On Children's Books--A Day in the Life

I often get asked what's it like to be a children's editor, what's my day-to-day life like. It's hard to encapsulate because no two days are alike. There's lots of meetings, lots of phone calls, lots of emails and lots of trying to find time to do the actual work of editing in between all the meetings, phone calls and emails, but today felt like a pretty typical day, so I made note of what I did:

A Day in the Life

7:00am-9:00am: Reading at home

10:30am: Arrive in the office

10:30am-11:00am: Read a colleague's submission to discuss at Editorial meeting

11:00am-11:30am: Production meeting--generally known as the meeting where Editors lie to Managing Editorial and Production about how close projects are to going to copyediting or design i.e. being ready to publish. It's a miracle when a projet is meeting all its production schedule deadlines...Reschedule an agent lunch (second rescheduled lunch date with this agent. Oy!)--snow storm coming, too much to do and can't lose three hours today; apologize profusely to agent and pick a new day that I will definitely, absolutely not cancel.

11:30am-12:15pm: Editorial meeting--discussed department housekeeping items such as due dates for Sales sheets and copy and presentations for our upcoming Launch of our Winter 2015 list. Discussed two submissions for possible acquisition; one was a proposal for a horror novel we decided to pass on and the other was the second novel from an author whose debut we published last year that we've decided to acquire; spirited conversations were had on both projects.

12:15pm-1:00pm: Work with my Business Manager and Publisher to put together an Acquisitions P&L (Profit and Loss Estimate--a document we use to decide how much we should pay for a project by projecting potential sales and deducting things like overhead and the cost of paper in the year you think you'll publish the book); route for appropriate signatures.

1:00pm-1:30pm: Quick lunch at my desk.

1:30pm-1:45pm: Review final jacket proof for a middle grade novel due to publish in the spring.

1:45pm-2:15pm: Rework P&L and reroute for signatures.

2:15pm-3:00pm: Catch up on emails. Highlights--an agent emailing to recommend two illustrators for a picture book manuscript she knows I'm trying to pair with an illustrator. Publicity Alert announcing EW excerpt went live for one of my books; celebrate via email with author, agent and publicist. Group Publisher and Head of Sales approve last minute cover change for upcoming middle grade--just in time to make the catalog deadline; send revised cover to author and pray she likes it, but prepare to regroup if she doesn't. Audio sale for a YA; send good news to author.

3:01pm: Lament how it is 3:01 and I've gotten nothing done.

3:02pm-3:33pm: Lose 31 minutes of my life I'll never get back waiting in line for my Grande Non-fat, no water, no foam Chai Latte. Kick myself for not bringing a manuscript with me to read while I wait because of course Starbucks is already a bad scene in the 3 o'clock hour...

3:35pm-4:18pm: Reading/Editing

4:18pm: Consider a cover comp for an upcoming publication that has just arrived in my inbox. Like the concept, but execution not quite right; decide to sit on it for a bit to think through my feedback for the designer.

4:25pm:Receive final signed P&L and prepare offer to agent.

4:40pm: Send offer to agent; fingers crossed that offer will be accepted because I love, love, love this book!

4:41pm-8:00pm: Reading/Editing in the office.

8:00pm-9:30pm: Catch up on emails; make copies and file a few things; organize work to take home (three manuscripts to edit; two submissions to consider) in case there is a snow storm and I can't make it in tomorrow; clean up office somewhat...give up...go home.

Well, it's not earth shattering excitement, but there it is. Missing from this run down would be a couple things I did yesterday: finishing an eight page, single spaced editorial letter and discussing another set of edits with the author via telephone; rejecting two submissions. When I describe this day, most people are a little surprised and sad that my day doesn't include duets with Disney characters. To those I say...me too.

Stacey

In the News--Amazon Again...

Today, the New Yorker, made available online an article they will publish in next week's issue, Cheap Words by George Packer. It describes how Amazon went from pubishing friend to foe in 20 years or less. I got sucked into yet another article about the big, bad, scary Amazon, because this article promised to examine how Amazon was not only the end of the brick and mortar business of selling books, but also the end of books themselves. There have been rumors of the coming end of books and the book business for years, even before the advent of the e-book. In reading Cheap Words, I was curious to find out if Jeff Bezos had finally figured out a way to kill off books; perhaps I could sleep in tomorrow--no need to go to the isle of Manhattan, red pen in tow if books were in fact dead.

In reading the article, I got a very thorough and thoughtful run down on the history of Amazon and intriguing anecdotes about the first time publishing professionals I know well met Jeff Bezos and what they thought of him then versus what they think of him now. I learned about Bezos' initial business model--that books were just a way to get customer data to sell them other things at cost later on. I found it interesting that though books represent only abou 7% of Amazon's billion-dollar business, because books were his "gateway drug", Amazon and the book industry find themselves inextricably linked (as publishing is unnervingly dependent on Amazon) while it hardly gets a second glance when Amazon prices an electronics business out of existene. But still, this isn't news to me. This is my every day existence. Where were the details of the much balleyhooed end of books? It wasn't there. Though the details of, in not the end,certainly the failure of Amazon publishing were quite clearly laid out, but not the end of books. Hmm...

Does that mean the book endures? Perhaps I am needed in the office tomorrow after all? That's good...because I like my office and my red pen. And I like that throughout Amazon's history and interesting relationship with the book industry, the book endures. As one publishing professional quoted in this astute article noted: “There are certain things it takes to be a publisher,” the head of one New York house said, hardly concealing his Schadenfreude. “You have to have luck, but you also have to have judgment, discernment. I have no sense of the character of their house. . . . We care more than they do. Bezos has moved on to diapers and jewelry—we’re still doing books.”

Amazon has done a lot of wonderful and detrimental things to the book business, but even in that they are synonymous with the book business, they are not,in fact, the book business. And they are not, in fact, god. And we must remember that. The book doesn't live and die by the life cycle of Amazon and I dare say the book will outlast even Amazon. Amazon may endeavor to be the store of everything, but a publishing lesson I learned a long time ago that proves true to this very day is that if you try to be everything, you'll get no one. That's a book lesson. I do books. Amazon, at 7% of its' business, is not so much doing books. This is as much a fact of life as the sky's deal with the color blue. This will probably be the last Amazon is killing books article I'll ever read.

