Copy-editing time
I got my copy-edited manuscript for Choosing Easy World
back from St. Martin's Press on Monday, and have been poring over the
pages of red marks! When I first saw them--not only the amount of them
but the foreign nature of the marks, many of which didn't match up with
those in my guide to proofreader's symbols--I'll admit that Easy World
is not exactly where I was.
I'm so glad I wasn't able to reach my editor when I first called her after looking at it as I was pretty freaked out. But after choosing Easy World and looking it over thoroughly in a kinder, gentler reality, I discovered that many of the marks I didn't recognize were instructions to the typesetters about spacing, types of dashes, and such. Once I really got into it, the rationale behind many of the changes the copy-editor (different person than my acquisitions editor) made began to make sense, too. She didn't really change anything about the structure or order of the book--that isn't her job. Hers is to make sure the grammar is correct, that there are no typos, and that there is no repetition and such. I never realized how much I use the term "indeed" until I saw how many of them she deleted!
Last night, as I stayed up way too late finishing my first pass through all 219 pages, I found myself feeling a closeness with this person I've never met. She really seemed to "get" the book which seemed more evident the farther into it she got. I surmised this by some of the suggestions she was making for word substitutions and such. I may be projecting this onto her, but I had the feeling she liked the book. Almost all of her corrections and suggestions will make it even more clear and effective.
It's funny, but the task I had thought was going to be so odious and overwhelming when I first saw the manuscript with all the markings and sticky notes on it turned out to be a pleasure. I love that book so much--not because it came from me, because it didn't. I was the midwife that birthed it. I love the Love in it and the clarity and ease of it. That all came from Spirit. Reading it--even with all the marks--has always put me in Easy World. I'm so appreciative that no one attempted to change it in any kind of major way and thus, diminish the powerful energy in it. I needn't have worried about that at all--Easy World had it covered and I'd have seen that had I been in Easy World all along!
I'm so glad I wasn't able to reach my editor when I first called her after looking at it as I was pretty freaked out. But after choosing Easy World and looking it over thoroughly in a kinder, gentler reality, I discovered that many of the marks I didn't recognize were instructions to the typesetters about spacing, types of dashes, and such. Once I really got into it, the rationale behind many of the changes the copy-editor (different person than my acquisitions editor) made began to make sense, too. She didn't really change anything about the structure or order of the book--that isn't her job. Hers is to make sure the grammar is correct, that there are no typos, and that there is no repetition and such. I never realized how much I use the term "indeed" until I saw how many of them she deleted!
Last night, as I stayed up way too late finishing my first pass through all 219 pages, I found myself feeling a closeness with this person I've never met. She really seemed to "get" the book which seemed more evident the farther into it she got. I surmised this by some of the suggestions she was making for word substitutions and such. I may be projecting this onto her, but I had the feeling she liked the book. Almost all of her corrections and suggestions will make it even more clear and effective.
It's funny, but the task I had thought was going to be so odious and overwhelming when I first saw the manuscript with all the markings and sticky notes on it turned out to be a pleasure. I love that book so much--not because it came from me, because it didn't. I was the midwife that birthed it. I love the Love in it and the clarity and ease of it. That all came from Spirit. Reading it--even with all the marks--has always put me in Easy World. I'm so appreciative that no one attempted to change it in any kind of major way and thus, diminish the powerful energy in it. I needn't have worried about that at all--Easy World had it covered and I'd have seen that had I been in Easy World all along!
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