Only now discovered this gem of a post. Will look you up Heather, for my next book. I too was hit by a vehicle, while pregnant no less… but it was only a touch by someone rolling through a stop sign as I crossed. Not comparable to being hit by a truck!
I got T-boned by an SUV on my bike once in Brooklyn. I still miss those Prospect Park loops, but I figured it was my newly-diseased grandmother whacking me to move to Jersey, so I did, since she was kind enough to let me walk away from that accident (in life, Grandma’s whacks were not always so kind).
omg you're a trooper! I've done a bit of copy editing in my life, but never while taking tylenol with scotch! 😆 Oh, and sorry about the whole truck thing, too.
I also fell victim to someone who offered to edit a piece. A friend with experience!
She is no longer a friend. Downgraded now, to an acquaintance. You get to manage those!
She edited out of my beautiful “Irishisims” My piece and I nearly died a writers death.
Rule no.1. Never do business with family and friends!
I took the financial hit. I didn’t argue and lost my will to write. My confidence flew out the window.
So I took to dissecting Mars bars and eating them with a knife and fork, with a side of cheese n’ onion Tayto chips.
That only serve to add to my waistline, gave me wicked breath. I remembered the last time I had eaten so much Tayto was in The Coombe Hospital, Dublin, giving birth to twins.
Thankfully I returned to writing and the joy of better friendships. Your pieces always inspire me.
I completely agree! Friends can not be editors. My Irishisms were also edited out. I’m Irish, for God’s sake, of course there are going to be Irishisms! She was Australian, and we were both living in Hurghada at the time. She HATED colons. I like them!
On another note, I had twins too, Christmas day in Holles street, in the 90s.
I am now saving for a ‘proper’ editor, even if I have to pay through the nose! I often think about Margaret and her team. That’ll be me - sometime before I die! (I’m now sixty and, with a bit of luck, may finish my planned books).
You go for it. I’m 66 now and still waiting to be discovered. Living in Canada, I can’t return to live in Ireland as I have developed wicked arthritis.
If you get discovered before me and live somewhere warm, I’ll join your team.
Agree, also with Miriam below. Best is to have a writing group where fellow writers can be critical of your work, but also encouraging. And not in any way related to you!
I love beautiful "Irishisms". I am actually looking for them for my hand done novel: Long Tea with the Bird Lady.
My one experience of reading an excerpt of my novel to my writing group, had too many old ladies, red faced and embarrassed saying they abhorred it for being too sexualising, while also saying they couldn't look at me or read on because they knew me too well, and were my friends.
It's a great lesson learned not to do business with friends.
Love this! As a once-upon-a-time-editor, I asked an author to change a main character from male to female, and then, after he had done so, to change the now-female back to male. It's a wonder I'm still alive.
I'm at the proof stage of my first novel 'The Genius Killer' I used a brilliant Irish company to help me get the book in shape. I had two 'readers reports' from published authors - in reality this was editing. In the long run extremely helpful but my second editor absolutely devastated me with some of the feedback. If my serial killer hadn't been fictional I would have pointed him in this person's direction for one final, tumultuous hit! However, once I'd absorbed the pain and shock, I rewrote my novel (for the fourth time) and now, hopefully, it's a rollicking old read with no plot holes, the right timeline and a pacy narrative. Without the editorial finger nail extraction I would never have got my product to market. Margaret is a legend and this piece was so real to me - and made me laugh 😂
At age 60, I self-published A Singer's Playbook- For Late Bloomers and OK Boomers. I did so without benefit of an editor, as the cost was prohibitive. Happily, I wrote it for adults new to the practice of singing, most of whom enrol in my coaching program, so stakes are low, questions are welcomed and reviews are usually delivered in person, cordially :) Being an independent musician and now a self-published author, I can't be certain of the quality of my work but I can say I didn't let gatekeepers stop me from creating recordings and a book that I believe to be something beautiful for the world. I can only hope my obscure offerings find their way to appreciative ears and eyes. No regrets!
Am I also to believe that (per the comic) The Testaments was originally called The Testicles before editing? What a different book that would have been.
I think that with a male author [i.e. one who identifies as quintessentially male] there be a near perfect je ne sais quoi in 'the testaments' being indeed 'the testicles'. Or should that be testes?
If you self-publish, you still need an editor. Some editors at publishing houses are extraordinary! I've written 10 books and 5 with one editor who taught me so much about book construction. Even Capote and Hemingway had editors! I'd still be working with her but she wanted a life so she got married and had a child. Imagine that :0)
Luckily hiring experienced editors is getting easier and easier, which is what I do. Like hiring a consultant, you need to vet for someone who won’t just sit there to please.
Of the few inept editors I've encountered, none just sat there and wanted to please me. If only! LOL. The problem was not understanding the material and making moronic comments. One editor asked me to remove the word 'energy' from the manuscript. I said: "You know I am the Zen Organizer, right? I address meditation, Feng Shui, acupuncture...all modalities that essentially deal with energy. If you didn't want words like that, why did you ask me to write the book?" A good editor is worth his or her weight in gold.
