Comments on: Author query: The good and the bad of copyediting http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting SF/F Copyeditor Fri, 11 May 2012 10:50:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: The good and the bad of copyediting « Web Writer http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-4187 The good and the bad of copyediting « Web Writer Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13:10:39 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-4187 [...] Author query: The good and the bad of copyediting at Deanna Hoak [...] [...] Author query: The good and the bad of copyediting at Deanna Hoak [...]

]]> By: Patricia Bray http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3610 Patricia Bray Wed, 04 Oct 2006 16:11:47 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3610 When I was writing Regency romances I once had a copyeditor who replaced the majority of my commas with semicolons, apparently on a whim. She was also bored by the manuscript or pressed for time, since she gave up the semi-colon replacement about halfway through the manuscript, and from that point on there were only a handful of corrections that she bothered to make. Chatting with other authors at that publisher revealed that I wasn't the only one who'd experienced the semicolon queen, and our frantic pleas to our editors meant that she was eventually dropped from the list of freelancers. The other problem I ran into was that the copyeditors were frequently unfamiliar with period language and usage. For example, the Earl of Endicott is correctly addressed as Lord Endicott. He will never be referred to as Lord Stephen Endicott. Not even if the copyeditor feels that Lord Endicott is too stiff and formal, and decides to change all the heroine's references to him to "Lord Stephen" instead. That publisher was known for wildly inconsistent copyedits, so I wasn't alone in my frustration with them. Since I've moved to writing fantasy for Bantam, my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. When I was writing Regency romances I once had a copyeditor who replaced the majority of my commas with semicolons, apparently on a whim. She was also bored by the manuscript or pressed for time, since she gave up the semi-colon replacement about halfway through the manuscript, and from that point on there were only a handful of corrections that she bothered to make.

Chatting with other authors at that publisher revealed that I wasn’t the only one who’d experienced the semicolon queen, and our frantic pleas to our editors meant that she was eventually dropped from the list of freelancers.

The other problem I ran into was that the copyeditors were frequently unfamiliar with period language and usage. For example, the Earl of Endicott is correctly addressed as Lord Endicott. He will never be referred to as Lord Stephen Endicott. Not even if the copyeditor feels that Lord Endicott is too stiff and formal, and decides to change all the heroine’s references to him to “Lord Stephen” instead.

That publisher was known for wildly inconsistent copyedits, so I wasn’t alone in my frustration with them. Since I’ve moved to writing fantasy for Bantam, my experiences have been overwhelmingly positive.

]]> By: Michele http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3592 Michele Wed, 04 Oct 2006 02:38:13 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3592 My experience is limited to technical writing. In some respects I'm lucky... typically the editor (performing a copyedit) marks up changes on the PDF, and I make the changes in my source files. I get great comments and catches - but when I disagree, it's easier to question than to get a change "undone". I think the best edit I received was on an article I wrote for a technical writing e-zine. I had written an article about how to get more out of a common tech-writer's tool. The editor (Deborah Ray) suggested revisions to change the intro into a problem/solution format. It was a new way of thinking about how I organized my writing, and that guidance helped me with more than just that article. My experience is limited to technical writing. In some respects I’m lucky… typically the editor (performing a copyedit) marks up changes on the PDF, and I make the changes in my source files.

I get great comments and catches – but when I disagree, it’s easier to question than to get a change “undone”.

I think the best edit I received was on an article I wrote for a technical writing e-zine. I had written an article about how to get more out of a common tech-writer’s tool. The editor (Deborah Ray) suggested revisions to change the intro into a problem/solution format. It was a new way of thinking about how I organized my writing, and that guidance helped me with more than just that article.

