Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Editing-Bleh

Editing. I can't say that as an author I like it. At all. I know the necessity of the process. I understand the need for consistency of product for the publisher. I even get that sometimes, one has to play to ones audience. I don't, however, have to like it.
A well edited book is more likely to get a look from a publisher or literary agency, and a poorly edited one, no matter how good the story, is more likely to be sent back unread. I know these things. What I wish, what I really, really wish, was that more editors were more upfront about what they needed to see and in what format.
There are those who direct writers to articles written in the long forgotten past (that's five years internet time) or have brief formatting guidelines, but only to put the whole into a twelve point readable font and double space it. Those are not good directions to help one reach the final product. This, right here, has been the hardest part of my editing journey.
POV, or point of view, is one of those things I really needed to know about, but didn't really. I have read tons of books that I really enjoyed that have 'head-hopping' or quick switches in POV. That, apparently, is a problem for most editors. Why? Because standards say that it is a no-no. It can be well-done, there might not be a problem with following the story for the reader, and it might actually hurt the story to have POV in big chuncks, but it doesn't matter. The editor, and the publisher, want something standard. Sigh.
My relatively okay POV can be found in my new book Guardian, coming out from Ellora's Cave on October 7th, 2015.


2 comments:

  1. Hi Annie,

    I just finished reading your book and thought it was great! I hope you continue the book with a series!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Ellen! That is the plan. Ky's tale is in the works.

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