Stacey

On Craft--Certainty in Vodka

Publishing people are drinking people. We just are. One of the first things I learned about when I entered this noble profession was the two (three?) martini lunch and the more prosecco the better. Along with the drinking goes the gossiping. Publishing people are the biggest gossips. So when out with another editor, I know there will be two things: lots of drinking and lots of gossiping. And both are renewing. But also, when out with another publishing person, especially when another editor, along with the drinking and gossiping, there is also a lot of craft talk. Tonight was such a night. There was talk of one editor going through over 20 drafts with an author. I confessed I was on my 7th draft with an author. Tenth piped another. Fourteenth piped another. And then the knowing nods and smiles. None of us were saying that there was anything shameful about going through so many rounds with an author or that it was even unusual, just that it was the job and what we do as editors. We read and read and read again. We read and edit and have our authors revise until it's ready. And being ready is the thing. Publishing a book too early can be the death knell of a book and we all know it. Though we've all been guilty of publishing a book early--because of market pressures, in-house pressures, but most especially author pressure. Twenty revisions is not for the feint of heart, but it is sometimes necessary...necessary to ensure that books get starred reviews, get hand-sold by indie accounts, get award consideration and recognition and get the kind of grass roots enthusiasm and support than can assure a bestseller. Waiting for a book to be ready can make or break a book and we all know it.

And when we have been guilty of publishing a book too early, it's most often because an author is fatigued and not quite up for that twenty-first draft or even that sixth draft or even that third draft. Authors will and can sometimes judge a book ready before an editor does and in this moment an editor must face their mortality so to speak. It's not, in fact, our name going on the cover. It's not, in fact, our book. And we have in our hands a book we love and an author who has reached their limit. So we publish. And often these are not the most successful, memorable books, though they could have been.

One of the most successful authors on my list repeatedly forces one promise from me: Do not let me publish a bad book. And I don't. I tell this author when I think the book is not ready and this author listens to me and every book we've published together has received starred reviews, award attention and sold well. This author isn't in a rush, and trusts the publishing team, including me, especially me (author-editor trust is paramount to success) to tell them when they've done their best. For me as an editor, this is an ideal publishing situation and one that has been fruitful for the author, for me as editor and for the publisher, overall.

This is when I believe in gatekeepers. This is when I believe in the traditional publishing model. This is when I believe in publishing. It can be a well-oiled machine and talent can always shine if it's given the proper time and space to develop. So if your editor is putting you through the paces, don't let impatience overwhelm you or rob you of the time you need to produce the best, most thoughtful book. Craft is also about ensuring that no book is published before it's time. Craft is time and patience and listening to your revision partner--your editor--who is your main cheerleader and wants to see you reach the highest heights (because an editor's career also grows as an author's career grows, so editors do have a particular vested interest). Craft is waiting until your book is ready and embracing each step in the revision process with enthusiasm and not fatigue, even when you really are tired. Give yourself every possibility. Give your craft every chance to shine. Whether that means 3 or 8 or 30 drafts, patience is not only a virtue but when it comes to publishing, it can be the difference between a viable, long-lasting career and getting lost to the mid-list.

So a night of drinking, gossiping and craft has recommitted me to the best of what I do and the certainty of slow and steady wins the race. And the certainty of revision. And also vodka. There is certainty in vodka.

Stacey

On Writing--Professional Spotlight

Photo Credit: Jonee' Ansa

We are very pleased to have here today at The Editing Life, bestselling and critically acclaimed author Tina McElroy Ansa; her novels include You Know Better, Taking After Mudear, Ugly Ways and The Hand I Fan With. Tina's novels are absolute treasures and her fans are many, including EditingGenius. It's a real treat to have her and she offers some really wonderful, thoughtful and concrete advice to writers, and an inspiring perspective on publishing. So without further ado...

Provide a snapshot of your writing career.

I've been a writer and editor my entire career. I always knew

I wanted to write fiction. (Southern black girl listening to middle Georgia tales growing up.) My first job was as copy editor on universal desk of the morning newspaper The Atlanta Constitution (now The AJC). First African-American woman in the newsroom!! Did feature writing, news reporting, editing, and layout. Left in 1979 to free-lance and write fiction. Found my "home" on St. Simons Island, Georgia, part of the history/culture-rich stretch of sea islands off the Southeast coast of the U.S. So far, have lived on St. Simons 30 years. My first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY published in 1989. Four other novels have followed: UGLY WAYS, THE HAND I FAN WITH, YOU KNOW BETTER, and TAKING AFTER MUDEAR. Working on sixth novel and with filmmaker husband Jonee`Ansa on movie adaptation of BABY OF THE FAMILY.

In 2004, established The Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Have since held these writers workshops on St. Simons Island, in Atlanta, Maryland, Florida and at high school and colleges around the country. In 2007, founded independent publishing company, DownSouth Press.

How has your perspective on writing and publishing changed over the years?

My perspective has, necessarily, changed along with the business over the decades. In the early years of my publishing life in the late 1980s and through the 1990s, there was not nearly the competition from so many other writers looking to get published. And I think writers have to be more flexible, ingenious, savvy and willing to do the work, which sometimes involves skills other than writing and editing, such as marketing, public speaking, kissing babies. : )

Many veteran authors have turned to self-publishing rather than re-sign with traditional publishers. You're one of them. Why was self-publishing an attractive option to you?

A number of reasons.
 

I am not alone in feeling that there is so much being published in the last 10 or so years under the banner of African-American literature that does not truly reflect our culture, our lives and our ethos. And when it does, it reflects a very narrow portion of who we are and how we live, feel and dream.

That's why I launched DownSouth Press. I'm not trying to compete with the big companies, but to my part to offer an alternative to the current wave of urban fiction, quasi-"erotic" works, badly written, constructed and edited works that have left so many of our readers insulted and hungry for a real rich reading experience.

Although it is not easy for anyone to do the work to be published, African-American writers of solidly and beautifully crafted works have been finding it more and more difficult to be published by mainstream companies. Writers are told there is no market for these kinds of works, but readers continue to clamor for writing that is worth their attention and reading time.

