It’s difficult to argue with success. Following yesterday’s post, 5 Evergreen Editing Tips, a reader wrote me and asked if these tips apply to YA (Young Adult) authors, because one celebrity YA author’s books violate nearly all of the editing tips.
Stephenie Meyer’s books, in particular, are so poorly edited that even my 14-year-old daughter remarked about the annoying typos and redundancies.
But hey, Stephenie Meyer has sold a zillion books, she’s rich and famous and has movies made from her stories. How can you argue with that kind of success?
I once interviewed another celebrity author, Laurell K. Hamilton, who writes the popular Anita Blake series. She said that once you become successful as an author, your editor stops editing you. And that’s why we see so many series books running 600 pages and up.
Note in the picture above how the Twilight books got longer and longer.
Here’s the deal:
Writing shorter takes longer
Editing takes time
Time costs money
I’m not going to go on a rant. But I would like to hear from you: Is editing worth it or not?
-Maria Schneider
Flickr photo by lulu
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Editing is definitely worth the time. There are a number of books that could easily have been cut in half and still maintained the same storyline and effect (Atlas Shrugged comes to mind first, thought the later Harry Potter books could also have been cut back quite a bit). I tend to pick out typos instantly and it’s amazing to me the number of new books that get released that have typos on the first page! I can understand when there’s a typo showing up toward the end; the copyeditor was tired and just wanted to get the thing done, no one bothered to double-check that far in, etc. But the first page? That’s just plain laziness. And it makes both the author and the publishing house look bad.
There are different types of editors that may work on a book. Content editors help shape the story, but there’s also proofreading or what’s also known as “line” editing.
Of course, I disagree with Hamilton’s stance. I feel that editors are necessary because often a writer is too close to the work to see their own mistakes. However, the time to market for an average book is a concern given today’s industry.
I agree that editing is a must. Poorly edited books are frustrating and hard to read. If there are too many mistakes in a book, I’ll stop reading.
With her success has also come brutal criticism.
Editing is important because books stand the test of time. Twenty years from now when all the hype has dissipated, people will look at our books and wonder what we were thinking if we don’t take the time to edit.
I get the whole point about her success. At the same time, as a writer, I want to publish the best book I can, regardless of time and effort. I think my readers would appreciate it, even if they have to wait a little longer.
That’s the whole point, isn’t it? To write something excellent and know that it will stand up to the critics and nitpickers. You’re never going to please everyone but you want to do the best you can to please those who take the time to read your work.
Jai
Editing is definitely important. As a writer, I’d be embarrassed to have my work on shelves unpolished. As a reader, I want to enjoy the story without distraction. I ordered a novel once that was so full of typos that I ended up getting out my own red pen due to too much distraction. One page had over twenty spelling errors. Later, when I reviewed the book, I was contacted by the author and her publisher. Both were thrilled I liked what I could read of the story, but totally missed my point of doing their own editing before it hit the shelves. However, I was told a line of how I might have mistakenly been sold a copy that goes out to certain reviewers before the final copy goes out and that the ending might not even be the same. I was shocked to learn that. No offer to refund my money, or send an updated version though.
Editing is essential no matter how famous you are! Readers deserve it. Personally, I don’t have the time to read a 600-page book, and I cringe every time I see a typo in my own work. So when a famous author has typos, it’s kind of like seeing a cop speeding and cutting people off in traffic. It’s just not right.
You’re right, it is hard to argue with success. It’s especially frustrating to be teaching my kids proper grammar when they can pick up a best selling book and see every rule broken.
I agree with HWPetty. Right now, mediocrity is pandemic – from schools to entertainment to journalism. The pendulum will swing back, though, I hope, and excellence will once again be the standard to reach.
Keep editing. :)
I’m for the edit. Maybe author’s who’ve made it that big ought to consider insisting on an independent editing service? It would be in the best interests of the editing company to do a good job, not just to demonstrate the company’s high standards, but to draw more customers.
