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 