Established writers are finding is near impossible to get an new book contract. Yet, they continue to write.

I want DownSouth Press to be a haven that values authors, great storytelling and beautiful writing by publishing and nurturing quality work that elevates the reader and writer. We plan to publish the books not just for the moment, but books that will be classics in years to come. Books of substance and exploration and fearlessness that qualify as literature.

Our press will focus on marketing authors beyond the short-term window that larger publishers allow. DownSouth Press will use innovative approaches -- both face-to-face and via the Internet with satellite interviews, web book club meetings and live chats and readings -- to market authors and books to readers hungry for meaningful stories that truly reflect the diversity of their culture, spirit and lives.
 

Would you ever return to the traditional publishing model?
 

Of course, I would accept a contract from a larger publisher if they respected and supported my work in a true way: meaning publicity, interaction, taking advantage of social media and all innovative ways to get me and my work to readers and thinkers.

There are certainly advantaged to having a large company behind your work: wider resources (money!), contacts, perceived respectability. The deal would just have to balance out and make sense for me and my work. The publisher would certainly have to be as smart as the CEO of DownSouth Press!

What are your present goals for your writing career?

 
As a publisher and writer, that's what I want to continue doing: writing and publishing.
I look forward to continuing to write fiction. I am working on my sixth novel now. The idea of exploring more of the mythical world of Mulberry, Georgia and its residents, alive and dead, excites me and my readers as well.

I am working two small non-fiction books. One is a writer's guide and journey.
 

What new writers are you most impressed with? Why?

Oh! Don't want to leave anyone out, but some of the ones who come to mind:

Attica Locke

Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Tayari Jones

Lori Tharps

Ernessa Carter

Some established writers worth the mention:

Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie

Edwidge Danticat

Pearl Cleage

Their work is fresh, thoughtful, well-written, carefully edited. Their styles, genres and subjects vary, but they stay on point with keeping the writing, good strong writing, at the forefront.


What advice would you give to aspiring writers?

--READ! READ! Read widely as part of your daily routine. Read writers whose styles you admire. Read who those writers have read and currently read. Read classics. Read book reviews. Read the texts. Make up your own mind. Ask librarians for recommendations.

-- Read the news. Newspapers, blogs, magazines. Don't just watch The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and think you are current and qualified to share and shape opinions. Know what's going on in your world. Investigate, research, think. Writers and editors are blessed to have professions that nourish and encourage curiosity. Take advantage.

--Write consistently. Every day if you call yourself a writer. Journals, notes, post-its, transcriptions all count.

--"Thinking time is working time." If you want your writing to evoke thought, memories and emotions in your readers, you as the writer have to bring those things to the work.

--Follow your favorite writers and editors on Twitter and FB. You will get a mini-writers workshop from their advice and comments.

--Re-writing is as important as your first draft. With each reading of your work (aloud at some point), you should look to make it sharper, deeper, clearer.

Tina McElroy Ansa
Author, Publisher, Teacher, Filmmaker, Journalist

Tina McElroy Ansa is a novelist, publisher, filmmaker, teacher and journalist. But above all, she is a storyteller and cultural icon.

She is at work on her sixth novel, FROM NOW ON, to be published by DownSouth Press, the independent publishing company Ms Ansa established nearly a decade ago.

Ms. Ansa received an honorary Doctorate of Arts from her alma mater Spelman College in April of 2011. The next month, First Lady Michelle Obama quoted passages from Ms. Ansa’s first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY in her 2011 remarks at Spelman College’s commencement.

Later that summer, the writer was the recipient of the 2011 Bebe Moore Campbell Memorial Award from the National Book Club Conference. She has been awarded the Stanley W. Lindberg Award for her body and work and for contributions to the literary arts community of Georgia.

In the fall of 2004, Ms. Ansa established the Annual Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. The annual retreats seek to assist emerging and established writers in honing their work and skills in fiction, non-fiction, memoir and editing in sessions with professional writers and editors. In 2006, she extended the writers retreats throughout the country with Sea Island Writers Retreats…On the Road. The traveling retreat is held in Atlanta, Georgia on Spelman College’s campus annually in April. Ms. Ansa also private Sea Island Writers Retreats for colleges, writers conferences and smaller motivated groups.

Since 2007, Ms. Ansa has shared a partnership with the international fashion design company TIBI. She is proud to wear the label’s fashions on her book tours, speaking engagements and performances with the international storytelling organization The MOTH.

With the Peabody Award-winning organization The Moth, she has told some of her own stories before audiences of more than 1,500 at Moth shows at Town Hall in Times Square and at Cooper Union Hall in New York City. Her stories can be heard on “The Moth Radio Hour” on hundreds of Public Radio Exchange stations around the country.

Tina McElroy Ansa has been a regular contributor to the award-winning television series CBS Sunday Morning with her essays, “Postcards from Georgia” which were filmed on location on her beautiful Georgia Sea Island home of St. Simons Island.

Her first novel BABY OF THE FAMILY, a “New York Times Notable Book of the Year,” was selected for the 2002 list 25 Books Every Georgian Should Read. In 2005, her second novel UGLY WAYS, which was nominated for a NAACP Image Award and remained on the Blackboard Bestsellers List for four (4) years running, was included in that year’s list of 25 Books Every Georgian Should Read, as was TAKING AFTER MUDEAR on the 2008 list. The lists are compiled and issued by the Georgia Center for the Book. Ms Ansa has been inducted into the International Literary Hall of Fame for Writers of African Descent at the Gwendolyn Brooks Center of Chicago State University

Her fifth novel, TAKING AFTER MUDEAR, a sequel to her bestselling second novel UGLY WAYS and the lead title on DownSouth Press’s first list, was published in Spring 2008. As with all her novels, the late nationally acclaimed artist and Spelman Sister Varnette P. Honeywood has created an original artwork for the new book’s jacket cover.

