-winner, Howard Owen, in Richmond, Virginia.
“When I was a publisher, I did not have the financial wherewithal to hire any assistants. I was chief financial operator, editor, creative director, book-packer and promotions person, and the joke was: ‘I am Van Neste Books.’ Unless a manuscript grabbed my attention by the second chapter, I did not have the luxury to finish reading it.
“The same was true if I ascertained that the editing required to whip the manuscript into shape would be too onerous. Assuming the writer was no William Faulkner, there were times when I was forced to move on to the next item in my in-box.
“And forget Thomas Wolfe. For most publishers, the days of indulgence by a Maxwell Perkins are gone. They don’t have the staffs or the time to wrestle a story to the ground. It may sound shallow, but neither do they want overly long word counts, as the costs to publish these books can be prohibitive.