Writing: The Virgin Editor

[jpskewedthrone]

As some of you may recall, last summer I and pbray took it upon ourselves to pitch an anthology idea to Tekno Books, who then pitched the anthology to DAW Books, who decided to buy it. The anthology is called After Hours: Tales from the Ur-Bar and will be edited by me and Patricia. This whole editing thing is new to us, but we thought it would be fun and would give us some insight into the editing process.

We contacted some authors and asked them if they would be interested in writing stories for the anthology and gave them a deadline of April 16th. You'll notice the deadline has passed. So far, our editing experience has followed the path that we expected. We invited a few "extra" authors, with the idea that a few of them would want to do the project, but due to life and other, more important, deadlines would be forced to drop out. This is exactly what happened. So even though some author, regrettable, had to drop out, we have enough stories to form an anthology.

Last night, we go together to discuss the stories we did receive and decide on what kind of revision advice we would give them. I have to admit I was a little concerned about this part of the process. I mean, these are published authors, most of whom have more success in the business than I do, and yet I'd be telling them how to "fix" their stories. I was also concerned that Patricia and I would start the process friends and be ready to tear each other's heads off by the end.

None of this happened. In fact, we pretty much agreed on everything for each of the stories. What was the most common comment/revision we suggested? That the beginning of the story be trimmed or condensed. Too many details were given, or it lasted too long. In some, we suggested they lop off the beginning and just start at a later point. Others it was more like "combine these three scenes into one," etc. All in an attempt to get to the more interesting parts of course. By the end of the night, we were joking about being mohels. "Just trim a little bit off the top there, yes." *grin*

In any case, so far editing has been rather fun. I think we'll propose a few other anthology projects for the future. In the meantime, we'll be spending the next week contacting the authors with revisions letters, so we'll see how that other concern of mine pans out. How receptive will the authors be to criticism from fellow writers? I'm sure the responses will vary.

Comments

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

I guess that makes me the outlier. I think my opening is now twice as long.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Well, they weren't ALL circumcisions. We had a few that we thought needed enhancement as well.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

Phew. Don't want to get another circumcision. Once is enough.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't know.

[scbutler.livejournal.com]

Lucky you.

Not that I remember.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

How receptive will the authors be to criticism from fellow writers? Many many editors I know *are* writers, so I think the authors won't object.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Well, let's hope not. *grin*

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Sounds awesome.
I've been going through the same process with Scheherazade's Facade, only with open submissions and just a handful of specific invitations. I'm in the final stages of putting together the lineup, and we'll see where things go from there. I don't anticipate a heavy editing process, though; apart from the occasional spelling error, I'm pretty happy with the stories as they are. I've learned a lot to apply for my next editing project, assuming anyone's mad enough to let me do it again. :>

Looking forward to seeing what you guys do next.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

We have not yet dared the open submission deal. We need to work our way up to that, I think.

[oneminutemonkey.livejournal.com]

Oddly enough, I'm coming from the opposite direction you are. With my lack of editing experience and knowledge of the appropriate folks to ask, I felt it necessary to go with primarily open submissions. I figure I'm working up towards the day when I can pull together an invite-only anthology... once I've got my magic Rolodex of Authors to work from. (Mind you, part of it may have been my material. If I was doing say, an urban fantasy anthology, I could name dozens of writers I wanted... but things being as they were, I went as I did.)

It's been a rather nice experience, and I've found some awesome writers I wasn't familiar with, and made notes on many more names who might come in handy down the line. Only a small fraction of submissions were the clunkers you might expect. :>

[lagilman]

The general pattern is:

"oh, editorial e-mail."

*peek at cover letter*

*close it quickly and stomp off in a huff*

*mellow out*

*go back and skim it reallyreallyquick*

*go off again*

*come back, and look at the letter more carfully. fume and sigh.*

*decide what hills you're willing to die on, if any*

*do the work*

*decide editor probably did have half a clue, after all*



This pattern has held true for about ten books and three times as many stories....

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Editor-Me: "You screwed up. It's 'carefully,' not 'carfully.'"

Me: "My god, how did you get into my head!"

[melissajm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the inside insight!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Welcome.

Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

You were very lucky. I am happy for you.

Re: Wow!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Um . . . how was I lucky?

Re: Wow!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

It sounds like your first experience with editing was positive; most of the writers turned things in, and those things were mostly usable; and most of the writers seem to have been personable to deal with. That doesn't always happen.

Re: Wow!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, we did get lucky in that sense. We tried to chose our invitees carefully though.

[wyldemusick.livejournal.com]

Well, speaking for myself, very receptive...I always appreciate good input from an editor, especially if it results in a better story. I also don't give a damn if that editor also happens to be a fellow writer -- why would I? A number of my editors have also been writers.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Good to know. And the reactions so far have all been positive, with some questions about clarity of what we actually meant. But overall good.

[kelly-swails.livejournal.com]

I agree with what he said.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

Well, I'm very used to being edited -- twenty plus years as an academic have taught me that one thoroughly. TO me it's a helpful process, in which someone else with clearer sight shows me where I've messed up or muddled or not quite conveyed my point. And it works the same for fiction. Usually, if I do refuse a change, it's to do with vocabulary -- I tend to stick to my words and my rhythm. But even then I'm not set in stone.
So bring it on!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

OK, we've brought it on! *grin*

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Not really. I pretty much just critiqued their stuff as I'd do on OWW.

[kmarkhoover.livejournal.com]

I find this really interesting, thanks for sharing about the process.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Welcome.