tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32345314563911790032024-03-12T20:45:45.120-07:00Hyde 'n' Seek Editinghyde.n.seek.editing@gmail.commegHanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008744116146244247noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234531456391179003.post-72423377005329634992018-03-30T09:55:00.000-07:002018-03-30T09:55:00.037-07:00There are Editors and "Editors"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTFGP1u-CAlQtjj74-4nu2Gc9yJ0Hg4wtWuw2CjfjgnrFyHRPNu6SQRFNzACWSVXSqwgIP821pgcx-_iYWiOt_fykYglyJDt0XBZIRAhWmPEH0JTEtgs4J3JiXQRUapUjvZncSjDvd5gz/s1600/revising.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="452" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTFGP1u-CAlQtjj74-4nu2Gc9yJ0Hg4wtWuw2CjfjgnrFyHRPNu6SQRFNzACWSVXSqwgIP821pgcx-_iYWiOt_fykYglyJDt0XBZIRAhWmPEH0JTEtgs4J3JiXQRUapUjvZncSjDvd5gz/s400/revising.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This morning I had a conversation with an author about editing her book. I wish I could say that this was the first time that I had heard complaints such as the ones she was sharing with me, but it's not. It bothered me so much, in fact, that during the conversation, I kept thinking 'this really needs to be a blog post.'<br />
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Selling a book is expensive, especially if you're going the self-pub route. Just with editing and cover design alone, you're looking at spending a couple of hundred dollars, a couple of hundred dollars you don't know if you're going to get back or not.<br />
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Because of this, and the fact that choosing an editor is not an easy thing to do, some authors choose to skip both altogether. They create their own covers (sometimes not well), and they edit their own stories.<br />
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This is what happened to this particular lady, a story that, as I said, I have heard a few times before.<br />
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Let's call her Buella, to help us keep track of things in the story.<br />
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Buella has/had a friend who is an author. The author has one or two books under his belt, a couple of short stories, and decided a few months ago that he was going to be doing editing as a side gig. <br />
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Now, Buella is a fan of this author friend, and was very excited to hear that he was going to be editing as well, so she quickly contacted him before his editing schedule filled up. She loved his stories and thought they were very well edited, so she had no problem paying what he asked, which she told me was a lot higher than other people were asking for.<br />
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She sent over the manuscript, and couldn't WAIT to get it back.<br />
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When Buella received the edited manuscript, she was happy to see that she had "done well" - there weren't a lot of notes about issues, and he had fixed all of the misspellings (something she says is common with her writing) and punctuation issues. She quickly took care of the things that he pointed out to her, and a little over a week later, she uploaded her book onto Amazon.<br />
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She gave a couple of copies away, to bloggers she knew and to family members, but after a few weeks, these people hadn't posted any reviews, which was really starting to frustrate her.<br />
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About two weeks ago, she was contacted by one of those bloggers, and told that they would not be reviewing her book. The reason why? The reviewer could not finish the book because the editing was so bad. <br />
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Buella was shocked! (I wasn't.)<br />
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She kept telling me that she couldn't believe it, that the blogger must have some sort of vendetta against her, that maybe the reviewer and book just weren't simpatico, that sometimes you can't get into a book because of outside pressures, so that must be it.<br />
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A week or so went by and she contacted her best friend, who had a free copy, and wanted to know why this "best friend" (that's how she wrote it) hadn't reviewed her book yet. She reminded the friend about how important it is for authors to have reviews, and went off on a tangent (because this girl IS Buella's best friend) about the blogger who said she couldn't finish it.<br />
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The friend asked if they could meet for coffee.<br />
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During coffee, Buella had to hear the same things that the blogger said from her best friend. At first, she was very angry at the friend, and was ready to end the friendship, but then she said all she could do was cry.<br />
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Her best friend HAD finished the book, and about a quarter of the way through, she started making notes of the issues that she had with it... issues that Buella hadn't noticed (sometimes you read what you thought you wrote and not what you actually wrote), and neither had the author-now-editor.<br />
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Buella quickly took the book off of Amazon. She asked a few friends she knew who did BETA reads if they would take a look, and give her some feedback. Within a few days, she got back their thoughts, and it was just what she dreaded.<br />
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She contacted the friend/author-now-editor with the information she got from the beta readers, and he refused to listen. He told her that he was an accomplished author, and that editing was easy for him. He told her that SHE was the problem, and that the BETA readers didn't know what they were talking about.<br />
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I read what she said, and then was brutally honest with her.<br />
<br />
She WAS part of the problem. She chose an editor based on books that he had written just because he decided he would be an editor, not thinking about the fact that those books... HAD an editor.<br />
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I can understand. There are so many editors out there that it really is hard to decide which one is the best for you. <br />
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Word of mouth works great. If you have author friends, you can ask them who they use, who they recommend, and get a nice list of people to contact. <br />
