Thursday, April 14, 2011

Editing is Not a Quick Process

So, I'm editing my manuscript right now and figuring out how to use track changes all over again.  It has been a slow process because I'm re-reading, blushing at my obvious errors, and making more changes as I go.  As the process got more and more tedious, I was tempted to just throw my hands up, accept all the changes, and send it back to my editor.  The truth is though, the perfectionist in me wouldn't let me do something like that.  But today, I read a blog by one of the Wild Rose Press editors at http://behindthegardengate.blogspot.com/ and it became clear that there are authors who do exactly what I was tempted to do and send back the manuscript the next day.  Unfortunately, this sends the wrong message to the editor who worked so hard to go through the manuscript, trying to make it publishable.  The authors who did this though argued that they needed to get their books out as quickly as possible, and it takes months to actually publish, even online.  Yet, if your goal is to build an audience, wouldn't the best possible product, one that the author really cared enough to make as perfect as possible, be a manuscript that had been gone over several times.  As the editor from Wild Rose Press expressed--it's not a fast food kind of process.

What do you think though?  Is a quick publication worth a rush on the editing?  Is there a hard and fast rule when it comes to quality?  I'd be interested in what you think.

Happy Writing!

2 comments:

  1. I'm too critical of myself to just accept all changes without looking at what I did wrong. As for the obvious things, I'm the same way. When they highlight something so incredibly stupid, I blush and grit my teeth.
    For those authors that accept all and push their book out, I think they are doing the reader a disservice, as well as themselves. If somebody is going to take the time and money to check out your work, you should do everything in your power to make sure the product is perfect. And how will you learn if you don't take the time to understand your mistakes.
    Another thought is, the editor is not always right. You hope they are, but they are people too, and just as fallible as anybody else. If you 'accept all changes', including potential editor mistakes, that mistake will follow you your entire career.
    Take the time to put out a product that is as perfect as you can make it.

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  2. I totally agree with you, even if it takes a little longer.

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