I recently saw the film Turn Every Page, which details the 50+ year ongoing relationship between author Robert Caro (Power Broker) and Robert Gottlieb, former editor-in-chief at Knopf. Today’s essay took me to the descriptions by others at Knopf of the testy arguments the author and editor would have about every addition, deletion, or modification of every line, paragraph, chapter, and punctuation of a book.
I agreed once as a favour to edit fiction. Slogged away for days, untangling the first few chapters of the tale. Received the updated and extended draft a few weeks later, to see most of my effort reverted to its original entanglement. It felt like being hit by a truck (though I have no doubt Heather would disagree). That was enough for me.
I think the issue is that the process is not easy and certainly not something I would land on someone as some sort of 'gift'. Fortunately my mother was an editor mostly of technical although sometimes academic manuscripts so this has helped keep costs down. For any laborious task expecting others to do it for gratis is beyond temerity. That said the author has a right to expect a good job so Margaret's account of leaving her publisher rings very true.
Thank you so much for writing this. I love the cartoon too. I'm grateful for my editor(s), though I don't always agree, it's good to have those conversations. I could only wish for a side-by-side experience such as you have with Heather. What a treat!
I've been trying to be all these editorial people myself. A few kind (and brave) souls have been helping me to overcome what I we've come to know as fridge blindness... It's that thing where you open the fridge to take out the tomatoes, or the left over rice. They are nowhere to be found. And yet... when the other person opens the fridge door they prompty launch themselves into the waiting arms...
Well, I'm a freelance editor and it often seems to me my job is to tell people stuff they don't want to hear. And then they have to pay me for it. How crazy is that?
Yes, we did.
Margaret is an exemplary combat medic. And I’m living proof that writers aren’t the only ones who bleed during The Editorial Process!
BTW, I do my own stunts at strongfinish.net. If you have a manuscript or questions, I’d be happy to take a look and talk to you about next steps.
Only now discovered this gem of a post. Will look you up Heather, for my next book. I too was hit by a vehicle, while pregnant no less… but it was only a touch by someone rolling through a stop sign as I crossed. Not comparable to being hit by a truck!
You sound like a One Woman Editing Wonder Woman. Wow, what a magnificent work ethic.
I got T-boned by an SUV on my bike once in Brooklyn. I still miss those Prospect Park loops, but I figured it was my newly-diseased grandmother whacking me to move to Jersey, so I did, since she was kind enough to let me walk away from that accident (in life, Grandma’s whacks were not always so kind).
Great website, Heather! I just visited and love it!
omg you're a trooper! I've done a bit of copy editing in my life, but never while taking tylenol with scotch! 😆 Oh, and sorry about the whole truck thing, too.
I love this so much.
Great timing as I have returned to writing.
I also fell victim to someone who offered to edit a piece. A friend with experience!
She is no longer a friend. Downgraded now, to an acquaintance. You get to manage those!
She edited out of my beautiful “Irishisims” My piece and I nearly died a writers death.
Rule no.1. Never do business with family and friends!
I took the financial hit. I didn’t argue and lost my will to write. My confidence flew out the window.
So I took to dissecting Mars bars and eating them with a knife and fork, with a side of cheese n’ onion Tayto chips.
That only serve to add to my waistline, gave me wicked breath. I remembered the last time I had eaten so much Tayto was in The Coombe Hospital, Dublin, giving birth to twins.
Thankfully I returned to writing and the joy of better friendships. Your pieces always inspire me.
I completely agree! Friends can not be editors. My Irishisms were also edited out. I’m Irish, for God’s sake, of course there are going to be Irishisms! She was Australian, and we were both living in Hurghada at the time. She HATED colons. I like them!
On another note, I had twins too, Christmas day in Holles street, in the 90s.
I am now saving for a ‘proper’ editor, even if I have to pay through the nose! I often think about Margaret and her team. That’ll be me - sometime before I die! (I’m now sixty and, with a bit of luck, may finish my planned books).
You go for it. I’m 66 now and still waiting to be discovered. Living in Canada, I can’t return to live in Ireland as I have developed wicked arthritis.
If you get discovered before me and live somewhere warm, I’ll join your team.
BTW. I like Colin’s too.
Agree, also with Miriam below. Best is to have a writing group where fellow writers can be critical of your work, but also encouraging. And not in any way related to you!
I love beautiful "Irishisms". I am actually looking for them for my hand done novel: Long Tea with the Bird Lady.
My one experience of reading an excerpt of my novel to my writing group, had too many old ladies, red faced and embarrassed saying they abhorred it for being too sexualising, while also saying they couldn't look at me or read on because they knew me too well, and were my friends.
It's a great lesson learned not to do business with friends.
I love your reply, and Margaret A's too.
Thank you so much for the entertaining romp.
Heather is a treasure, and so are you. Thank you.
Love this! As a once-upon-a-time-editor, I asked an author to change a main character from male to female, and then, after he had done so, to change the now-female back to male. It's a wonder I'm still alive.