I wonder how much it will cost to edit books that are released over and over again. Seems like it would be better to pay for a good edit up front rather than a new one later on when prices have increased.
Ravenne
It’s ALWAYS worth the time. What’s so maddening about the last two Twilight books is that they get worse and worse. Breaking Dawn is genuinely awful. It breaks rules I didn’t know existed! I heard that Meyer’s fans called her on how bad it was. To my way of thinking, the more popular/bestselling you are, the MORE your editor should be on top of you to keep turning out quality. There are plenty of authors who do, so why should some get to slide? SO irritating! There, did I rant a little for you?
The very same thing happened with Harry Potter. I was a big fan when I first discovered them, but the last books left a bitter taste behind. I think Rowling might have realized what was happening as well; I remember reading an interview where she expressed a wish to re-edit all the books after she finished. Perhaps she was pressured by publishing deadlines to keep the books coming before their readers outgrew them.
Stefanie, yes but HP in comparison were much better than Twilight. At least Rowling knows how to show and not tell!
I’ve always believed that editing was part and parcel of the writing process.
If you care about your writing, certaily you would want to have it edited. I know of only one writer who got it right the first time, and that’s Robert Heinlein. But how many of us are Robert Heinlein?
It is difficult for me to think of writing and editing as mutually exclusive. When writing for any reader other than ones self, I cannot fathom how one would want anything other than a polished crisp piece of work on display for consumption. Having said this I do recognize that the two are VERY different.
I think in some ways editing is more difficult and just as creative. I wish I could see in my work what some very skilled writer/editor types find and point out. I feel this aspect of my writing is the area that needs the most work. Here is to well edited work!
Well, I think we’re distorting the context by talking about the mega hits. This is especially true of the HP stories where lawyers escorted by deputies would show up if a customer received their book before the actual release date and impound it. It seems like when you get that big, you’re being “handled” and it’s all about the product release.
HP book 7 was leaked onto the web a few weeks ahead of the release and I believe a good portion of the plot for the last Twilight book was as well. It’s a good guess that the next mega hit will be plagued by a sense of paranoia.
I can only hope that I make it to the point where I am handled. Until then, every set of eyes I can get to look at my work, I’m gonna!
It’s essential for me as an author because I wouldn’t want to have my name on something that doesn’t meet fairly high standards. Not having anything published mainstream yet might give my opinion the weight of a grain of sand, but I do what I can at this point to go over any of my work with a fine tooth comb. I also work with 3rd parties to edit my writing, usually in collaboration. The next step that I would move to is to work with a professional editor, and make sure she would work with me on everything I published to keep the quality up for the reader.
The editing may not be as important for the majority of young readers, because I have noticed a decrease in reading/writing skills of late. And if the only goal is to make a buck, skimp on editing. I’d rather put work out that people could read as an example of how to write. A lofty goal to be sure, but I like it.
I think poor/lack of editing is disrespectful to the work.
That said, I hate editing. I’m not published, but I’ve been writing every day for the past three and a half years. I have thousands of subscribers and I care about what they think. I cringe when someone points out a typo. I also know that there have been times when I’ve gotten lazy because I’ve become so comfortable with my readers – most have been around since blog one. There have been times when I’ve caught something and said, “I can’t believe you guys didn’t call me on that!” The common response is that I’m usually so good about checking my work before publishing, they forgive a mistake here or there.
I don’t envy editors. Not one bit. I write everything (novels, blogs, short stories, movie reviews) in my head first. Always. By the time I sit in front of the laptop I’m just ready to flow. Once its out, I like to go over it once… maybe twice. Any more than that and I’m ready to scream. What I’ve found interesting is my habit to read posts over again after knowing it has been read my a specific person. I admire Alegra’s work so much that when I get notification that she’s left a comment, I find myself reading my blog again before reading her comment to try and see it from her perspective – and to make sure it doesn’t suck.
OK, I just blogged on your blog. What was the question?