Ms. Ansa calls herself part of a writing tradition, one of those little Southern girls who always knew she wanted to tell stories. She grew up in Middle Georgia in the 1950's hearing her grandfather's stories on the porch of her family home and strangers' stories downtown in her father's juke joint, which have inspired Mulberry, Georgia, the mythical world which is the setting of her four earlier novels, BABY OF THE FAMILY, UGLY WAYS, THE HAND I FAN WITH and YOU KNOW BETTER.

In March 2007, Ms. Ansa launched the independent publishing company, DownSouth Press, with its focus on African-American literature -- fiction and nonfiction. DownSouth will publish established as well as emerging literary voices.

Currently, Ms. Ansa and her filmmaker husband Jonee’ Ansa (AFI) who live on St. Simons Island, GA, also are adapting BABY OF THE FAMILY as a feature film.

As part of her new incarnation as a raconteur, in February of 2011, Ms. Ansa traveled to New York City to perform on the main stage of the MOTH monthly event. She shared a story to an audience of 900 at the Cooper Union Great Hall on the same stage where Sojourner Truth gave her historic “Ain’t I a Woman Speech.”

As a raconteur, she was also part of the premier October 2010 Unchained Tour of storytellers traveling to 12 cities and towns in Georgia to share stories and support independent book stores.

In the fall of 2004, Ms. Ansa established the Sea Island Writers Retreats on Sapelo Island, Georgia. The annual retreats seek to assist emerging and established writers in honing their work and skills in fiction, non-fiction, memoir and editing in sessions with professional writers and editors. In 2006, she extended the writers retreats throughout the country with Sea Island Writers Retreats…On the Road. The traveling retreat is held in Atlanta, Georgia on Spelman College’s campus annually in April.

Together with Spelman Sister Dazon Diallo of SisterLove Inc., in the spring of 2006, Ms. Ansa launched the South African African-American SisterLove Sisters Sharing (SAAASSS) book program that collects sizable numbers of signed books from African-American women authors that are shared with book clubs and organizations of women in South Africa.

Ms. Ansa writes magazine and newspaper articles, Op-Ed page pieces and book reviews for the Los Angeles Times, New York Newsday, The Atlanta Constitution, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Charlotte Observer, and the Florida Times-Union.

In addition to lecturing and reading at universities, colleges, libraries, conferences, book festivals and bookstores around the country, the author has lectured at the Smithsonian’s African-American Center’s Author’s Series, the Richard Wright/Zora Neale Hurston Foundation, the PEN/Faulkner Reading Series, the Folger Shakespeare Library, the Schomburg Center and the PEN American Center in New York City.

She has been a writer-in-residence, teacher and workshop leader numerous times at her alma mater Spelman College.

Ms. Ansa is an avid gardener, birder and naturalist. She always has collard greens and moonflowers growing in her garden.

For more information and to reach Ms. Ansa, go to the websites: www.tinamcelroyansa.com or www.downsouthpress.com.

On Agenting--Professional Spotlight

I'm really pleased to welcome agent Stacia Decker. I've known Stacia a long time--as the saying goes, we grew up together in publishing together, starting out as Editorial Assistants way back when at prestigious Farrar Straus & Giroux, a place I like to think of as the last bastion of old guard publishing and what seems like publishing nostalgia now--receiving manuscripts in boxes in the actual mail, having publishing icon Roger Straus greet you in your office in the morning wearing a mega watt smile and a silk ascot and learning this trade at the side of editors who'd begun the careers of the likes of Tom Wolfe. I remember always feeling quite awestruck whenever I entered the building and I remember having conversations with Stacia about the future--when we were not the assistants or junior editors, but the editors and publishers and the people making the decisions that could create such a storied legacy. And all these years later, it's been remarkable to watch Stacia create her own storied legacy first as an editor and now as an agent. Her accomplishments are enviable and her publishing knowledge and savvy incredible. She is a stalwart advocate for her clients and bar-none one of the best agents working in the industry today. So without further ado...

So in my long-winded intro I did kind of answer this one for you, but for the record, how did you begin your publishing career?

I started as an unpaid intern at Farrar Straus & Giroux. My first paid job was as an editorial assistant at FSG.

So you didn't come into the industry thinking you'd become an agent. How has the transition been for you?

I started in editorial and really resisted the idea of becoming an agent—I didn’t see myself as a salesperson. But it turns out the skillset is much the same, and the transition has felt very natural.

How does your past Editorial career influence your work as an agent? Sometimes agents are asked whether or not they are an Editorial Agent. Would you consider yourself an Editorial Agent? What's the value in having an Editorial Agent? 

My past as an editor influences how I approach a manuscript and how I approach an editor with that manuscript. I bring the same editorial sensibility and work to the manuscript that I would as an editor, and I try to give the editor the materials and positioning she needs both to see the book on her list and to pitch it in-house to her editorial board. That past also influences, to some degree, my strategy as I manage a sale and the advice I give a client during the submission and publishing processes. So I’m very much an editorial agent, and I think that’s valuable both in terms of developing manuscripts and as another layer of experience I bring to the whole process.

What has surprised you about your list?

I initially expected to cast a much wider net and then very quickly decided to focus on fiction, and a relatively narrow range at that. I certainly did not expect to rep YA—and I now have seven clients (all originally signed for adult projects) writing YA. I also didn’t expect to rep sci fi fantasy—and I now have books under contract with Angry Robot, Gollancz, Titan, and Tor.

What has surprised you about the market and publishing in general?

The market is a perpetual mystery, explainable only in retrospect (she says, joking but not joking). I think I was initially surprised by how old-fashioned many aspects of publishing are, and how many decisions are made based on intuition and experience rather than hard numbers. But I tend to think those are often good things.

What are some books of yours we should look out for?

In 2014:

The mind-bending literary novel THE GUILD OF ST. COOPER by Shya Scanlon.

In thrillers: KILL FEE by Owen Laukkanen, the third in the critically acclaimed Stevens & Windermere series, and ROTTEN AT THE HEART, featuring Shakespeare as a reluctant shamus, written by Bartholomew Daniels.

For country noir fans: A SWOLLEN RED SUN by Matthew McBride, and THE GOOD LIFE by Frank Wheeler, Jr.