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I think that authors need to do more than that, though. Especially with the amount of money that you're going to be handing someone who is most likely a stranger.<br />
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How do you choose?<br />
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Well, the first thing you do is ask about their experience. When did they start editing? How did they get into it? What kind of education do they have? What have they edited and who have they edited for? (Both parts of that last question are pertinent because not all books have been published.)<br />
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You can even ask them if you are able to contact a couple of them. (I say ask, just out of politeness. I know that I have a few authors that people can contact because I asked them if it was okay to do so.)<br />
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Then ask them what kind of books they enjoy reading. Do they hate science fiction, but that's the kinds of books you write? (Personally, I hate romance, but I have a few authors that specifically choose me to edit their books for them because they know I don't like romance and will be very honest about the things I like and don't like in their books.)<br />
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You also need to ask them HOW they edit. That, to me, is a big one - everyone does things differently. What do you need from them? Do you need someone who is strong and forceful, that fixes everything for you, without you having to do a thing? Do you want someone who is a little more laid back, pointing out the things that need to be fixed, and giving you suggestions about how to do so, but doesn't change the wording without discussing it with you? Do you want someone who has a strong eye for misused words, misspellings, grammatical issues, and punctuation?<br />
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Along the same vein, do you need someone who is going to remind you to write, who is going to contact you every few days/weeks and ask you how the writing is coming along, who is going to ride you to keep you working? Some authors need that extra motivation, so ask the editor if this is something they are willing to provide.<br />
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Ask them how much they charge, how much they ask for if they need to re-edit any part of the manuscript, and if they offer discounts for multiple books (you don't have to be done with the books, but if you're planning a story, you can do a contract for the series, which can save you money). There is an old adage "You get what you paid for," but I honestly don't think that always works with things like this. Some people charge a lot, and maybe they deserve that payment, maybe they don't. Some people don't charge a lot, for whatever their reasons are, but DON'T assume that they charge a "small amount" because they don't have faith or confidence in themselves. They may just know that being an author is not an easy thing, it doesn't pay well, and they don't want you to break the bank on their services.<br />
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Be VERY specific about when you need this edit back. If you don't, they'll take their time with it and get it back to you when they can. (Editors do have lives outside of editing.)<br />
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You are building a relationship with this person because, in theory, you'd want the same person to edit all of your books, especially if you have a trilogy or series. <br />
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You need to choose this person based on what they can do and what they can do for you, not what they have done on their own. Just because someone can write, does not mean that same someone can edit. This is not to say that all authors who also edit are bad, or that the ones that are will be as rude as the particular one in this story, but you have to keep in mind that a lot of editors have just decided they are editors, without doing anything to further their education in it. Some are good, and it comes naturally, but some are not. (I am a person who it comes naturally to, but I also have an education, have continued my education with webinars and college courses, and have been doing this for a number of years.)<br />
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The whole thing reminds me of a story: When I first got into reviewing, shortly after I began my book blog (if I remember correctly), I received a mystery to read and review. To make a long story somewhat shorter, the main character was a female business woman. She had a huge disagreement with a male colleague, who was staying at a hotel, and who was also found murdered later that day. The main character's boyfriend ended up being the detective in charge of the murder case, and he did what he could, at the beginning of the book, to clear her of any wrongdoings. It turns out that, during the time of the murder, she was standing at the front desk having a conversation with another colleague, and in the line of vision with the front desk clerk, who was on the phone with the male colleague just minutes before he died. He had called down, very angry, that the chambermaid had not left towels in his room. The front desk clerk immediately sent the chambermaid back up to the room with them, and that was when his body was found. Can you guess where the main piece of evidence that convicted the murderer was found?<br />
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I contacted the author and publisher, neither of which were interested in having a conversation with me about the book since I never received an email back from either one of them, so I wrote my review. I didn't give as much information as I did above because I didn't want to ruin the story for others, but I was pretty ticked off at all the 5 star reviews telling how great it was, when in reality, there was a HUGE issue with the book. I basically said that if I can't trust the evidence, I can't trust the rest of the story, and that I stopped reading the book because of my lack of trust in the evidence.<br />
