When the email containing the line edits popped up from my publisher, my stomach sank. Here it was, two weeks or so after I submitted my final MS to them. This is the part that all writers dread.
I didn’t open the email for a while. I calmly responded to everything else that was in my queue before I even looked at it.
Then, of course, I could procrastinate no longer. It said in big bold print “READ THIS EMAIL BEFORE YOU OPEN THE ATTACHMENTS”. Like a good little girl, I did. It was probably good that I did, because it kept me from throwing things.
They explained first that one attachment shows all the edits they made, and in some cases, comments why they made them. The second attachment was a clean copy that was not marked up, showing the MS as it would look if I accept all their suggestions/edits.
I grit my teeth, and opened the “marked up” attachment.
No, I was not happy.
To some extent, I expected this. Every author I have spoken to has gone through it… The slicing panic, the urge to kill, the personal affront. –My publisher warned in the email that I would feel this way, and gave leeway to vent to the poor marketing liaison if it would make me feel better. – I didn’t do that – I did the right thing. I read it, I grit my teeth, and I went to bed.
There’s a ton to be learned here, so let me digest it all (and work on my MS, of course) and we’ll go through it next week. Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel – eeeerrr… um… same web-site address, that is.
Awe, forget about it… Tune in next week.
Jennifer M Eaton 
If and when I ever get to this point I really hope I can do as you have done.
Hang on in there!
Thanks. I’m sure you will do fine
Hang in there. I’m sure you’re on top of your game.
Trudging along!
I’m loving reading about your journey, far more than you loving it right now, but I’m looking forward to hearing the outcome of all your red pen adjustments. I hope the sleep made it a little better.
A little 🙂
Maybe you should’ve went to bed and read the email in the morning. I don’t think I would’ve been able to sleep after reading it.
Luckily for me… nothing stops me from sleeping.
I hope you took a LONG nap. I don’t envy you your pain right now, but have really loved hearing about your publishing journey. It is so interesting.
Hmmm… Char loves hearing about my pain.
No….I love hearing how you get through your pain.
Ah hAaaaaaaa. I know your kind. 🙂 Just messing with ya. I’m in a hokey mood.
I’ve never had a line edit, never been published, but aren’t they very strong suggestions made by a very reliable critter.
How bad is it? Would they change a word, phrase, or worse? This person from the other side of the page wants to know.
A little of everything you’ve listed. I’ll go into it later
Good., I look forward to it. do you have all this listed under a category? I kind of popped-in in the middle of all the posts and would like to the lot. 🙂
Look in my right navigation bar under “Rant Worthy Topics” and Choose “Road to Publication”. Enjoy!
Perfect.
Enjoy!
Oiiiiii – Line edits! truly, the bane of our existence … but oh, so, necessary!
Yes, unfortunately
Hang in there, Jennifer! You can do this! It’ a rite of passage, and you will get through to the other side. And you are helping so many of us by sharing your experiences. So, many thanks again!
Hmmm.. Is that a light on the other side? But they said not to go into the light!
Take a gun, grab some old antiques, and go outside for target practive. I’ve never done this, but I hear it’s a great stress reliever! Congrats to you for getting through it. I know that would not be easy. I’m going through editing two books, one nonfiction with a client/ partner and a fiction manuscript of my own. It is nice to know other writers feel the same way before looking at critiques and suggested changes. Thanks for your great post!
Or, buy the biggest bag of dark chocolate smidgens I can find, and chow down until I puke!
buy some cheep crockery at goodwill that you can break.
Ha! What kind of lesson would that teach my kids?
Don’t bring crockery to a knife fight?
Don’t despair. It will be great when it’s finished. I learned a lot about editing from my first book and the second was less painful.
I certainly hope so. Maybe I will be a little more prepared.
I look forward to hearing more about this, as I will be facing the same thing soon (or at least, I hope that email will eventually come; my editor hasn’t exactly been prompt 🙂 )
Hopefully that’s not because they are still hacking away huge chunks of it!
Fingers crossed…
Crossing with you! Let me know how it goes!
A night’s perspective might be a nice break from the edits. Did it work? Hope so. Not having had to do this before, I have no idea the pain you’re feeling, but I can sincerely say I hope the edits aren’t too cruel and do, in fact, make the book even more awesome.