In SFF: the utterly crazy KOKO TAKES A HOLIDAY by Kieran Shea; Chuck Wendig’s CORMORANT, the third in the Miriam Black series, and THE BLOODY BRIDE, the second in the Mookie Pearl series; THE BURNING DARK, a haunted space opera, and HANG WIRE, both by Adam Christopher; and THE INCORRUPTIBLES, the first in John Hornor Jacobs alternate-Roman-history-western-fantasy-demonpunk.

In YA: HOW TO WIN AT HIGH SCHOOL by Owen Matthews; THE WIZARD'S PROMISE, the first in a new duology by Cassandra Rose Clarke; BLIGHTBORN, the second in Chuck Wendig's Heartland trilogy; INDEPENDENT STUDY and GRADUATION DAY, the second and third in Joelle Charbonneau’s bestselling The Testing trilogy, and THE SHIBBOLETH, the second in John Hornor Jacobs’s Twelve-Fingered Boy trilogy.

What haven't you tried your hand at yet, but want to?

Not much! I am already involved, to some degree or another, in agenting, editing, contracts, accounting, publicity, marketing, sales, social media, career planning, event planning, and so on. I speak on panels, do interviews, attend conferences, conventions, trade shows, and awards ceremonies, travel for client events, etc. I have a lot more to learn about all of it before I’ll be tempted to try something new.   

What are your publishing goals for 2014?

Sell some books. Then sell some more.

What's the best advice you can give writers? 

Just keep writing.

Stacia Decker joined the Donald Maass Literary Agency in 2009. A former editor at Harcourt and Otto Penzler Books, she began her career at Farrar, Straus & Giroux after earning an MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia University. She represents noir, crime fiction, thrillers, literary fiction, literary suspense, and cross-genre fiction with speculative elements. Among her clients are Frank Bill, Joelle Charbonneau, Adam Christopher, Cassandra Rose Clarke, John Hornor Jacobs, Owen Laukkanen, Fiona Maazel, Matthew McBride, Jon McGoran, Dan O’Shea, Todd Robinson, Shya Scanlon, Kieran Shea, Jeff Shelby, Jay Stringer, Steve Weddle, Chuck Wendig, and Frank Wheeler, Jr.

In the News--Into That Good Night?

It seems loneliness is a theme this week at The Editing Life. But this time, I'm not talking about my loneliness, but the loneliness of the book reader. You see, in Sunday's NYT, Colin Robinson, co-publisher of OR Books, wrote an interesting opinion piece, titled "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Reader". Much of the piece summarized the general state of affairs in publishing: the lot of the mid-list writer, budgets being slashed, advances being slashed, indie bookstores disappearing, chains disappearing too and/or hiring virtually illiterate part-timers who might as well be working at McDonald's (my words, not his), the general problem of Amazon and price-cutting, the disappearance of the librarian and the book reviewer. The disappearance of so many produces, it seems, the lonely reader. Except, that the reader still has the writer, which is quite a lovely thought.

Robinson writes: "On the desolate beach that is the lot of the contemporary book reader, the footprints of one companion can still be found. They belong to the writer, who needs the reader not just to pay her or his wages but also to give meaning to their words. As John Cheever put it: 'I can’t write without a reader. It’s precisely like a kiss — you can’t do it alone.'"

Lovely, right? Not so fast...Robinson also writes: 

"The troubling thought occurs, however, that this last remaining cohabitant may also be about to depart the island. With falling advances, writing is evermore dominated by people who don’t need it to earn a living: Tenured academics and celebrities spring to mind. For these groups, burnishing a résumé or marketing a brand is often as important as satisfying the reader.

And then there are the hobbyists, those for whom writing is primarily an act of self-expression. This past November, National Novel Writing Month (Nanowrimo) encouraged more than 300,000 participants to produce a novel in 30 days. It would be churlish to gainsay the right of the legions taking up “noveling,” as Nanowrimo describes it, to exercise their creative selves. But such endeavors are not much helping readers. Indeed, to the extent that they expand the mind-boggling proliferation of new titles being published (more than 300,000 in 2012), they are adding to the problem."

While I'm usually more than happy to join the cynic's bandwagon, I'm reluctant to do so here.  I'm just one acquisitions editor and I receive roughly 200-300 submissions a year if not more; I'm literally drowning in submissions. Drowning. And while I've certainly had my hand in publishing celebrities and perhaps authors who aren't what you'd call literary purists, I don't often receive submissions from writers who are not sincerely trying to connect with readers or are doing this merely as a hobby. Writing simply doesn't work that way. Whether or not I am taken by the quality or premise of a submission, the writer's passion, ambition and drive to tell a story that matters to a readership is never in doubt. It is a brave act to write 300 pages, whether it took 30 days or not, and I respect it. Readers respect it.

And really if the reader were lonely, I'd be caught up on all my work and not awake reading at 4am. Yes, lots of things and people in publishing are disappearing, but the writer? Nah. For every bookstore that closes, for every review section of a major newspaper that is halved, and for every chain store employee who has never heard of A Moveable Feast and can't help me find a replacement for the copy I lent to a now ex-boyfriend (true story), another writer or two or two hundred is born. And they are not hobbyists or simply choosing not to write and publish because advances are falling and they have to attend to a "real" job. No. Writers write. That's how it works. Writers write at 4am if they have to and that thought is a comfort to me when at 4am I am reading.

Yes, as Robinson points out, and we also learned from Jill Watts' post, "There is as Much Dignity in Writing a Poem as in Tilling a Field", would-be humanities majors are maybe finding other more lucrative areas in which to concentrate their studies, but that doesn't make them not writers and that doesn't mean they won't write or seek publication or seek to connect with readers in a meaningful way. Writers are not abandoning their readers. I don't believe it. The obstacles seem to make writers more determined than ever, which is good, because I like my job. And if the writer disappears, so do I.

Robinson leaves the readers of his opinion piece with this:

"Faced with a dizzying array of choices and receiving little by way of expert help in making selections, book buyers today are deciding to play it safe, opting to join either the ever-larger audiences for blockbusters or the minuscule readerships of a vast range of specialist titles. In this bifurcation, the mid-list, publishing’s experimental laboratory, is being abandoned."

