Ruminations, mostly editorial
Publisher testingstrictly editorial
October 15, 2006
One cannot quite be certain what canned responses always mean...
Thank you for your interest in Sage. We receive hundreds of inquiries about freelance services and have an active pool of freelancers from which we draw. Occasionally and when the need arises, we add qualified freelancers with strong credentials and experience with the sorts of books we publish. We will keep your inquiry and your test on file for a period of one year. If we have not contacted you regarding the possibility of freelance work in that time, we ask that you again inquire so that we may keep you on our active list.
We appreciate your contacting Sage and wish you the best in your freelancing endeavors.
Cordially, Editorial Books Production Sage Publications
One relies on the juxtaposition of generic signature and personalized e-mail return address, to wit, one Claudia Hoffman, who is not the address to which one submits tests, nor the name designated on the freelancer information page.
October 15, 2006 11:31 AM | Add comment | Read comments (0)
Editorial assistantstangential
October 14, 2006
Cats are overrated. One cannot possibly earn a respectable living in their presence.
They demand continual maid service and food at absurdly early hours. They chew at pens and pencils, slobber on erasers, lie on manuscripts, walk across keyboards, and deposit fur in CPUs. They pace endlessly on the desktop, pausing in each direction just long enough to let tip of feline tail massage tip of human nose, generally at inconvenient human times. In sum, they generally distract one to no end and contribute nothing to the mortgage. Nothing. And they complain about the food. They are useless, arrogant, profligate freeloaders.
Does anyone want three?
October 14, 2006 11:29 AM | Add comment | Read comments (0)
Lessons from Max Perkinsstrictly editorial
October 12, 2006
Dear ——
I've read the manuscript carefully once, making several notes throughout as I did so.
Certainly an engaging read and story: you've done well in developing the characters and their interplay, in setting the pace, and in engaging the reader. The plot line struck me as perfectly plausible and characters as believable ... though I will have to read certain passages again more analytically as a double-check.
I do have various concerns, all of which can be addressed in a line edit. In sum, they are what I see as, first, certain emotional excesses, second, the divide between Victoria the mother and Victoria the president, and, third, a somewhat awkward development of the VP as villain. A few scenes need, I think, or would certainly be stronger for, a spot of development. One example is Nanita's reaction the day after the birth. A second example is (are) the two scenes earlier on in which the VP shows his hand.
Separately, what is clearly the weakest aspect of the manuscript is also the most superficial and certainly easy to resolve: grammar, syntax, punctuation, and word use. This is fodder for line and copy editing. Very easy to address. The kind of thing you'll learn from on the spot, which is good for your second novel. Dangling modifiers, a slight tendency to too many adjectives, dicey verbs of utterance, and more words where fewer would be stronger. These must be cleaned up before you go to an agent and publisher. That's what I or someone like me is here for, though.
As I began this email, I was somewhat undecided, whether to draft an informal memo for the record on my initial read, or to reread the manuscript. Having now read what I've typed to you, I've decided: to skim the manuscript at least once, ideally twice, and draft a memo detailing the passages that seem to want the development.
Now certainly seems a good time to write you and touch base on moving forward.
What do you think?
October 12, 2006 6:56 PM | Add comment | Read comments (0)
Published Oops!strictly editorial
The afternoon is lovely and inviting, as they so often are when one should be productive. On the desk now is a Sage editing test ready to submit, a novel manuscript waiting for an assessment report, word and changes to eight journal articles on which I'm still waiting, and several letters to publishers to be written. In sum, virtually nothing. Despite the glorious day, and possibly because of this morning, I'm not playing hooky.
This morning? Scheduled for the tiger cub watch at the zoo at eight o'clock, I went down several flights of stairs to find my car with a dead battery. This evolved into a frantic 8-mile bike ride there and then back again afterwards —lordy but they're adorable and Mama most impressive. In time AAA appeared to replace the DCB, which they did at some $50 less than the Subaru place would have charged me. At any rate, that took the wind out of my sails for the day.
I'm now noticing egregiousnesses posted by legitimate publishers online.
— "Site of Amish Schoolhouse Shooting Razed" ... hmmmmm
October 12, 2006 3:08 PM | Add comment | Read comments (1)
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