Wat the Editor Know
Recently, I read this line on a chat group I hang with: An editor who does not charge is not a true editor. That sort of logic if taken to writing would say that an artist or writer or composer is not a true WHATEVER unless he or she is making money at it; unless and editor is making money at editing, he or she is not a real editor. This sort of snobbery has existed in NYC book business forever as they pay editors so well (HA!). I have had many many editors, some who woud place a comma between many many and some who would not, and I have as yet to find one properly compensated by anyone. I have also operated my own editorial services (Knife Services) from my website, and I charge half or a third of what some editors charge, and lately, the business is slow as molasses.
No one wants to pay for editing services. To this I can attest. To qualify that, few want to pay for editing services, but one way or another every author needs a great editor or two or three in order to truly get a MS to sing.
An editor for your work is worth his or her weight in gold, even if he or she edits your work for nothing but the opportunity and "privilege" and charge you nada...for no charge. Despite the line this blog began with, there are capable and surprisingly fine editors among those who do not charge a fee; I know because I have availed myself of some excellent editorial help at no charge over the years. These people are my early readers. People I have cultivated a strong friendship with as a result of our making great books together, people who wind up in my acknowledgment pages.
It may upset some pricey editors (some priced at ten dollars a page if you can imagine it) to hear such talk from a professional writer and published author, but I have relied all my life and career on people who have a sixth sense about what works and what does not work in a manuscript, items you want OUT before the MS goes to press or release to Kindle or Smashwords or wherever you are publishing nowadays.
My Children of Salem, my highest grossing Kindle title, was put through the grist mill by two editors in particular who suffered and struggled with me like Jonah and the Whale until we GOT it. My work in progress, Titanic 2012 has had the tremendous help of two editors in particular who have wrestled that one to the mat where they MAKE me wring out rather than ring out the right words and save me countless embarrssing moments as well as point out plot weaknesses and sags. They are simultaneously copyeditors and developmental editors these folks.
I go back as far as 1965 or 6 working with my Wells High School managing editor on the school newspaper for editorial advice, and damn but she was good with langauge and writing; one lesson she taught me then stayed with me all my writing career - Acitve over Passive. I get cudos for making my work "compelling, fast-paced, a page-turning roller-coaster ride" etc. etc. due in great part to my editorial board -- and now that I am a writer turned publisher putting out Original to Kindle titles, I rely even more on my early readers, my editorial board. They have recently truly impressed me, digging damn deep to make the work the best it can be to the point it is no longer about me but the novel itself that comes first. Of course, it helps that the publishing industry has long, long ago beat the living ego out of me.
My apologies to those who consider themselves legitimate editors because they charge a fee, whether fair or exorbitant, but sorry as I am, I must say that there are people who are not just willing to be early readers for an author but who become invaluable editors an author can and does TRUST, often just as much as he trusts an editor within a publishing house or with a logo. I love editors, love them all, and feel they all deserve a raise but the practice of authors cultivating two, three, four early readers is not likely to stop but increase as we go to press as Indie author-publishers. Certainly been the case with me, but then I had always cultivated early readers. By the same token, over the years, I have learned a great deal from my contacts with all editors, those who were paid--even if poorly by the publsihing house--and those who have graced me with thier help out of the goodness of heart and understanding and unfettered desire to be a part of the process of creation.
Sneak peek of Children of Salem and/or Titanic 2012 is available at http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
Thanks so much for coming by and do leave a comment, good, bad, ugly, indifferent but leave some word....
Robert W. Walker (Rob to my friends)
Showing posts with label ebook editing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ebook editing. Show all posts
Friday, July 30, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Any Editing/Vetting Opportunities in the Kindle Error? Era?
With ebook publishing opening up whole new avenues and revenues for Indie author/publishers like myself (2000 books sold in past 2 months), it SHOULD open up whole new avenues and revenues for Indie Book Editors! Why not? It has spawned a whole new business of Cover Art graphic experts, and experts at manuevering the digital platform requirements and html conversion work, so why not more editors?