It depends. Do you have any pride? Are you an artist or a hack? Will you sell your soul for success? Would you like to have the admiration of your peers as well as big sales?
Editing is part of the job. Be a real writer and do the work. Or else have folks like us sniggering about your ill-executed novels on websites like this;-)
Such a sad case of do what I say, not what I do, isn’t it? I read material from every genre — without regard to its intended audience — for the purposes of recommendation to and consideration by a variety of readers. I would not be compelled to promote works that recklessly disregard the language. A very skilled hand is required to weave colloquialisms and other grammatical and editorial “departures”. They should add value — like natural imperfections in any fine fabric.
Using Meyer to say that editing isn’t important is like using Paolini to say that 15 year olds should publish the first book they ever write. It’s the exception that proves the rule. Success on that scale is like winning the lottery vs. going to work every day. It’s great to dream about winning the lottery, but your best bet is always going to be sticking it out, improving yourself and working as hard as you can. So yes. Edit. For all our sakes.
I personally couldn’t stand the twilight series. I thought never crossed my mind that perhaps they were pushing the books so fast that the editing was bypassed.
Very interesting.
Great post.
Yes, editing is worth it! It
Of course it’s worth it! Even putting readers aside, it makes me FEEL good. Editing is so satisfying that I prefer it to actually writing. I love seeing everything come together, get tighter and tighter. And then, after it’s finally perfect, everyone will assume you wrote it that way the first time around :)
Editing is always worth it. This took me by surprise — didn’t know that publishers would actually bypass it. So much for a quality product, huh?
Funny you mentioned the Twilight series. I’ve visited your forum and have read plenty on the subject of editing and then I started reading the first book and I noticed a lot of errors. But it is rewarding to go through and make your work better, which is what I think editing does for a piece. Even my short stories are getting edited down. It makes the read so much better.
Oh my, yes. I think we all hate to do it, but editing is so important.
As much as I love YA fiction, this is exactly why the Twilight books annoy me so much. I read the first book while deep in a writing class/workshop, and spent the whole time wondering how a series could break just about every rule that was being drilled into my head (modifiers, dialogue tags, long stretches of characters explaining everything, etc.) and still become freakishly popular.
I don’t mind a long book if it has an engaging, multi-layered story and is well-written. But please, please hire an editor! Or at least send a copy of the manuscript and a red pen to a grammar nerd friend.
End rant. :D
I had also noticed this trend of poor editing and progressively longer books within a series. Do you think it’s a money issue? And I don’t just mean saving money by not editing a book. I think with a bigger, longer book, the publisher probably sees it as an opportunity to charge more and earn more on a story that already has a strong, dedicated following from books released earlier in that particular series. As long as the book sells, it seems that many publishers won’t care about the quality of content. It’s a sad truth. I think this makes it even more important for writers to hone their craft and master the rules of grammar and writing.
To me, editing is the different between a good story and a good book. “Twilight” and “Harry Potter” are both series that, though wildly popular, are too long, too sloppy, and painful for someone who has an eye for editing to trudge through. Good stories, maybe. Good books? I don’t know…
“Writing shorter takes longer
Editing takes time
Time costs money”
In Meyer’s case, money should be no object.
There should never be an excuse for poor or no editing. Starving writers can have adequate editing services too.
Of course editing is important–first the self-editing by the author, and then (we hope) the editing by the publisher. It’s really a no-brainer.
I’ve never read the Harry Potter books, but I did glance through the first one. I saw all sort of dialogue tag adverbs, as well as the “said John” construction (instead of “John said”). It convinced me I didn’t want to suffer through these books. So if the later ones got worse, I hate to think of how bad they must be.
There are plenty of established authors whose editors have stopped doing their jobs (Stephen King comes to mind). They probably don’t care as long as the big royalty checks keep coming in. But it’s pretty sad.
Money is not everything. Gasp. Just because a novel has sold a lot of copies does not mean it was the best it could have been. I agree with the commenters who suggest that we should desire to put out the best work possible.
