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.
