• The copy edits are here, the copy edits are here …

    Since I just finished up the copy edits for Venom, I thought that I would talk a little bit about what the heck copy edits are in the first place. Here goes:

    Basically, a manuscript goes through a couple of different stages as it is turned into a book. First, I turn my manuscript in, and my editor reads it and sends me a letter with revision requests. I do the revisions and send it back to her.

    Then, if the revisions are kosher, a couple of months later I get what’s known as copy edits — or my manuscript pages that have been marked up in red ink by a copy editor. The copy editor includes notes about everything from typos to what words should be italicized to where the chapter heads and scene breaks go. The copy editor’s job is basically to get the manuscript ready to be typeset (which is the next step in the process).

    My job is to go through the manuscript page by page and answer any questions that the copy editor has. For example, if she doesn’t understand how part of the magic system works, then I go in and add a couple of paragraphs to explain it better. I don’t have to make every change that the copy editor suggests, but I usually follow her advice the majority of the time.

    I usually get about three weeks to do the copy edits and send them back to my editor. I won’t lie to you — it’s not my favorite thing to do. It’s a long, painstaking process made even more so by my obsessive tendencies. The copy edit stage is the last chance that I have to make substantial changes to the book, and I tend to really agonize over every little thing at this point in the process just because I want to make sure that the book is perfect as it can be. Alas, I know that it will not be perfect, but I do the best that I can.

    So there you have it — a little bit about copy edits. Up next, I’ll talk about the next stage in the process — page proofs.

    Got questions? I’ll answer what I can in the comments.

  • ·

    10 things …

    4 Comments

    The folks over at All About Romance did a cool post about 10 Things I’d Like to Tell Publishers. I agree with a lot of their comments, especially the one about the cheesy romance book titles. (Seriously, I think someone has a lot of fun coming up with some of those groaners).

    Inspired by them, I thought that I’d do a post about 10 Things I’d Like to Tell Readers. Here goes:

    1. I have very little input/control when it comes to the cover art for my books. If you think the covers suck, there’s nothing I can do about it. (And yes, I know the covers for the mass market versions of the Bigtime books suck — they suck out loud, especially the one for Karma Girl. Believe me, I know and have spent many hours bemoaning that fact.)

    2. I do not know everything there is to know about publishing. I cannot find a cover artist for your book, or a copy editor, or tell you why no one wants to publish the annotated history of your belly lint. Well, I could on that last one, but you probably wouldn’t like what I had to say about it. I get a lot of questions about publishing and writing, and I’m happy to help when and as I can — but I can’t get your book published for you. Only you can do that. And yes, it is much harder than it looks.

    3. Fake even a little bit of interest in my work, and I will sign books until my fingers bleed and smile for photos until my face hurts for you. Buy one of my books, and I will shower you with all the bookmarks and goodies that I have on hand. Tell me that you read and enjoyed one of my books, and I will wish you joy and happiness for all of your days. 😉

    4. I look at reviews for my books. Good ones make me happy, bad ones make me sad. Reviews where folks call my books the worst things ever written after reading all of two pages of said books and never finishing them bring out my inner Hulk, who can only be controlled by eating massive amounts of strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Or to sum up, authors have feelings too, folks.

    5. Getting asked where the bathroom is while I’m doing a book signing is depressing. Pop! Did you hear that? That was the sound of you just deflating my ego. Now, I want to crawl under the table and whimper while I eat a candy bar — or three.

    6. I don’t care what format you buy my book in. Paper copy, e-copy, heck, I don’t even care if you get a copy from the used bookstore. All I ask is that if you like the book, you tell your friends about it — and maybe take a minute or two to send me an e-mail about it (see 10). If you don’t like my book, that’s okay too — just be polite about it. Different strokes for different folks, and all that.