Also, thanks the editing tips. They were helpful.
After all my piping about excellence, I must admit I enjoyed the Harry Potter series from beginning to abused-modifier-ever-loving end.
Yep. The first draft gets down the voice, the story, the gestalt of the piece. But the editing – the editing is where the writing happens. I liken the entire process to sculpting with clay: first, build the armature (the first draft), then add and shape the clay, whittle back, nip and tuck, and when the form is ready, fire (equivalent to the ‘marinating in the drawer’). Then return to your hardened and formed piece, apply the texture, the glaze, the stains, the waxes. Buff and polish.
For every hour I ‘write’, I easily spend 8 hours editing. A conservative guess. Thank goddess I love to edit.
Great few posts here. Peace, Linda
Once your book is in print, the mistakes there are inscribed in ink. As a professional copy editor and novelist, I cringe in horror thinking of all the authors who are proud to put their name to a work that is replete with sloppy errors. My books are my works of art, my highest artistic achievement. Would I want a coffee stain on a zillion-dollar dress at an important party? I am going over my novels so many times and still catch errors, hoping that the final proof I okay will be error-free. I know there will be something I missed. But I’m just talking about copyediting. Content editing is another story, and as my agent laments, editors for publishing houses just don’t do it anymore and they’re not schooled. They mostly can’t edit. It should behoove every writer to shell out the money, take a loan out against their firstborn, whatever it takes, to get their book professionally edited before sending it out to an agent or publisher. Call me :)
Alice McDermott said there’s a reason she only publishes a book every five years or so – because that’s how long it takes to get it right, and that involves a lot of rewriting and a lot of editing. She aims to create the best book that she possibly can, which is why she’s a 3-time Pulitzer finalist and a National Book Award winner. That’s something that Stephenie Meyer will never accomplish. So, as a writer, what is more important to you? And therein you will find your answer.
Personally, I would rather be an Alice McDermott than a Stephenie Meyer any day of the week.
Judging by the number of comments, it looks like you’ve struck a nerve. I’ve noticed an increase in the number of glaring errors over time, as well as bloated prose. I always figured it was because publishers were cutting back on the number of editors they have. But I can see how once an author gets established the drive for a fast buck would also be a big incentive to cut the editing in order to save time. A shame really, for those poorly edited books likely will not stand the test of time.
I think Meg Spencer said it best, “Success on that scale [Meyer] is like winning the lottery vs. going to work every day. It’s great to dream about winning the lottery, but your best bet is always going to be sticking it out, improving yourself and working as hard as you can.” So true.
~jon
I can see how from the publishing house’s viewpoint editing a successful series author is not a high priority, but oh boy is it a priority for me the reader when i see how a good edit could have made a good book really brilliant. For the sake of the art–yes! Do the edits! Please! :)
Why is this even a question? Is “editing” worth it? Not debatable.
Is an “editor” worth it? I believe a sports comparison is apt. Tom Brady has a quarterback coach. Randy Johnson has a pitching coach. The Williams sisters have a hitting coach. Every one of these people have reached the pinnacle of success in their sport. The professionals that coach them could never match their prowess. Yet these athletes need someone with objective eyesight to keep them at the top of their game.
I think the same is applicable for writers.
–John
PS Shaquille O’Neal’s shooting coach can probably take him in a game of “HORSE” 9 times out of 10.
Is editing worth it? YES!
I’m glad to see that so many of the commenters here agree.
And I’m sorry to see what is happening not just with YA authors, but also with writers/publishers of many genres.
In these times of instant gratification, I’m not surprised to see a slacking off of attention to detail (like copyediting).
I think we can all agree that reading is an important factor in broadening horizons and improving language and life skills.
So what role does bad published writing (writing that’s not properly edited) play in the bigger picture? This is what I see as the dumbing of the people.
Which came first: the chicken or the egg? Is it sloppy writing that’s causing people to “dumb down?” Or is it the “dumbing down” that’s causing lousy writing?
