My Editing Process

I'm sure the idea of working with an editor on your baby is a bit daunting. You don't want to hand your precious art to someone and let them rip it apart with their jagged teeth. But don't worry, it's not that bad. I promise.

I'll give you a little insight into how I work, maybe that will put you at ease.

The First Read Through

Once your manuscript has passed through acquisitions and is finally assigned to me, I'll take it on my e-reader and do a complete read through for the overall concept, getting a taste. I'll write notes as I go and then pass on a letter to you. During this read, I'm contemplating character arc, timeline and pacing, and the big picture. I like to gnaw on the thing as a whole before I start to digest. We'll delve into the little stuff later.

The Second Edit

This time around, after I've received your updates from the first read through, I'll go through with a fine tooth comb and rip to shreds…sorry, I mean carefully fine tune your work. This means I look at the arc in each scene as well as spelling and grammar mistakes as I go. This is when it gets bloody. We might need to cut a character or change who they are. I particularly enjoy when I get to delete line after line after…I'm sorry, where was I?

The Final Read

This third time, after we have carefully polished your manuscript, I'm pretty much just checking the changes you made after the second edit. Then I'll send it off to copy editing, who will proofread it. See? Not that bad after all. *licks blood from her fingers*

This blog post was originally posted on my publisher's blog, WiDo Publishing. Go check out the other stuff we are posting there!

Pursuing Passion

All those movies, the ones about people pursuing their life's dream, the one thing that makes their heart beat faster, those movies are a bit of a downer for everyone who doesn't know what they crave.

You can't call someone a workaholic when they are pursuing their passion. It's just not right. If they love what they are doing, they will do it all the time. Anyone who actually knows what they want to be doing, what they dream of and wish for, they should be applauded.

But if you're one of those people who hasn't found that niche yet, keep trying.

I'm officially a freelancer

As of April 1st, I took hold of my destiny (that word is a bit strong but oh well). I became a full time freelance editor. And let me tell you, it is heaven. Now when I watch those movies - Soul Surfer, Save the Last Dance, Coyote Ugly (hmm, they tend to be aimed at girls...) - I don't feel this sense of emptiness. I can watch and enjoy and breath deep because I feel the same way.

Now that I'm on my own time (and trust me, it took a lot of work to get here and I still don't have enough work to support my book-reading habits), I can follow my callings. Notice the 's.' I have a few, though they may be related. I'm an editor, writer, photographer, book reader and reviewer, thinker, doer, immature geek, wife, daughter...the same as everyone, I am a lot of things. But now I get to dedicate my time to those things in the ways I wish.

I'm not meaning this post to somehow make you jealous (are you?). I want to share the utter giddiness and joy I have at doing what I am meant to do.

I'm in love with a blog about punctuation.

I'm in editor heaven. This blog here:

http://www.shadycharacters.co.uk/

is about the history of punctuation. From the pilcrow to the ampersand and on. This guy writes essays detailing the history of little marks we make with the computer and that used to be made with stone and chisel. Not only is it historical and educating, it's about punctuation. I think I'm in love.

Oxford Commas

The Oxford Comma is my friend. I can't live without it. But now I find out even Oxford has gotten rid of it. Nooooo! I completely agree with what everyone was saying on twitter.

Here is the University of Oxford's style guide web page with the entry for commas.

I'm not an insanely staunch believer in the series comma. At least not to the point that I can't do without it when the situation calls for it. Say Sally wants coleslaw, eggs and ham for breakfast. The eggs and the ham go together but the coleslaw doesn't match at all, hence no second comma. But what if she wants toast, eggs, and ham for breakfast. That sentence NEEDS the second comma!

I'm worried I won't be able to break this habit. I've already broken the 'only one space before sentences instead of two,' that one was actually easy. But this one, I'm stuck on it. I'm not ok with skipping out on something that is necessary to break up three (or more) separate ideas!

Freelance Editing

I posted my review of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer (click on Bree Tanner). Let me know what you think. I still don't feel very confident reviewing books. I can't seem to get out in writing how the book really made me feel. Which brings me to my main blog topic today, I'm not really a writer. I enjoy writing, but I absolutely love editing.

I worked for a vanity publisher as an editor. I'm not proud of it but I did it. It was the only opportunity at the time, and it gave me the chance to edit. I didn't really understand what vanity publishing was, but as soon as I researched more and completely understood I quit. I don't want to condone that type of publishing; it is not ok to make the authors pay to have their book published. It lowers the standard of books out there. It just isn't fair to the authors.

So now I'm attempting to work as a freelance editor but sheesh is it hard! I can find a few jobs to apply for. Then I google them all to make sure they're not scams. That usually narrows it down to one or two because there are a lot of scams out there. Then I check up on who they are and what they do and whether they are truly hiring or just taking resumes. A lot of the time I'm not qualified, or they aren't hiring. Everyone wants a proofreader or editor who has three years experience. How do I get that experience without working? I've done some small projects for friends but those just don't count. It's a mess.

Anybody have any advice for me? I know it'll take hard work to get there, but I'm at a dead end. I don't know where to go from here. Should I just keep doing what I'm doing?

Déjà vu

I feel the way I did when I graduated college: completely lost. At that time I was looking for a job because I had gotten married the day after my graduation, and my husband was still in school. My parents were lovely and let us live in their mother-in-law suite. But every job I found was either not in Colorado or required experience. I got to a point where I was going to start my own proofreading business, but that didn't bring in enough money. I ended up working for my dad as a veterinary technician. Not exactly the kind of experience an English major needs. But it was a very good job and I loved it.