I recieved (i before e except after c sometimes?) a request from a nice person other day asking me of all people "How does one succeed as an editor in the world of book publishing?" when in fact, I am possibly perhaps maybe the worst person to ask this of, but since "Nice Person" asked, I did not want to simply say, "I'm like the worst person to ask". Instead I wrote the following, which took some doing, which makes me a nice fellow too (insert a Lewis Black wink here).
Who makes more errors in a manuscript than I? Further for Farther, lay for lie, YOU'RE for YOUR, suit for suite and suite for sweet even. At any rate, I have had some experience with teachiing, speechifying, editing, proofing, rewriting, rethinking, restructuring manuscripts (40 some odd years) so here is what I had to say in response to Nice Person's inquiry:
First, I thought sure, dear, you were going to talk about some errors you found in Children of Salem--whew! Dodged that bullet. There is hardly a work of fiction or nonfiction that could not use yet another vetting as errors are like gremlins....they exist, they are real, they are everywhere!!! Boo! No matter how many times I editr...errr edit my own work, and send it to others to edit, something slips through....and quite often it is an error while fixing an error.
Now about making a living as an editor, especially freelancing it....this is a horribly tough row to hoe. There are some fine, wonderful editors available that I have found willy-nilly online just by happenstance and trial and error. But my first editor was a great friend who was Chief Overall Editor on my high school newspaper at Wells High, Chicago--and I still use lessons learned from Margaret Givhan such as work in active voice as much as humanly possible. So there is that. You may have people close to you who can do more than simply say of your book, "That's nice."
I also have been so put upon over the years since '79 by New York City publishing copyeditors that I had to soak up some truths about writing and rewriting. I have also become an editor myself and have proofed and ghost written my share of books via my Knife Services found at my website.
However, for the past year that business has absolutely dried up for me, despite the praise I get from clients. It is a gift that goes unrewarded and extremely hard to convert into funds. Most editors purely love the work, but unless attached to a magazine, a publishing house, working with a college PR department, or a PR division of a company or other group for steady work, there simply is nothing steady about freelance work. In short, one can starve worse than the writer starves while building a clientele.
Building a clientele can take years and look at me--no gaurantee of work the next day, week, month. I liken it to being a novelist or freelance writer. Complete uncertainty as to where the next job will come from. So I do not paint a pretty picture here.
With the onslaught of "Indie Author/Publishers" coming into being due to Smashwords, Kindle, and many other avenues open to writers today, this picture I paint above ought to change for editors hungry for work; in fact, the Kindle 'revolution' ought to open up whole new doors for editors as it has for a plethora of people now charging to do cover art and/or to place work up on digital platforms such as Kindle (http://www.dtp.amazon.com/) for the uninitiated.
Editors ought to be in extremly high wingnut demand (one reason they are often not in demand is the hubris of writers who think they don't need an editor! Fools that they be!). If I were seriously going to pursue an editing career as a young person today, I would go out into this Brave New M-M-Marketplace Online, and this means find where authors hang out online at such places like http://www.murdermustadvertise.com/ and of course http://www.kindle/ Korner@yahoogroups.com , the Kindle Boards at Amazon, various other Yahoo groups. I would Boogle...ah Goofle...ah Google for more places and introduce myself as the person who can make a Kindle title perfect in diction and detail before the author's GAFFs are speread to the forewinds of internet publishing. I would Play Up the fact that it is a well known that kindle readers are immediately turned off and will not return to an author whose work is not perfectly polished, and that a great editor is as important as great artwork, great title, great expert advice on guns, and a great resource librarian. That vetting and editing the book is essential.
I likely scare people off with my style of advertising for editing work with my "complete book autopsy" talk, and talk of slabs and dissecting the work. I mean who wants to go under the knife and do you have the guts, etc. By the same token, an editor needs a logo and a motto and advertising savvy as any other business on the web. Turn your editing business into a metaphor for instance of sewing, knit-one, pearl-two..."We keep you in stitches" or "We do great seems, ah seams, ah scenes!"
