A plea for patience

I will be thoroughly frank with you. I grow impatient with some writers’ impatience. If you have a contract and I’m editing your work, you will get it when it is ready. If you chase me about it I’ll probably ignore you. If there is a delay – and most times there isn’t – it will grow even longer as I stop to answer your email.

Everything takes longer

It does seem that no matter how long we allow, everything takes longer than we first thought. What are some of the things that delay us?

• Webs sites working more slowly than usual
• Odd formatting appearing form nowhere in a text
• A missing bio
• An author not returning an edit or a proof read on time (Yes, we give a tight deadline on this and it may seem that we are taking forever to do our work – but believe me, we never really stop. As I’m a writer as well I’ve been on the receiving end of this and know how it feels though I understand why it happens)
• We’re suddenly offered a fabulous marketing opportunity and we daren’t ignore it for all of our sakes.
• We get ill, have family crises and technical breakdowns also.

What can you do to help?

• Follow submission guidelines to the letter. We ask for a certain type of formatting because that makes it easier for us to produce the photo-ready copy.   
• Don’t ask for major changes at the third stage of editing or when proof-reading.
• Trust us.  
• While you’re waiting just get on with your next piece of writing.   

We’re all on the same side really

Yes, we are. We all just want to produce a superb book. So let’s just get on with it. And with the next project.