I agree with the first part of Cindy’s comment above: “Right now, mediocrity is pandemic – from schools to entertainment to journalism. The pendulum will swing back, though, I hope, and excellence will once again be the standard to reach.” Cindy, I admire your optimism, and I hope you’re right!
Definitely it’s worth it. Others have mentioned the Harry Potter books. Prime examples! They just kept growing and growing until the 7th book, Harry Potter And The Interminable Emo Camping, was just a terrible legacy to an otherwise pretty good series. If only every book had been well edited they would have been outstanding!
Editing is essential for any novel that is published, not to mention anything written for public eyes. I know a lot of readers and writers who cannot get through a piece if it has too many typos and grammatical errors.
Not only that, but editing establishes your pride in the work and that you want it to be the best it can be. While Meyer and others have been successful with the public, it doesn’t mean that their work is going to stand the test of time like the classics of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, and others.
Publishing houses that do not provide editing for even wildly successful authors are merely perpetuating the problems of illiteracy and poor communication rampant throughout the United States. Our education system is in trouble, our children are less knowledgeable about grammar, etc., and the corporate machine sees nothing wrong with that. As writers, we should care; we should do something about it–no matter how small a gesture or time-consuming it may be.
I’m still trying to get over “dust moats” in the first book. *shudder* The repetition was embarassing. The second book consists of dull plodding in the whole first half of the book; the pacing is horrible. Quite frankly, I don’t understand why an author would allow their name on something this badly done. Money is one thing, deadlines are one thing, but this is just wrong. I can actually handle imperfect grammar in the name of tone and style. I can understand a typo here and there–it happens. But huge chunks of useless text that don’t move the story anywhere make me insane. I think the reason that Meyers sold 14% of the books in the US last year is because no one had time to read more. They were all wading through huge tracts of pointless narrative hoping to find the story. Hope is a funny thing.
From my reader’s perspective, the importance of editing depends on the plot, characters and the reader’s level of involvement. If the plot is good enough or if I identify with a main character, I can get a fair way into a book before my interest is overwhelmed by poor style. However, if the plot is slow, or the theme is complex, it’s the quality of the writing that keeps me going until my interest is engaged.
From my writer’s perspective, style is a tool. Editing for grammar, punctuation and spelling is essential. No one would hire a carpenter who holds the wrong end of a hammer. Beyond that, editing is more like tuning the prose to the intended audience. In the case of Meyer and Rowling, children and teens are are inexperienced readers. Simplistic grammar, excessive adverbs and telling in place of showing help them to understand. I’d rather be dragged naked through a nettle patch than write like that myself, but it’s a valid strategy for engaging that demographic and I can respect it.
I cannot respect anyone who compromises standards for profit. Shoddy work is shoddy work, whether it’s a badly built bookcase or a badly written book. Editing improves books. Skip it and you might as well put “written in China” on the jacket.
Editing is definitely important. Especially stepping back from a book and then going back to it later. It’s amazing how talent grows and changes over time. My books have become shorter and snappier rather than longer and longer as a result of better editing and being able to notice when too much fluff gets in the way.
I’ve never read Twilight. I know those who have and some were not what you would consider big readers. While I applaud anything that gets someone to open a book, I still find most people’s comments about the structure of the books appalling.
Editing is like quality control and infrastructure in construction. A house can look gorgeous from the outside and even be beautiful and appealing when you walk through. However, if a careless builder and inspector allowed corners to be cut and petty flaws and errors to be glossed over, then the shine and gloss wears off pretty quickly and you are left with a shabby and rickety structure. No amount of pretty decorating makes up for substandard plumbing . . . .
The analogy of “good story” and “good book” is excellent. Editing is the unseen infrastructure that supports the aesthetic aspects of the story. Most builders can put up a sturdy utilitarian structure . Most designers can put up an appealing glitzy structure. The true artist (or realistically artistic team) can do both.
LL
If I had more time I would have written a shorter book.