Still digesting. A lot of them I agree with.
Oh, I do so rememember the slicing and dicing with my book. At first, those endless editor requests were incredibly painful. Then, much to my surprise, the trimming got sort of fun. I wrote a pictue book, so the common refrain was “How can I make this shorter?” This oft repeated question became a sort of game for me. (YES! I shaved off another word without losing my “voice!”)
In the end, I was delighted to discover that my pesky editor was right; shorter made it better.
I agree that shorter is better to an extent… unless you lose chracterization and plot.
Well, that goes without saying!
Did you agree with any of the edits or is it too early to tell?
Some. Actually, a lot. Most of them were simple. Some….. well, not ready to go there yet.
Wow, now you have me shaking in my boots! Not at that stage yet . . . they sent me a 13 page Style Guide and told me to conform my ms to that first, and shorten the flashbacks or move them or take them out . . . and then to send it in for line editing.
Yep. I got one of those too. These are their edits to my MS after conforming to their style manual. **GACK**
Constructive criticism. Gah! Hate constructive criticism. But always benefit from it.
If have read the unmarked completed one first…less reaction to seeing the corrections and more clear sight to see how it would look in the end. Seems like it would be less shocking that way?
Yeah, but I can totally see my lost voice in some parts where they changed something.
that sucks. I wonder sometimes how editors can accept someones work (because of that person’s voice) and then remove the part that makes it yours. I don’t know if I could be as mature as you about it. I’d have to be gagged and let someone else negotiate with them, or it’d be uuuuugly.
They actually gave me the okay to talk it over if I ever felt my voice was lost in the edits. Yes, there will be some discussion. Good Night! (Good morning to you, right?)
yep.. a balmy (read – steamy) 7am. 🙂 nighty night!
That still cracks me up. So weird.
WHOOP! Early morning sentence-rework crash-and-burn. S/b
“…but he kept some cliche twists…”
Slinking away for more caffeine now.
I hope it’s chocolate covered.
Your angst (looking for a word that’s better than anger) is totally understandable, Jennifer.
I had one short story accepted for publication in an anthology, but the “collector” of the stories chose to rewrite the stories. No line edits for comments. No opportunity to rework where he had problems. He took my story, dropped much of the storyline, dumped my voice altogether, and flat-lined it to his non-emotive style.
He didn’t like the hints of romance–the core of the story. I pulled my story and suffered through his whining pleas to let him publish it. Nope. I would have offered to let him publish under his own byline but he not kept some cliche twists that were faves of mine.
I had to pull an aweful lot of elements out of the story… romance being one of them. They didn’t want it too complicated.
I seriously feel your pain – they kill all the good babies don’t they – but it is all part of the whole being published thing —
Yeah. I expected it, but expecting, and actually seeing it are two different things. There is a “shock factor” initially. You definitely need to sit back and breathe.
I’m really enjoying you taking us through all these stages with you – I’m not enjoying that you’re having a difficult time with some of it you understand, but I’m enjoying experiencing it all through your eyes!
Not really a difficult time… It’s just the first-time around slap in the face. You know what I mean?
I just got back edits on a full length novel. There are a HEAP of alterations to the first 50-ish pages. My head revolted. My fingers refused to click the button to take me past each one. I quite possibly sulked (I do this a lot over edits), but after a couple of days away from looking at them/worrying over them, I managed to get through over 70 pages of them yesterday with barely a growl. Seeing what’s been done is always a shock initially. But trust me when I say that my work has ended up improved after edits every time. It just takes a strong person to suck up the pride and admit that these editors might actually know better than you. 🙂
Yes, most of it is fine. There are a few things, though, that will need further discussion/understanding.
Oh, honey, I feel the pain. Been there. Done that. And I thought mark ups from beta and critique partners were bad. Heh, those were walks in the park on a sunny day with a slushy in hand compared to what a real editor/publisher will do to our babies. I’ll be waiting to see what you do with your publisher’s suggestions.
Hee Hee. The good thing about Betas is you can tell them to go take a flying leap if you want. This relationship is contractual (Not that I want to tell my publisher to take a flying leap. I LOVE them) WINK WINK 🙂