Tonight I was on twitter and someone introduced planetalvina, Alvina Ling, Editorial Director at Little, Brown Bks for Young Readers. Editor of picture books, MG, and YA. How could I not #follow another planet in the literary solar system?
I went to her blog and found an entry about the same subject I discussed in class last week--revisions, and how she edits--and couldn't resist linking. So go, read, digest.
The task of writing an editorial letter to me is daunting, and I certainly had no idea how to go about doing it when I edited my first novel (sorry, Libby!). But I learned as time went on; I learned from my mentors, and I learned from reading the correspondence files that circulate in my department: each week, everyone in editorial (when we remember) places copies of our editorial letters and other outside business correspondences into a centralized folder which is then circulated throughout the editorial department so that we can be aware of other editors' projects, problems that other editors are having that may be similar to our own, and also so the junior staff can read many different editorial letters to start to understand how to write them. I found this to be a crucial learning tool when I was first starting out as an editorial assistant.
I think you'll find the entire process more human and less daunting!
bloomabilities: How I edit 2.0
I give my students advice on how to deal with revision letters. It's pretty simple.
1. Wait at least 3 days before you do anything but thank the editor for them. No matter what your first reaction is, you need to think about them and live with them for a few days before you're really ready to address them, much less discuss them with your editor.
2. Take 3 colors of highlighters. Highlight the easy, no-brainer stuff in one color. Highlight the, you're not quite sure you understand this/you need to discuss this a bit in another color. And finally, highlight the, if I do what you want me to I'll break my book and it will never be the same again!!! in the last color. (There really shouldn't be much of this, if any, and you need to limit this reaction as much as possible. And yet, sometimes, this is the reaction you have and it has to be dealt with.)
3. When you do talk to your editor about revisions, first cover all the easy, no-brainer stuff, and be sure you thank your editor for seeing these things you missed, for bringing a different and often more-experienced perspective to the table, for making your book so much better in so many ways. Then talk about the things from the second group, the things you need clarification on, the things that you don't necessarily disagree with but need more discussion to make sure you do understand them. (Honestly, you may not.) And finally, last, you deal tactfully (without the drama queen hysteria you might have felt on first reading) with the note that you would really, really like to dismiss because you simply don't think it's going to work. Hopefully by now your editor recognizes how much care and thought you've put into her suggestions, how much you appreciate her contributions to your work, and is open to your thoughts that may disagree with hers.
How do you deal with this? Well, perhaps once the editor has explained his or her issues with the problem, you may have better ways to alleviate those concerns without making the particular change you want to avoid. Or perhaps just knowing what the concerns are, you can do your rewrite and take great pains to make sure they are dealt with, short of changing what is important to you.
The one time I had to deal with a situation like this, I told my editor that now that I understood her concerns, I'd like to go ahead and do my rewrite and and see if I could make the scene work for her. If it didn't, I would cut it.
But it did work, second time around. So we found a way to compromise and we were both happy, and it was a better book. In fact, it was nominated for the Romance Writers of America Rita that year.
Never forget that the editor is on your side. Her goal is to make your book better. Together, you can rock the casbah!
What about you? What is your process for responding to editorial notes? Or giving them, if you're the editor?
I went to her blog and found an entry about the same subject I discussed in class last week--revisions, and how she edits--and couldn't resist linking. So go, read, digest.
The task of writing an editorial letter to me is daunting, and I certainly had no idea how to go about doing it when I edited my first novel (sorry, Libby!). But I learned as time went on; I learned from my mentors, and I learned from reading the correspondence files that circulate in my department: each week, everyone in editorial (when we remember) places copies of our editorial letters and other outside business correspondences into a centralized folder which is then circulated throughout the editorial department so that we can be aware of other editors' projects, problems that other editors are having that may be similar to our own, and also so the junior staff can read many different editorial letters to start to understand how to write them. I found this to be a crucial learning tool when I was first starting out as an editorial assistant.
I think you'll find the entire process more human and less daunting!
bloomabilities: How I edit 2.0
I give my students advice on how to deal with revision letters. It's pretty simple.
1. Wait at least 3 days before you do anything but thank the editor for them. No matter what your first reaction is, you need to think about them and live with them for a few days before you're really ready to address them, much less discuss them with your editor.
2. Take 3 colors of highlighters. Highlight the easy, no-brainer stuff in one color. Highlight the, you're not quite sure you understand this/you need to discuss this a bit in another color. And finally, highlight the, if I do what you want me to I'll break my book and it will never be the same again!!! in the last color. (There really shouldn't be much of this, if any, and you need to limit this reaction as much as possible. And yet, sometimes, this is the reaction you have and it has to be dealt with.)
3. When you do talk to your editor about revisions, first cover all the easy, no-brainer stuff, and be sure you thank your editor for seeing these things you missed, for bringing a different and often more-experienced perspective to the table, for making your book so much better in so many ways. Then talk about the things from the second group, the things you need clarification on, the things that you don't necessarily disagree with but need more discussion to make sure you do understand them. (Honestly, you may not.) And finally, last, you deal tactfully (without the drama queen hysteria you might have felt on first reading) with the note that you would really, really like to dismiss because you simply don't think it's going to work. Hopefully by now your editor recognizes how much care and thought you've put into her suggestions, how much you appreciate her contributions to your work, and is open to your thoughts that may disagree with hers.
How do you deal with this? Well, perhaps once the editor has explained his or her issues with the problem, you may have better ways to alleviate those concerns without making the particular change you want to avoid. Or perhaps just knowing what the concerns are, you can do your rewrite and take great pains to make sure they are dealt with, short of changing what is important to you.
The one time I had to deal with a situation like this, I told my editor that now that I understood her concerns, I'd like to go ahead and do my rewrite and and see if I could make the scene work for her. If it didn't, I would cut it.
But it did work, second time around. So we found a way to compromise and we were both happy, and it was a better book. In fact, it was nominated for the Romance Writers of America Rita that year.
Never forget that the editor is on your side. Her goal is to make your book better. Together, you can rock the casbah!
What about you? What is your process for responding to editorial notes? Or giving them, if you're the editor?
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