Hmm...nope. It's not in me to jump on this particular brand of publishing cynicism. My heart just isn't in it and everything in my day-to-day experience tells me this just isn't true. Perhaps, I'm being naive, but I don't think so. Into that good night, does not go the writer. Or the reader. Or me.

On Copyediting--Professional Spotlight

For my money, Copy Editor is one of the most important jobs in the industry and excellent Copy Editors have saved my butt on more than one occasion, so I'm incredibly glad to have here today Chandra Wohleber, Copy Editor Extraordinaire, to tell us a bit about her job. It's a great interview, if I do say so myself, chocked full of good information for writers, and if you're looking to become a Copy Editor, you'll get a glimpse of the skill and talent needed for the job and find as Chandra does that it is a rewarding publishing career path. So...without further ado...



Would you give us an overview of what a copy editor does and your career path? How does one become a freelance copy editor?


A copy editor cleans up and makes consistent the nuts and bolts of a ms. (manuscript), as well as keeps an eye out for any substantive issues that the editor may have overlooked or had to let go (sometimes the same question coming to the author from a new source gets a new answer—you know: when a parent gives you advice you don’t want to take it, but maybe if an aunt or uncle gives you the same advice suddenly it’s a great idea). By “nuts and bolts” I mean spelling and grammar and style and word usage, but also consistency in the use of treatments such as caps and italics; formatting suggestions about extracts, headings, and lists; fact-checking (anything from dates to brand names to movie titles and release dates to song lyrics to details of historical figures and scientific principles, etc.); keeping a chronology; making a list of character names and descriptions and ensuring that the descriptions are consistent throughout the ms.; making a list of word/spelling choices and hyphenation; calling out any material that might need permission clearance; thinking about the overall logic and clarity of the prose.


There are a number of different ways to become a freelance copy editor but I started by working in-house, first as a personal assistant/production assistant/sort-of proofreader at Overlook Press in 1999. (Also, three years before that I was editorial assistant at McGill University’s alumni magazine for a year; maybe that set me on the publishing path…) Then it was my four years at FSG that helped me realize this was the direction I wanted to go in: I knew I liked editorial but I also knew I didn’t have the kind of drive and networking skills and ability to recognize what would sell, to be an acquiring editor. It was also at FSG that I was generously mentored in this work by several incredible people—I’m eternally grateful to them. I started my work in this area by reading blues (the proofs the printer sends for an absolutely last check before the presses start rolling) at FSG, and then by doing the occasional cold read for a couple of clients. Little by little I learned more (including from taking Elaine Chubb’s copyediting class) and clients began to give me more in-depth work. From 2002 onward I was always doing some freelancing on the side while working full-time in-house. Since leaving FSG in 2004, I’ve worked at five other companies in-house (including Putnam, where I had some more great mentoring), slowly gaining clients through those companies and through references. Finally, in September 2012 I went to full-time freelancing and so far I love it!


What are your favorite kinds of books to work on?


That’s really difficult to say because one of the things I love most about my work is the variety. Say I have a run of YA fantasy novels; just when I’m starting to feel a bit tired of them, along comes some adult nonfiction or a biography or a book of poetry or a mystery. I do have a soft spot for a certain kind of sweet but funny middle-grade novel, but honestly, I can’t identify a favorite. Each new project feels exciting because it’s different from the previous one! Mind you, sometimes the excitement doesn’t last very long, but that’s another a story. ;)


What are the books you've worked on that really stand out?


I hate to single out a few to the exclusion of so many wonderful others, but here goes (note: some of these were copyedits, some proofreads): Bringing It All Back Home, an oral history about the experiences New York City Vietnam vets had when they returned to the U.S.; Green Metropolis, about how city living can be more environmentally efficient than country life; The Food of a Younger Land, a fascinating work pulled out of the WPA archives, looking at regional dishes from across the U.S.; Between You and Me, a YA love/friendship/identity story; Unremembered, a YA novel about a girl who wakes up in the middle of the ocean with no memory of who she is; How They Croaked, hilarious but informative middle-grade nonfiction about how famous people in history really died; and High-Water Mark, funny, bold, and honest short stories about young women trying to figure out the boundaries of love and friendship.



Do you form relationships with authors and work with them again and again?


Sometimes—more so in my work for Canadian companies, where the copy editor and author are usually in direct contact, and where the copy editor often does the final clean-up after the author has reviewed the copyedit. With U.S. companies, I do work on multiple books by the same author but generally the relationship is more neutral because it’s filtered through the in-house editor or editorial assistant as well as the production editor and/or managing editor. Again, I like the variety: sometimes it’s nice to simply hand over the copyedit and no longer be involved; other times it’s really satisfying to see an author’s responses (even when he or she is annoyed!) and to “complete” the ms. Of course when I’m in direct contact with an author, there’s always a need to figure out—and given that the communication is almost exclusively by e-mail it can be tricky—who has a sense of humor (or not); who will enjoy getting into a lively debate over a point (and who will not); whose feathers mustn’t be ruffled, etc. Some authors prefer quick casual messages; others want formal in-depth correspondence. In fact, even when I’m not in direct contact, I try to pick up the author’s tone from the ms., and then to match that in my own tone when making suggestions and querying. If you can win over authors by adopting a tone that they like you’re going to go much further with getting them to consider your changes and suggestions. The nice thing about a new ms. by an author you “know” is that you have a sense of what kinds of questions to ask.


What is the most memorable copyediting error you've caught?

I can’t think of a specific one but I’d say some of the most important are straight-up errors in facts: incorrect dates, anachronisms, misspelled names of famous people. If a book has errors of that kind, its credibility is undermined, even if it’s fiction. Another problem that comes up a lot in fiction is wild amounts of activity crammed into what is technically, say, one evening between 8:00 and midnight. Timelines usually have to be very carefully kept track of.


Do you take on any and all projects that come your way or are you more selective? If the latter, how do you choose your projects?