]]> By: Deanna Hoak http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3589 Deanna Hoak Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:57:51 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3589 Aw, thanks, Danny. I hadn't seen that yet. :-) Aw, thanks, Danny. I hadn’t seen that yet. :-)

]]> By: Danny Adams http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3588 Danny Adams Wed, 04 Oct 2006 00:28:14 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3588 Not exactly on topic, but sent because we love you, if you haven't seen it already... http://community.livejournal.com/cranky_editors/352145.html Not exactly on topic, but sent because we love you, if you haven’t seen it already…

http://community.livejournal.com/cranky_editors/352145.html

]]> By: Wendy S. Delmater http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3562 Wendy S. Delmater Tue, 03 Oct 2006 12:22:40 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3562 I like to think that one of the reasons for the uptick in postive reviews for Abyss & Apex since I took the helm is that we don't just put up stories as-is. If something took extensive rewrites but had a dynamite story underneath worth getting to, we did the work with the authors to make it so. It might be something as subtle as insisting on circularity like I did with "Museum Beetles"or as draconian as the six months of hair pulling that resulted in the agreed-upon final version of "Emmet, Joey & the Beelz." As for horror stories? Let's just say I had an author that was so dificult to work with I am inserting a kill-fee clause in our contracts. And I will never buy another thing from the person again. It may be art, but your story is also _product_ and entertainment. If no one "gets" what you are trying to do, I think you need to rethink the whole publication process. Self publish your navel-gazing and be done with it. I like to think that one of the reasons for the uptick in postive reviews for Abyss & Apex since I took the helm is that we don’t just put up stories as-is. If something took extensive rewrites but had a dynamite story underneath worth getting to, we did the work with the authors to make it so. It might be something as subtle as insisting on circularity like I did with “Museum Beetles”or as draconian as the six months of hair pulling that resulted in the agreed-upon final version of “Emmet, Joey & the Beelz.”

As for horror stories? Let’s just say I had an author that was so dificult to work with I am inserting a kill-fee clause in our contracts. And I will never buy another thing from the person again. It may be art, but your story is also _product_ and entertainment. If no one “gets” what you are trying to do, I think you need to rethink the whole publication process. Self publish your navel-gazing and be done with it.

]]> By: ilona http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3519 ilona Mon, 02 Oct 2006 10:15:02 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3519 You know mine :) You know mine :)

]]> By: Deanna Hoak http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3509 Deanna Hoak Mon, 02 Oct 2006 07:48:15 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3509 Michele: You can use nonfiction; just note that's what it is. Michele: You can use nonfiction; just note that’s what it is.

]]> By: Archangel Beth http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3502 Archangel Beth Mon, 02 Oct 2006 02:37:49 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3502 When my short story got into Sofawolf's _Best In Show_, they asked me about the capitalization of one of the alien terms I'd used. (I replied that, reconstructing my intent, one was capitalized and meant "Starship Captain," and the other was lowercased and meant "tribal leader." But that I wasn't insistent on either and would be happy if they decided to change 'em. Without looking at the book, I believe that they actually kept the differing capitalizations, for which I coo.) I've never had true copyedits that I disliked, on my fiction. (Now, on my work-for-hire, I've had a word cut that totally changed my intent -- "large minority" to "minority"... Grr.) When my short story got into Sofawolf’s _Best In Show_, they asked me about the capitalization of one of the alien terms I’d used. (I replied that, reconstructing my intent, one was capitalized and meant “Starship Captain,” and the other was lowercased and meant “tribal leader.” But that I wasn’t insistent on either and would be happy if they decided to change ‘em. Without looking at the book, I believe that they actually kept the differing capitalizations, for which I coo.)

I’ve never had true copyedits that I disliked, on my fiction. (Now, on my work-for-hire, I’ve had a word cut that totally changed my intent — “large minority” to “minority”… Grr.)

]]> By: Michele http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/comment-page-1/#comment-3501 Michele Mon, 02 Oct 2006 02:03:44 +0000 http://deannahoak.com/2006/10/01/author-query-the-good-and-the-bad-of-copyediting/#comment-3501 Are you looking only for comments about fiction copyedits? So far, my experience has been in technical writing. Are you looking only for comments about fiction copyedits? So far, my experience has been in technical writing.

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