Sunday 30 August 2015

Team work – editors and authors



The editing process can sometimes be quite demanding for both editor and writer. The author has made the text as good as they can – perhaps having edited it several times already, and she may have also used a critique group and beta readers. Now we’re asking her to make even more changes.
The editor usually sees things the author has not noticed. Even so, there is still the possibility that she may be stuck in a rut or cramped by a house style that has become formulaic.

Monday 3 August 2015

A new anthology.



So, now we have made all of our selections for the new Bridge House anthology, Snowflakes. Next comes the editing. This is usually quite an enjoyable process. We rarely have to do anything in the first stage of editing as we've chosen the texts because we like them. We're usually  more into copy editing, checking for house style and making sure that expression is clear  and logical.  
In the final edit we tend to  use 'track changes.' I generally tell people to switch it off and just switch it back on when the text seems clunky.
One of the main things we need to do then is a proof read. We normally do this after we've made the text 'camera ready'. The four pairs of eyes look at it: the writer, both editors and our designer. We're looking for odd formatting, the typos we didn't spot before and any strange page throws.

At this stage we sometimes update bios - maybe someone has had a major success elsewhere since they wrote the story for us.


Designing the book and its cover is something quite technical and a little time-consuming and tedious.  It's incredibly important that this is done well. We usually do, I'm glad to say.
Cover design is fun and technical at the same time. Choosing the stock image is creative but some technical know-how has to be applied as well.
We have mixed feelings when we release the book. It's good to get it out here.  But is there something we've overlooked? How well will it be received? Will we get kind reviews? Will even all of the contributors like what we've done? In our business,  we just have to accept that we can't please everyone all of the time. 
Nevertheless, creating a book remains rewarding.