I take absolutely everything unless I’m too booked up to manage it! Partly because I want to stay on clients’ radar and partly because you never know when suddenly the work will dry up and you’ll wish you’d taken that last project and partly because books can surprise you. A literary novel that I thought I’d love might turn out to be as dry as toast while an in-depth look at communications law in Canada might sound like a real slog but then be fascinating and charming and really well written. And after a while clients get a sense of where your strengths lie: no one sends me books on pro sports or hard economics. Then again, in trade nonfiction, sometimes it’s good for the CE to know nothing at all about the topic because gaps in clarity will jump out at him or her. (Sorry, I think I went a little off topic there…)


What should authors know about the copyediting process?


Probably the most important thing I always hope for is that they know not to take anything as a personal attack, and then I hope that they will go through the pages carefully enough to answer all queries clearly and to accept or reject all changes. Having also worked in-house as a PE, I know how frustrating it can be to get a ms. back and only half the queries have been addressed or yes and no answers have been given to questions that can’t be answered with yes or no.


What would surprise authors about the copyediting process?


Probably how long it takes, and that copy editors really, truly do not set out to annoy authors. When we seem finicky and obsessive, it’s not to make authors go insane but rather to try not to overlook anything that might be quite important, even in the tiniest way (if that isn’t a contradiction in terms). Better that the irritating CE points it out in the ms. than that a critic or a “heckler” notices it in the galley or final book!


Can you ever read for pleasure? Or when you read do you find yourself continually noting errors that no one caught?


Oh, yes, no problem there! I do notice typos and grammatical errors, but if the book is really amazing it doesn’t bother me too much—I know how the process works and that as careful as everyone may have been, a typo can still sneak in, especially given that a book may have been on a crash schedule. But factual errors or sloppy details or lack of authenticity in tone bug me and I usually give up on books with any of those issues.


How has technology affected the way you do your job?


Really, not that much. From the beginning for me, I’ve had the Internet for fact-checking so I can’t call that a change (but it’s great!). Then, on the one hand, I absolutely see more on paper than I do on-screen (and Scientific American, in a 2013 article called “Why the Brain Prefers Paper,” says I’m not making that up!) so now even when I’m sent an electronic ms. or pdf proofs, I always print out the material (a con: that’s at my own expense in terms of paper and toner) and do a first read or at least a skim on paper; then, transferring edits from paper to screen always takes longer than I expect so I lose some time there. On the other hand, it’s so quick and easy to e-mail back a ms. in Word or proofs in a pdf! No legging it to the UPS Store with only minutes to spare before the final pick-up of the day, no crossing fingers in hopes that UPS doesn’t lose or delay the package, no jiffy envelopes to buy. A huge disadvantage of Track Changes, though, is the fact that when a manuscript has been copyedited on-screen, proofreaders can’t see what the editor, copy editor, and author have “discussed” because those comments will have been accepted and cleared.


So (1) the proofreader doesn’t know which queries have already been addressed and what kind of responses the author makes, and (2) proofreaders who are just starting out lose what used to be a really valuable way of learning the ropes: seeing the queries and changes the copy editor (and editor) made. Even having been a copy editor for quite a few years now, I still love doing an old-fashioned proofread in which I get proofs with a hard-copy marked-up ms. because there’s always something to learn by seeing how another copy editor handled various situations in the ms.


Do you freelance for authors who intend to self-publish? If so, what percentage of your freelance work is for authors who will self-publish? Is the experience different from working for a house?


I’ve done work for only a couple of authors who are self-publishing, so the percentage is almost nil. The experience is different in that the author probably doesn’t know much at all about the publishing process so at times it can be tough to convince him or her that certain advice really is good advice; and you don’t have the backup of other experts (sales and marketing or publicity people, an editor, an agent) who might also encourage an author to add or cut x or y. Generally I’m not too interested in that field, though, because there’s always a risk you won’t get paid but at the same time you can’t ask to be paid up front because similarly the author could worry about paying you and then the work not being done. The only non-company authors I work for are either friends or friends of friends … so I know where they live! ;) Which leads me to mention that I do occasionally edit and copyedit for writers who are preparing a ms. to submit to agents and publishers, or to journals. The work itself is really the same, though, as when working for a house.

In the News--Booksellers Wary of Holiday Sales

Today the NYT ran another very typical publishing article, especially typical of this time of year. E-books flat. Consumer interest in the physical book possibly up? Publishers worried about the "health" of B&N aka publishers scared B&N, their largest account, may go the way of the Dodo bird or worse, Borders. No big blockbuster in the season for blockbusters. Independents up. Readers finicky and unpredictable. Nonfiction winning out over fiction? In other words, publishing like any other industries, is racing toward the end of the year, hoping for the best in terms of sales and trying their very best to understand consumer needs and how to meet them late in the fourth quarter.

An article like this, and this time of year in general, really reminds me of publishing's dirty little secret: publishing is a business. One with bottom lines, sales goals, and people who are holding on, hoping for a little something extra to make it a most merry holiday season.

Tis the season...for numbers. Some will fair better than others--as is generally the case in any business, but oh the speculation. The whys and why nots of what is working and not working is absolutely fascinating. At least I find so. But ultimately, no matter what industry observers decide what is happening in the marketplace and why, articles like this also remind me how pivotal the consumer is in this equation, how much power the consumer, the reader, really, truly has. And this is the time of year, more so than any other, that big publishing is really trying to understand what the consumer wants; this is the time of year big publishing is most aware and attentive. With their purchasing power, the consumer does tell the industry so much: what book media has resonated (or not), if the tried and true brand name authors still have the same allure (are Malcolm Gladwell's sales up or down?), did the bright orange cover really work or was it an overreach? (I'm looking at you Dave Eggers), was there a small, unknown, debut author that managed to break through in the toughest publishing season indicating big publishing is missing the mark on a market need?

This is the time of year publishing self-evaluates. While it may be too late for books slated to be published early in the new year, this is the time of year where publishers best learn the lessons the market (the consumer) has to teach. For consumers who say publishers are out of step and not listening, now's the time. I swear. But also, now's the time to do your part. Don't just buy that much ballyhooed book on Amazon, but find your local independent bookseller and talk to them, stake your claim. Tell us directly what will win your dollars. Break through all the noise and buy (tell us) what you really want. We're listening and the NYT wants to report on it (obviously). I know they wish they'd had your input to fill out this very typical end-of-year report. Because glaringly and fascinatingly missing in this latest publishing article in the NYT is the consumer voice, which is a shame, because like Frasier Crane, we're listening.
.

