Who line edits, proofreads some of these expensive books: Microsoft Word? - CrimeSpace2024-03-29T00:42:11Zhttp://crimespace.ning.com/forum/topics/who-line-edits-proofreads-some?commentId=537324%3AComment%3A182405&feed=yes&xn_auth=noI think that the writers are…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-21:537324:Comment:1838682009-02-21T20:54:14.430ZKathryn Lilleyhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/KathrynL
I think that the writers are the least likely people to catch their own copyedit-level errors. As the author, you've read your content a thousand times, so your brain tends to automatically fill in what's <i>supposed</i> to be there, not what's actually there. It takes an outside person's eye to catch the gooflaws. I've been both an editor (technical) and a writer, so I'm familiar with this process on both sides of the equation. It's much easier to catch copyedit-type errors in work that is not…
I think that the writers are the least likely people to catch their own copyedit-level errors. As the author, you've read your content a thousand times, so your brain tends to automatically fill in what's <i>supposed</i> to be there, not what's actually there. It takes an outside person's eye to catch the gooflaws. I've been both an editor (technical) and a writer, so I'm familiar with this process on both sides of the equation. It's much easier to catch copyedit-type errors in work that is not my own. In my own work, I'll often repeatedly overlook a missing word, which is very frustrating. I really rely on my publisher's copyeditor. Well, I've had a reasonable a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1824052009-02-15T23:09:40.814ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
Well, I've had a reasonable amount of time. My galleys that apeared 2 days before Christmas were due back Jan. 7. But I never go through 3 times. I go through once, at the rate of about 50 pages per day. 25 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. Otherwise my eyes glaze. Errors slip in not only from the author, but from anyone else who handles the text subsequently. And copy-editors make occasional embarrassing mistakes when they change an author's version. Even when they don't make mistakes,…
Well, I've had a reasonable amount of time. My galleys that apeared 2 days before Christmas were due back Jan. 7. But I never go through 3 times. I go through once, at the rate of about 50 pages per day. 25 in the morning and 25 in the afternoon. Otherwise my eyes glaze. Errors slip in not only from the author, but from anyone else who handles the text subsequently. And copy-editors make occasional embarrassing mistakes when they change an author's version. Even when they don't make mistakes, their versions are not always better. I use my "stets" fairly liberally. And while one is grateful to the copy-editor (invariably a somewhat overly fussy individual who believes authors are illiterate), one also gets very frustrated with the insertion of tons of optional commas and other irrelevancies. You are lucky then. Congrats.tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1824002009-02-15T22:59:07.844ZI. J. Parkerhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Ingpark
You are lucky then. Congrats.
You are lucky then. Congrats. I wouldn't go that far: Perki…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1823762009-02-15T21:29:51.968ZJon Loomishttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
I wouldn't go that far: Perkins was a stylist and maybe the real genius behind Hemingway's work--Hemingway wouldn't have sounded like Hemingway without Perkins. My editor's mostly hands-off regarding style, which is just the way I like it. I know how to write a sentence so it sounds like me. Where I need help sometimes is with the macro stuff, as I said above.
I wouldn't go that far: Perkins was a stylist and maybe the real genius behind Hemingway's work--Hemingway wouldn't have sounded like Hemingway without Perkins. My editor's mostly hands-off regarding style, which is just the way I like it. I know how to write a sentence so it sounds like me. Where I need help sometimes is with the macro stuff, as I said above. I do hate the waitwaitwait, h…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1823742009-02-15T21:27:07.032ZJon Loomishttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
I do hate the waitwaitwait, hurryhurryhurry component, and I worry, too, about whether the last round of changes will actually make it to print; talking through larger corrections with my editor helps, but it doesn't always mean they get done. The good news is that they're in a hurry because they've got promotional plans for your book. No hurry equals who cares, as far as they're concerned.