Now we've moved to Germany and I'm kind of repeating the steps over again. I don't have much to do here, and when I get bored I get depressed and cranky. I'm one of those people that has to be constantly doing something. Hence, I had three other jobs to supplement the full-time one with my dad.

I have a lot I would like to do. I would love to work for a publishing company and edit novels. I would love to continue building the wedding photography business with my friend back in Colorado. I would love to make my etsy shop work and be a creator. But I can't edit in German, my friend is in Colorado not Germany, and the shipping and overhead costs from Germany are insane! Am I making excuses? Let me remedy that.

I have reopened the idea of being a freelance proofreader. Any etsians out there that want your blog posts proofed before they go live? Or do you have a newsletter you want an experienced editor to glance over? I can do that.

I'm also going to make some fliers and hang them up on the bases and in English stores around Stuttgart to see if anyone wants a portrait photographer. I've found that shooting people is really what I love to do. Engagements, families, actors and musicians, really I'll take anybody.

The etsy store is not completely lost, I'm still researching possibilities. Hang in there with me while I work on it.

The Book

I'm through the first edit of the book I wrote in November. It's all situated and in the right order. I just have to fill a few holes and finish the ending. It's really coming together nicely. Now I just have to worry about finding an agent. Anybody have any tips?

I thought I'd give you a little snippet from the very beginning. Let me know if you like it!


The fluorescent light reflected in her big, brown eyes. She gripped the edge of the bed and gritted her teeth against the pain. Her indifferent mother watched from the chair in the corner. Her father held her hand with his head turned away.
“You’ll be just fine, Sweetheart. Just fine,” he said.
“No one can survive this,” she whispered.
“I did. You’re here, aren’t you? This is the consequence for what you did. It felt good at the time, didn’t it?”
“Margaret, hush. You’re making her worse,” her father berated her mother. The sheets soaked up her sweat and turned a funky yellow color. She didn’t think she could handle the next onset of intense pain. As her back relaxed, she settled into the pillows and rubbed her hair away from her eyes.
“Is there some water?”
Her father handed her the glass with the straw. Dragging on the liquid with a severe sucking noise, she swallowed quickly before the next contraction hit her. While she struggled against the clenching muscles, her mother stood and left the room. In just a few minutes the doctor came in and flipped up the sheet. He probed between her legs and snapped off his gloves.
“You’re ready. We’re going to move you into the delivery room.”
“No, no. I’m not ready. This can’t be happening. I’m not ready. Mama, please. It hurts so much. Please don’t leave me. I don’t want to be alone.”
Her mother patted her arm and walked alongside the bed. Her hard-as-steel eyes stared straight ahead. Before her mother could stop walking, she grabbed her sweater and held on for dear life.
“Please come with me. I’m sorry,” she sobbed, “I’m so sorry. Please don’t abandon me. Please help me.”
Her mother looked down into those wide, insane eyes and softened just a little bit. “I’ll be right here, Elizabeth. Don’t worry. You’ll get through this. You’ll survive, and then you’ll give that baby to someone else. Someone who can handle this.” She swept some stray hairs out of her daughter’s face. “Why did this have to happen to us?” she asked the air.

Come Autumn by Nannette Monson Kern

I have a special surprise this Friday. An interview with the author of Come Autumn, Nanette Monson Kern. I was the editor for this book. You can purchase it at amazon.com, borders.com, or pdbookstore.com. Onto the interview...

Day 88 - a good book and a cup of tea


Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I was born in Southern California, and lived there until I was seventeen. I then attended Brigham Young University as a music major, completing two and half years before the sound of wedding bells lured me away. Ten children later, when I was fifty years old, I tremulously enrolled at the University of Utah, where I?much to my amazement?became the guru to my younger cohorts. I there completed a BS degree in psychology, and happily graduated summa cum laude.

What was your inspiration for this book?

For years I riffled through the convolutions of my mind, searching for an idea that might awaken my literary muse. Nothing! Then, in the preface to a book that I just happened to pick up, the author stated that her ideas came from asking herself, “What if?”

I began thinking about a cousin of mine, who was an amazing musician, and who I thought was the smartest person in the world. I remembered, when I was very small, climbing up on the piano bench next to him and listening in awe as he improvised on the keyboard. So, I thought to myself, “‘What if’ this cousin and I had fallen in love? What might have happened?” Thus was born “Come Autumn,“ the saga of Margie and Richard, devoted cousins who couldn’t resist falling in love, but were destined for lives of heartache as their paths necessarily diverged.

What's your favorite part?

Wow! That’s a tough one! I think, possibly, the night of the New Year’s Eve Dance. That conjures up all kinds of happy memories of my teenage years. Also, Margie, at that point, is finally old enough to comprehend the depth of Richard’s feelings for her.

Anything else you would like to add?

It seems that everyone wants to know how much of “Come Autumn” is autobiographical. Actually, the only thing that isn’t is the love story, itself. The family dynamic is very similar to that of my childhood. I simply took all of the events from my cousin’s life and created a story around them. Margie’s dad really is my dad, and the miraculous incidents I relate about him are genuine.


So there you have it. Let me know if you liked it. And check out the book; I loved editing it.