On Agenting--Professional Spotlight

I'm very happy to today to welcome Kent Wolf, an agent at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin. As far as agents go, Kent is the gold standard: he has great taste and he works extremely hard for his clients. He's also just one of the nicest people in publishing and his interview is full of valuable information, especially for anyone interested in pursuing this career path.

So without further ado...

Thanks for joining us today, Kent. I'm really excited to talk to you today. I just recently learned that you began your career as a Scout, which is a fascinating way to begin in the business, I think. But Scout is also a publishing career path that people don't know much about. So can you give us a bit of a primer on Scouting and also share with us the progression of your career post-scouting and what you do now?

My pleasure, Stacey! I’m glad you asked about Scouting, as it’s an aspect of the publishing business that few outside the industry know much about.

I moved to New York in 1998 from Illinois, where I had spent a little over a year as an editorial assistant at a pretty amazing literary press, Dalkey Archive. Like many young twentysomethings with book-biz dreams, I envisioned a career in editorial, but after pounding the pavement for four months and countless interviews, I was down to $200 in the bank and was beginning to regret dropping out of grad school.

About ready to throw in the towel, I managed to snag an interview with a scouting agency. I’m embarrassed to admit that in my first days on the job I still wasn’t quite sure what the agency did. Thankfully, I’m a quick learner!

Basically, we were under contract to foreign publishers and Hollywood studios/production

companies, and I established relationships with agents, editors, and foreign rights professionals in order to report on upcoming books for possible translation or film/TV adaptation. When I heard about a book on submission to editors that might be of interest to a client, I would do my darndest to get a copy of the manuscript to read and review. The job was invaluable in making great professional contacts and it allowed me a bird’s-eye view of the industry.

From there I landed a job in the subsidiary rights department of Harcourt Trade Publishers. I spent over eight years there selling foreign and domestic rights (UK, translation, audio, large print, book club, etc.). It was at Harcourt where I learned how to sell, but the only drawback was that I was selling someone else’s books! I was pulling in over $2,000,000 a year in revenue but my salary, sadly, didn’t reflect it.

It was a blessing in disguise when I was laid off in the wake of the Harcourt/Houghton Mifflin merger, and I was finally free to pursue a career in agenting. I’d been wanting to take the leap for a number of years but needed to be pushed into the deep end to start swimming. I sold my first
book four weeks after donning my agent’s hat and never looked back!

What has been one of the biggest challenges of your career as an agent?

Honestly, the biggest challenge for all agents is selling books! Much of it has to do with the changing landscape. The big publishers continue to consolidate, the bookstore chains are shrinking, and playing Candy Crush now trumps reading as the preferred activity for morning train commuters. Like our writers, we’re suckers for punishment, but our love of the written word keeps us fighting the good fight!

What has been one of your biggest successes?

I’ve been quite lucky to have a number of bestsellers under my belt. My first, OOGY: THE DOG ONLY A FAMILY COULD LOVE, spent over ten weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List and to date has sold over 300,000 copies. I’m also quite proud of a debut novel published this year, THE CLOVER HOUSE, which was a Boston Globe Bestseller and a Target Emerging Author
selection.

What have you not yet done as an agent that you want to do?

I’m still waiting for my feature in The New York Times Style section! Seriously, though, I have yet to see one of my books hit the big screen. Titles have been optioned but nothing’s been greenlit. Hollywood, get on it!!

How has the changes in technology affected your job?

I don’t edit on paper anymore, for one. I’m all about “track changes” these days. And I read all manuscripts on my iPad, only printing out proposals. There’s tremendous pressure right now to maintain a strong social media presence (Authors, I feel your pain!), and it can be a chore to Tweet sometimes.


What are some of your books we should look for in the marketplace?

In May 2014 Thomas Dunne Books will publish a debut by Natalie Harnett, entitled THE HOLLOW
GROUND. It’s a dark and haunting voice-driven novel based on real events—the underground coal-mine fires that ravaged Pennsylvania and displaced entire towns.

And next fall be on the lookout for BEHOLDEN by Martina Boone, a YA debut from Simon Pulse. It’s a gorgeous Southern Gothic full of magic and romance. It’s the first in a trilogy and is perfect for lovers of BEAUTIFUL CREATURES, but Martina creates a world all her own.

Are you taking new writers? What sorts of submissions are you looking for?

I sure am! I encourage those interested in querying me to visit our website at http://www.lmqlit.com for submission guidelines.

I’m pretty wide open to be honest. I represent literary fiction, upmarket women’s fiction, multicultural lit, literature in translation, YA, memoir, pop culture, smart thrillers, long-form journalism, and history (the non-stuffy kind). I don’t have a handle on self-help or feel compelled to
represent anything that proselytizes.

I’m dying to get my hands on something like Lev Grossman’s THE MAGICIANS. I’m such a sucker for genre-bending books! I’d love to discover a rollicking historical in the vein of Emma Donoghue, and a strong family story like THE MIDDLESTEINS would send me over the moon. Oh, and novels
that shed light on little-known figures or historical events are my catnip!

What's your best advice to new writers currently looking for an agent?
Work on those query letters! Agents can get upwards of a hundred queries per week, so your pitch should be as finely honed and targeted as possible. For me, the best queries are those that mimic the jacket copy on a published book. Give me an engaging, concise description. Flat queries leave me cold. Let me know where your book fits on the shelves. Who is your audience? What makes your book special? Do your homework to make sure that the agent you’re querying represents in your category. And for the love of God, avoid clichés when describing your work. I’m allergic to them.

What's your best advice to a recent college graduate thinking about a publishing career?

Don’t limit yourself to editorial positions. There are so many great jobs out there—from scouting to publicity to marketing to foreign rights—that are just as important and rewarding as an editor’s. Just get that foot in the door!

And get some internships under your belt. Literary agencies, especially, are always looking for interns. Entry-level positions are competitive and the more experience you have, the better. I’ve seen applicants for assistant positions who have upwards of three internships on their resumes. Most internships are unpaid, which stinks, but that’s the way the business works. Sorry, kids!