I do hate the waitwaitwait, hurryhurryhurry component, and I worry, too, about whether the last round of changes will actually make it to print; talking through larger corrections with my editor helps, but it doesn't always mean they get done. The good news is that they're in a hurry because they've got promotional plans for your book. No hurry equals who cares, as far as they're concerned. on the other hand, i'm surpri…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1822652009-02-15T16:03:25.242ZAnne Frasierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
on the other hand, i'm surprised the expensive books have so many mistakes, because publishing houses have their tiers of freelance copy editors, etc, and they would most-likely be using their best freelancers for the big books. but i imagine those freelancers are also getting material with little or no warning and a few days to turn it around.
on the other hand, i'm surprised the expensive books have so many mistakes, because publishing houses have their tiers of freelance copy editors, etc, and they would most-likely be using their best freelancers for the big books. but i imagine those freelancers are also getting material with little or no warning and a few days to turn it around. the proofing process is so ru…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1822622009-02-15T15:55:56.368ZAnne Frasierhttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/annefrasier
the proofing process is so rushed, almost like an afterthought. copy edits, line edits, and page proofs usually arrive unexpectedly, and have to be back within days. i've had page proofs hit my door on xmas eve with a deadline of Jan 2. i like to go through material 3 x, but i usually only have time to go thru it once. and with those final page proofs -- you have no idea if the edits and corrections are made until you see the book in print. recently a friend discovered none of her edits had…
the proofing process is so rushed, almost like an afterthought. copy edits, line edits, and page proofs usually arrive unexpectedly, and have to be back within days. i've had page proofs hit my door on xmas eve with a deadline of Jan 2. i like to go through material 3 x, but i usually only have time to go thru it once. and with those final page proofs -- you have no idea if the edits and corrections are made until you see the book in print. recently a friend discovered none of her edits had been made when she got her hot-off-the-press copy. not long ago i was doing a reading and came upon an embarrassing paragraph that had been missed by the person who implemented corrections. it's too bad we can't proof it one more time, but all of that cost the publisher money. in the same book they failed to compress and italicize diary text. i was told i would have to pay for that correction, so i had to leave it. I don't have a problem with a…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1821252009-02-15T00:29:46.888ZMargarethttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Margaret
I don't have a problem with a few things getting by, but when Andrew and Julie get changed to John and Martha in mid-book, it upsets me a bit. Nobody's perfect, but when history gets all muddled up and I can't figure out why page 13 appears where page 15 should be, I become hostile.<br />
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I'm very happy when I hear about folks that have had good luck with their editors, copy editors and proofreaders. Things often slip by authors, who have revised and proofread so often that things just go right by…
I don't have a problem with a few things getting by, but when Andrew and Julie get changed to John and Martha in mid-book, it upsets me a bit. Nobody's perfect, but when history gets all muddled up and I can't figure out why page 13 appears where page 15 should be, I become hostile.<br />
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I'm very happy when I hear about folks that have had good luck with their editors, copy editors and proofreaders. Things often slip by authors, who have revised and proofread so often that things just go right by them. That is normal. I probably need an editor to take care of these two paragraphs. Jon, you seem to have found o…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-15:537324:Comment:1821082009-02-15T00:19:26.387ZMargarethttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/Margaret
Jon, you seem to have found one of the great ones, which today seems to be a rarity. One longs for the days of Max Perkins, who managed to edit Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe and Ernest Hemingway, along with a host of other more compliant authors.<br />
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Glad you found your Max Perkins.
Jon, you seem to have found one of the great ones, which today seems to be a rarity. One longs for the days of Max Perkins, who managed to edit Scott Fitzgerald, Thomas Wolfe and Ernest Hemingway, along with a host of other more compliant authors.<br />
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Glad you found your Max Perkins. I get very few line edits fro…tag:crimespace.ning.com,2009-02-14:537324:Comment:1820662009-02-14T23:25:08.026ZJon Loomishttp://crimespace.ning.com/profile/JonLoomis
I get very few line edits from mine, thank God. She does help with pacing, continuity, plot and story issues, among other things--which is great. Her instincts are spot on, and she gets what I'm trying to do. She leaves the little stuff to the copy editor and proof-reader, which is probably as it should be.
I get very few line edits from mine, thank God. She does help with pacing, continuity, plot and story issues, among other things--which is great. Her instincts are spot on, and she gets what I'm trying to do. She leaves the little stuff to the copy editor and proof-reader, which is probably as it should be.