    7. I’m a reader too, and I’m just as happy to talk about other authors’ books as I am about my own. I can prattle on and on and on about my favorite authors and books all day long. Seriously, I can make your ears bleed, folks. My significant other knows better than to get me started waxing poetic about my favorite books. Everyone else, you have been warned. 😉

    8. Yeah, I know that my books are not perfect. There are typos and continuity errors and sometimes I repeat phrases in books. But you know what? It’s hard coming up with 100,000 words that create a coherent story, and it’s even harder to ensure that every single one of those words is perfect. Manuscripts go through a lot of editors as they are turned into books, and we all do our very best to catch all the mistakes. But we’re human, and some errors are going to creep in. It’s not because I don’t work hard on my books — that’s just life.

    9. My inner fangirl squees with delight every time I see my book on the shelf at the bookstore. That weird woman you see taking photos in at Walmart? That’s me, ogling my book on the shelf for about the hundredth time.

    10. A positive e-mail from a reader telling me that she liked my books really does make my day (see 6). Knowing that people enjoy my books makes all the hard work and long hours in front of my computer worthwhile.

    So there you have it. Some of my (hopefully amusing) thoughts that I’d like to share with readers. What about you guys? What are some of the things you’d like to tell authors or publishers? Share in the comments. And keep it polite, please.

  • Half a million and counting …

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    I’m working on Elemental Assassin 5 right now, and I realized something kind of cool about it the other day.

    When I get done with this book, I will have written more than 500,000 words about Gin Blanco. Yep, that’s right — half a million words about one character. That’s a whole lot of words, not to mention all the typing! 😉

    Of course, I’d love to write more books about Gin beyond these five, but that’s going to be up to the sales gods and readers. Still, I think half a million words is a pretty cool accomplishment. I’m totally patting myself on the back right now — and keeping my fingers crossed that the words and Gin’s stories will keep on coming!

  • What’s in a quote …

    I got a nice e-mail this week. Glenn at the Tinley Park Public Library contacted me and asked me if they could use a quote by me about libraries on their Web site. It’s part of a regular quotes feature the library does.

    Of course, I said yes. You can see the quote here (it’s on the right-hand side of the page). Or here’s what I said, which comes from my bio here on my Web site:

    “Most folks think peni­cillin, indoor plumbing, and the Inter­net are the world’s best inven­tions. Not me. The greatest thing ever created was a library. Indoor plumbing is a close second, though.”

    You know you’ve made it as an author when people start quoting you. Okay, not really, but I still think it’s cool. 😉

  • Jealousy …

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    So I thought I would talk a little bit about some of the emotions that authors go through (as the mood and time strikes me here on the blog). After all, we write about our characters’ emotions in our books, surely we have some of our own to talk about, right?

    The emotion of the day? Jealousy.

    Yep, I’ll admit it — I get jealous of other authors from time to time. I think any author who says that she never gets jealous is probably lying. Nobody is that nice all the time. Or maybe I’m just that cynical. 😉 

    So what I’m a jealous of? Lots of things. I wonder why this author got more promotion than I did. Or why so-and-so hit the best-seller list when my books are just as good as hers. Why everyone on the Internet seems to love someone’s new book and not mine. Why I never feel like one of the in-crowd or cool kids whenever I go to conferences. Sometimes, when a book I read truly blows me away, I’m jealous that it’s a story that I didn’t write. Why didn’t I have that brilliant idea instead of her?

    I imagine these are the same things that lots of other authors are jealous of too. In case you haven’t noticed by now, us writers are a pretty neurotic bunch.

    But I think it’s what you do with your jealousy that’s important. Me? I try to channel it into something positive. I try to work harder and smarter, do more promotion, and, of course, continuously work to improve my own writing so that maybe I’ll be the one making the best-seller list and getting rave reviews the next time around.

    I’ll admit that I’m not always successful. Wheezley, my significant other, has listened to me gripe and grumble about these sorts of things many times. He usually just rolls his eyes and distracts me with some chocolate. Sadly, it usually works.

    But at least I’m trying to slay the green-eyed monster. In the end, I think that’s what matters most. Well, that and the chocolate. 😉

    What about you guys? Does jealousy ever rear its ugly head with you? How do you deal with it? Share in the comments.