In any event, it is difficult to get people to part with money for any service but particularly editing. I think many people see it as the last item to spend money on...kind of like having to pay for air to put in your tires. Sorry but that is the sad truth aka reality of it...a reality that people who love editing deal with every day.
Now as to pricing: it is all over the map. The high end editors who worked at one time for NYC publishers often are out of sight at six or more dollars per page, or they will bill by the hour and you can 'take it or lump it' as they say. The average bill I see is four an hour, but I have known at least one NYC based editor charging eight dollars a page! No one, in my opinion, rates that but some people buy their coffee at Starbucks too, thinking the higher the price, the better the quality, and I don't get that. Certainly not true with price of books on Kindle! All my titles are 2.99 save for 3 books I don't control.
The average at low end is 3 bucks per page and I have charged in the past as as much as 5 and as little as 2.50 per page depending on difficulty of the work. Some jobs mean a near ghost writing effort, some develop into ghost writing! while others are a breeze. I never charged by the hour, because it sets up all kinds of questions in the client's mind as to how you do your bookkeeping, can I really trust you, etc., whereas in charging by the page everything is out in the open.
I routinely work with first chapter or first 30 pages before committing to the entire novel or book--like the one entirely from the point of view of a Bonsai tree (client has passed away, so I figure it is OK to speak of it here and will not be attacked by a lawsuit). This way either party can back out if unhappy with the circumstances--as in: you learn too late that you're dealing with someone on a certain medication that makes her think herself an angel or worse!
I hope this has been of some help, and that it has provided you with some guidance, and wish I could be more upbeat about it. Still perhaps the new avenue for writers--ebook publising--will open up new avenues for editors as well it SHOULD! Thanks -- and happy writing, editing, vetting all...
Rob Walker
Children of Salem, Killer Instinct, Cutting Edge
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she
meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again." Rick Polito's
single-sentence summation for the Wizard of Oz.
I recieved (i before e except after c sometimes?) a request from a nice person other day asking me of all people "How does one succeed as an editor in the world of book publishing?" when in fact, I am possibly perhaps maybe the worst person to ask this of, but since "Nice Person" asked, I did not want to simply say, "I'm like the worst person to ask". Instead I wrote the following, which took some doing, which makes me a nice fellow too (insert a Lewis Black wink here).
Who makes more errors in a manuscript than I? Further for Farther, lay for lie, YOU'RE for YOUR, suit for suite and suite for sweet even. At any rate, I have had some experience with teachiing, speechifying, editing, proofing, rewriting, rethinking, restructuring manuscripts (40 some odd years) so here is what I had to say in response to Nice Person's inquiry:
First, I thought sure, dear, you were going to talk about some errors you found in Children of Salem--whew! Dodged that bullet. There is hardly a work of fiction or nonfiction that could not use yet another vetting as errors are like gremlins....they exist, they are real, they are everywhere!!! Boo! No matter how many times I editr...errr edit my own work, and send it to others to edit, something slips through....and quite often it is an error while fixing an error.
Now about making a living as an editor, especially freelancing it....this is a horribly tough row to hoe. There are some fine, wonderful editors available that I have found willy-nilly online just by happenstance and trial and error. But my first editor was a great friend who was Chief Overall Editor on my high school newspaper at Wells High, Chicago--and I still use lessons learned from Margaret Givhan such as work in active voice as much as humanly possible. So there is that. You may have people close to you who can do more than simply say of your book, "That's nice."
I also have been so put upon over the years since '79 by New York City publishing copyeditors that I had to soak up some truths about writing and rewriting. I have also become an editor myself and have proofed and ghost written my share of books via my Knife Services found at my website.
However, for the past year that business has absolutely dried up for me, despite the praise I get from clients. It is a gift that goes unrewarded and extremely hard to convert into funds. Most editors purely love the work, but unless attached to a magazine, a publishing house, working with a college PR department, or a PR division of a company or other group for steady work, there simply is nothing steady about freelance work. In short, one can starve worse than the writer starves while building a clientele.