😳🫣🤣🤣😅
Brilliant!
I'm at the proof stage of my first novel 'The Genius Killer' I used a brilliant Irish company to help me get the book in shape. I had two 'readers reports' from published authors - in reality this was editing. In the long run extremely helpful but my second editor absolutely devastated me with some of the feedback. If my serial killer hadn't been fictional I would have pointed him in this person's direction for one final, tumultuous hit! However, once I'd absorbed the pain and shock, I rewrote my novel (for the fourth time) and now, hopefully, it's a rollicking old read with no plot holes, the right timeline and a pacy narrative. Without the editorial finger nail extraction I would never have got my product to market. Margaret is a legend and this piece was so real to me - and made me laugh 😂
Of course I now want to know the name of this brilliant Irish company?
Margaret it's Inkwell in Wicklow run by Vanessa O'Loughlin AKA Sam Blake.
Of course 👌Good luck with publication etc. Mark
(☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞ THANK YOU for making me laugh!
At age 60, I self-published A Singer's Playbook- For Late Bloomers and OK Boomers. I did so without benefit of an editor, as the cost was prohibitive. Happily, I wrote it for adults new to the practice of singing, most of whom enrol in my coaching program, so stakes are low, questions are welcomed and reviews are usually delivered in person, cordially :) Being an independent musician and now a self-published author, I can't be certain of the quality of my work but I can say I didn't let gatekeepers stop me from creating recordings and a book that I believe to be something beautiful for the world. I can only hope my obscure offerings find their way to appreciative ears and eyes. No regrets!
Am I also to believe that (per the comic) The Testaments was originally called The Testicles before editing? What a different book that would have been.
Noooo.... that was a joke.
I was also joking - a thing I'm not much good at, I'm afraid.
Pity.
An epic post many benefits Margaret.
I think that with a male author [i.e. one who identifies as quintessentially male] there be a near perfect je ne sais quoi in 'the testaments' being indeed 'the testicles'. Or should that be testes?
this is the best argument I’ve heard for self-publishing yet...if you’re not broke...
If you self-publish, you still need an editor. Some editors at publishing houses are extraordinary! I've written 10 books and 5 with one editor who taught me so much about book construction. Even Capote and Hemingway had editors! I'd still be working with her but she wanted a life so she got married and had a child. Imagine that :0)
Luckily hiring experienced editors is getting easier and easier, which is what I do. Like hiring a consultant, you need to vet for someone who won’t just sit there to please.
Of the few inept editors I've encountered, none just sat there and wanted to please me. If only! LOL. The problem was not understanding the material and making moronic comments. One editor asked me to remove the word 'energy' from the manuscript. I said: "You know I am the Zen Organizer, right? I address meditation, Feng Shui, acupuncture...all modalities that essentially deal with energy. If you didn't want words like that, why did you ask me to write the book?" A good editor is worth his or her weight in gold.
I’d love to have an editor like that! Screw traffic accidents! ‘Tis but a scratch! Let’s get to work!
Self-publish is not to say don't do a professional job. Writers need editors period .
There is every argument for self-publishing. Who are these 'big cheeses' who apparently know it all?! Because I think they're phantoms...!!!
I recently saw the film Turn Every Page, which details the 50+ year ongoing relationship between author Robert Caro (Power Broker) and Robert Gottlieb, former editor-in-chief at Knopf. Today’s essay took me to the descriptions by others at Knopf of the testy arguments the author and editor would have about every addition, deletion, or modification of every line, paragraph, chapter, and punctuation of a book.
Heather is a beast and this is exactly what I needed to tackle my monster
This is exactly what I needed to read at the exact moment I needed to read it. Thank you.
I agreed once as a favour to edit fiction. Slogged away for days, untangling the first few chapters of the tale. Received the updated and extended draft a few weeks later, to see most of my effort reverted to its original entanglement. It felt like being hit by a truck (though I have no doubt Heather would disagree). That was enough for me.
I think the issue is that the process is not easy and certainly not something I would land on someone as some sort of 'gift'. Fortunately my mother was an editor mostly of technical although sometimes academic manuscripts so this has helped keep costs down. For any laborious task expecting others to do it for gratis is beyond temerity. That said the author has a right to expect a good job so Margaret's account of leaving her publisher rings very true.
Thank you so much for writing this. I love the cartoon too. I'm grateful for my editor(s), though I don't always agree, it's good to have those conversations. I could only wish for a side-by-side experience such as you have with Heather. What a treat!
I've been trying to be all these editorial people myself. A few kind (and brave) souls have been helping me to overcome what I we've come to know as fridge blindness... It's that thing where you open the fridge to take out the tomatoes, or the left over rice. They are nowhere to be found. And yet... when the other person opens the fridge door they prompty launch themselves into the waiting arms...
Well, I'm a freelance editor and it often seems to me my job is to tell people stuff they don't want to hear. And then they have to pay me for it. How crazy is that?
This left me with a massive smile. Wow.. gotta love Heather;)