Maybe because she doesn’t know any better and trusts that she will, in fact, be edited?
Let’s face it. Editing is NOT important, else would have been done.
If Meyer had self-published this novel, it would have been used as an example of exactly what NOT to do and thrashed to within an inch of its life. It’s being thrashed soundly here and elsewhere, but she kept an entire publishing company afloat for years with it, so obviously, NO, it does not matter.
What this is really about–as well as every other conversation regarding this title and its editing (or lack thereof, and yes, I was utterly horrified)–is the not unwarranted bitterness over the attitude of “do as I say, not as I do.” It’s winning a lottery if you sell a good manuscript with good editing. Twilight et al is winning a lottery without having bought a ticket. That’s where the bitterness lies.
But does editing matter? Obviously not.
Absolutely, good editing is extremely valuable.
That said, I loved Twilight. Was it the best written or edited book? Obviously not. But did it successfully convey a good story? Absolutely! At the end of the day, no book is going to be perfect. So I, for one, do not strive for perfection in my own writing. Because I used to, and it just slowed me down / held me back.
So we can criticize Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling or whoever for their “awful/horrendous/atrocious/lazy” writing/editing, or we can look at why their books were successful in spite of their flaws, and try to learn from that and incorporate it into our own work. Because they’re being read by millions. Are we?
I don’t care how famous or succesful an author is, sloppily edited books annoy the snot outa me! They are a lousy example for new writers.
I may not expect a classic every time I read a book, but solid editing makes it easier to read, and thus proabable I’ll pick up another by the same author.
Edit your darned manuscript! Sheesh!
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.” -Dr. Seuss
Rant away!!! Editing is everything.
The key word in that post is ‘time.’ Editing takes time. Due to the problems in the publishing industry over the past year or so, the role of editors has turned more and more to acquisition and less toward the actual editing of a book. I’ve read numerous comments by editors about how they don’t have the time to properly edit anymore. They want submissions that are as near publication ready as possible. So, the onus of editing shifts back up the line to agents and writers.
Agents of course, don’t have the time either, though many of them come from the ranks of editors and actually enjoy the editing process. Jessica Faust recently commented on twitter that most of her clients ms’s get sent back for revisions more than once before being ready to submit. This just reinforces the fact that your novel has to be as clean and finished as possible before you submit it. Some agents will take the time with their to do this polishing until it’s ready, some will not. Some agents will take on a story they think will work with a bit of work, but more and more that just isn’t the case. They don’t want and don’t have the time for the extra work. Thus, you have a story that might have achieved representation if you had just put in the time to edit it thoroughly.
Point is, editing is and should be on the shoulders of the author. You have to be willing to do, and you have to have the skill to do it well. Hitting spell/grammar check on the computer won’t cut it. There are lots of resources out there on the editing process and how to do it well. Many writers just don’t like doing this work, and admittedly I am one of them. When I type ‘the end,’ I really want it to be the end. The story is done, and I’m ready to send it out. Unfortunately, reaching that point is only the beginning of the battle. This is the likely reason for so many complaints about works that are self-published. These writers just don’t put the effort into editing that they should, putting sloppy work out there that people just don’t want to read. In the current publishing climate, you can’t afford not to edit and do it well. You don’t have to pay big bucks to get it done. You can teach yourself good editing skills. Invest the time, otherwise you are just putting up one strike against you before you even put it out there in the world hoping to see publication.
It’s impossible to edit your own work to a publishable standard. Sure, you can get it damn close, but an outside eye is needed. A writer is too close to their own work and too invested in it to edit really well. The author gets it close, then an editor, or at least editorial help, is essential.
If your publisher or agent isn’t going to provide editing services, and you’ve looked over your work so many times that you’re cross-eyed, do yourself (and your readers) a big favor. Hire a freelance copyeditor. :-)
Have you hugged a freelance copyeditor today?