Building a clientele can take years and look at me--no gaurantee of work the next day, week, month. I liken it to being a novelist or freelance writer. Complete uncertainty as to where the next job will come from. So I do not paint a pretty picture here.
With the onslaught of "Indie Author/Publishers" coming into being due to Smashwords, Kindle, and many other avenues open to writers today, this picture I paint above ought to change for editors hungry for work; in fact, the Kindle 'revolution' ought to open up whole new doors for editors as it has for a plethora of people now charging to do cover art and/or to place work up on digital platforms such as Kindle (http://www.dtp.amazon.com/) for the uninitiated.
Editors ought to be in extremly high wingnut demand (one reason they are often not in demand is the hubris of writers who think they don't need an editor! Fools that they be!). If I were seriously going to pursue an editing career as a young person today, I would go out into this Brave New M-M-Marketplace Online, and this means find where authors hang out online at such places like http://www.murdermustadvertise.com/ and of course http://www.kindle/ Korner@yahoogroups.com , the Kindle Boards at Amazon, various other Yahoo groups. I would Boogle...ah Goofle...ah Google for more places and introduce myself as the person who can make a Kindle title perfect in diction and detail before the author's GAFFs are speread to the forewinds of internet publishing. I would Play Up the fact that it is a well known that kindle readers are immediately turned off and will not return to an author whose work is not perfectly polished, and that a great editor is as important as great artwork, great title, great expert advice on guns, and a great resource librarian. That vetting and editing the book is essential.
I likely scare people off with my style of advertising for editing work with my "complete book autopsy" talk, and talk of slabs and dissecting the work. I mean who wants to go under the knife and do you have the guts, etc. By the same token, an editor needs a logo and a motto and advertising savvy as any other business on the web. Turn your editing business into a metaphor for instance of sewing, knit-one, pearl-two..."We keep you in stitches" or "We do great seems, ah seams, ah scenes!"
In any event, it is difficult to get people to part with money for any service but particularly editing. I think many people see it as the last item to spend money on...kind of like having to pay for air to put in your tires. Sorry but that is the sad truth aka reality of it...a reality that people who love editing deal with every day.
Now as to pricing: it is all over the map. The high end editors who worked at one time for NYC publishers often are out of sight at six or more dollars per page, or they will bill by the hour and you can 'take it or lump it' as they say. The average bill I see is four an hour, but I have known at least one NYC based editor charging eight dollars a page! No one, in my opinion, rates that but some people buy their coffee at Starbucks too, thinking the higher the price, the better the quality, and I don't get that. Certainly not true with price of books on Kindle! All my titles are 2.99 save for 3 books I don't control.
The average at low end is 3 bucks per page and I have charged in the past as as much as 5 and as little as 2.50 per page depending on difficulty of the work. Some jobs mean a near ghost writing effort, some develop into ghost writing! while others are a breeze. I never charged by the hour, because it sets up all kinds of questions in the client's mind as to how you do your bookkeeping, can I really trust you, etc., whereas in charging by the page everything is out in the open.
I routinely work with first chapter or first 30 pages before committing to the entire novel or book--like the one entirely from the point of view of a Bonsai tree (client has passed away, so I figure it is OK to speak of it here and will not be attacked by a lawsuit). This way either party can back out if unhappy with the circumstances--as in: you learn too late that you're dealing with someone on a certain medication that makes her think herself an angel or worse!
I hope this has been of some help, and that it has provided you with some guidance, and wish I could be more upbeat about it. Still perhaps the new avenue for writers--ebook publising--will open up new avenues for editors as well it SHOULD! Thanks -- and happy writing, editing, vetting all...
Rob Walker
Children of Salem, Killer Instinct, Cutting Edge
http://www.robertwalkerbooks.com/
"Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she
meets and then teams up with three strangers to kill again." Rick Polito's
single-sentence summation for the Wizard of Oz.
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