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THAT got the author to email me back. She was livid. How dare I leave a review like that, etc etc etc. It seems that her, her BETA readers (that she dedicated her book to), AND her author-now-editor (who she talks about very highly on the dedication page) had missed this tragic mistake. She finished her email with "It's something we are going to fix." GOING to fix. Not have fixed, not are currently fixing, but GOING to fix. Needless to say, I refused to remove my review (which she demanded) or read any more of her books.megHanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008744116146244247noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3234531456391179003.post-45677746590321077452017-05-23T11:27:00.000-07:002018-03-06T12:32:42.822-08:00The impact you have as an editor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rJjbj1DORelgVEFC5iTeLbTfNTnUiC1ETNXkHDyEdtaJZiLLXeKn_M8yFSxckF1MNDyqvHhxK0dQVNhaYcaGFf71MMJg1FpVXiSvsHgzlxaL_jJMxvMKcw9m90OXb2v1ayIxw7-l4ick/s1600/everyone-needs-a-good-editor2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6rJjbj1DORelgVEFC5iTeLbTfNTnUiC1ETNXkHDyEdtaJZiLLXeKn_M8yFSxckF1MNDyqvHhxK0dQVNhaYcaGFf71MMJg1FpVXiSvsHgzlxaL_jJMxvMKcw9m90OXb2v1ayIxw7-l4ick/s400/everyone-needs-a-good-editor2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have been running Hyde 'n' Seek Editing for about three years now, but my editing experience goes back a lot further. It's something I've been doing since high school, if you can believe that. My mother went back to college around that time, and she often had me look at her papers to give my opinion and to fix the issues that were there. It soon spread to her classmates, and to mine as well... and I continued doing that, for "fun," throughout my college years. Editing is just something I love and, as my sister says about herself when it comes to selling shoes, it's in my blood.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">The other day, I received an email from someone I haven't talked to in almost five years. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> We had been classmates, once upon a time, back when she was really into romance books, which inspired her to write some short stories of the same genre. When she'd see me in the library, she'd hand over her spiral notebook and ask me to check them out. I'd mark up the pages with my purple pen (I have always preferred to do things against the grain), scribble some questions in the margins, and when I was done with the story, I'd give my opinion of it (as a reader) on the top of the first page.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> It seemed that every time I set foot in that library (once a week, if not more), she'd find me, and she would hand over another notebook for me to peruse. My "payment" was always something different - a bag of chips, a can of soda, a notebook or pen, sometimes even a small gift card to one of the bookstores I liked at the time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> To be honest, I could never figure out why she chose me - she was well aware of how much I loathe romance and, back then, it was something that I downright refused to read. I liked her, though, and just couldn't say no.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Back to the email...</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">She started it off with the usual pleasantries, and filled me in on her life over the last couple of years. Then she came to, what she called, the "point" of the email. She wanted to thank me, and thank me "profusely."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Her mother had passed away and, when she was going through the boxes that were stored in the attic, she came across those notebooks full of stories she says she hasn't thought about since we were in school together. She ended up sitting there for hours, looking at what I had to say about each story, something she admits that she had never done before this day. I had always wondered what she did with them after I looked at them, and now I knew - she just threw them in a drawer in the bottom of her desk, and went on with writing something new. She had no real plan for the them, just a story (or stories) inside of her that needed to come out. Thankfully, her mother found something good in her artistic expression and chose to hold on to them.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> She went on to tell me that she had plans to start writing again and wanted to know if, when she was finished with the novel she had been pondering, I would take a look at it for her, even laughed and said that she was sure that my payments would be a lot more than they had been "back in the day." Apparently she had not written in "forever," but it was my questions of those stories that re-inspired her.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">Over the last couple of days, we have had a conversation through emails and, in them, she's expressed how much my editing - of school papers, of poetry she submitted to the literary magazine, of articles for the newspaper - really helped her to grow as a writer. She was happy to see me, and even happier when I agreed to take a look at those notebooks, even if she never did look at what I had to say until now. She said that she knew, when she was ready to take those stories to the next step, that my thoughts would help her.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Her biggest praise was on the questions that I ask. It was the questions that allowed her to think about the characters and the story, and see, through the eyes of a reader, where she went wrong with either or both. She told me that she had started redoing some of those stories, just to get herself back in the practice of writing, and has noticed how much better they are, simply because I made her question what she was doing. My questions helped her to be a stronger writer, something that she has noticed a lot in the new piece that she is working on.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: medium;">I learned a lot from this conversation with an old friend. Anyone can fix grammatical errors, but it's making the story stronger, while allowing the author to keep their voice, that makes me different than most of the others, something she pointed out, and I think she's spot on. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> I've worked with other editors and, unfortunately, some just go through and fix all the "issues" they see, never once discussing them with the authors. (How does the author learn and grow? Not all "issues" are right and wrong, and not all of editing is black or white.) They call themselves "strong editors" and vow that THEY are what an author needs, someone to whip them into shape, along with their stories.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> Feedback like this shows me that I am doing the right thing, the right way, and that I make an impact on people and their craft.</span><br />
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megHanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008744116146244247noreply@blogger.com0