Yes, yes, yes. Editing makes writing into a story; a clean, polished, story. Why waste my time on something the author didn’t bother to spend much time on?
noted in passing:
> knowing it has been read my a specific person
> children and teens are are inexperienced readers
> and thus proabable I’ll pick up another by the same author.
sorry, couldn’t resist… :+)
-bowerbird
and, in the interim…
> Some agents will take the time with their to do this
> You have to be willing to do, and you have to
-bowerbird
I’m surprised Stephanie Meyer didn’t include “editing” in her million dollar contract. Your visual of each book getting bigger was amazing (well done).
Related topic: Went to a writer’s conference and was told some publishers/agents expect romance authors to publish at least two books a year. At least.
Apparently some best selling writers turn over their rough manuscripts, then the editors/agents do the editing. This was compared to the Renaissance artists who often framed out a painting or sculpture and then had their apprentices finish the piece.
Wondering what you all think.
“Less is more.” Mies Van der Rohe…
“Less is more only if the more isn’t very good.” Frank Lloyd Wright
“So we can criticize Stephenie Meyer or JK Rowling or whoever for their “awful/horrendous/atrocious/lazy” writing/editing, or we can look at why their books were successful in spite of their flaws, and try to learn from that and incorporate it into our own work. Because they’re being read by millions. Are we?”
Yes, we can look for the things that worked – compelling story is certainly one I’ve heard Twilight has – but we cannot assume that we can get away with making the mistakes that they made because it worked for them. We can not count on achieving what Meyer and Rowling achieved because their success had as much if not more to do with ungodly luck than with anything else. I would happily bet that there are many, many unpublished books with all the merits and far fewer of the flaws, and they will never be published because they just weren’t in that magical place at that magical time. It’s tough. It’s life. If you want success you need to dig in, work hard, bleed and sweat and cry and realize that no matter how hard you work, sometimes it just isn’t enough.
It’s kind of funny because the theme of Twilight seems to be that one can achieve happiness without doing any work, that a prince charming will swoop in and save you from your tedious life, that you can be a passive participant in your own story and things will turn out okay. That’s a great fairy tale, but it’s not how things work.
Ironic that the books they can afford extra money on for editing, they don’t bother. The rest of us crack that editing whip, and don’t see extra dollars come out of it.
Editing is an unsung art form because when done well, the results are invisible. You never hear someone rave, “WOW! The editing on this book is phenomenal.” You only hear it when the job is NOT done properly. It’s distracting to the reader when this is the case, and pops them out of their immersion in the story for a moment. So yeah, editing is necessary, the step that makes a reader forget they are simply looking at a printed page, and lets them experience a well-conceived tale more fully.
I recently attended a screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s latest film, Tetro, after which the writer/director/producer took audience questions. Someone asked him how many script revisions he does before shooting. One of his script supervisors was in the audience and she said that Tetro went through relatively few revisions, at 6 or 7. The typical number is more like 25.
Inexperienced writers do not realize that a professional writer or editor can – easily – spot a first or early draft. It is clear when the writer is still figuring out the story or hasn’t reread the piece to correct for flow, continuity, and cohesion. If you can’t be bothered with creating the best possible experience for your reader, do you think your reader will truly enjoy reading you?
I wonder if the big success series without decent editing are part and parcel of the change in publishing that is after the next big success instead of quality – just like the film industry – look at the big money makers that are of such poor quality.
But who cares? If a film makes money, that’s all that matters.
Big-time publishing is a business. Quality always loses the battle against profits.
Been reading a couple Howdunit books for writers and having great trouble restraining myself from pulling out my red pen and scribbling on them. Are the books useful as they are? YES! But a few less typos and wrong word instances would make them a lot less frustrating to read.
Let’s face it. Too many places and people have replaced their editors with spell checkers. I’d e-mail them a list of errors but it is a little late when the book is already published.
I recently read a book published by Booklocker Buccanneer/KMA, evidently a self-publishing operation. There are 377 pages of text, with typos and grammatical errors on about 30 of those pages, as well as holes and inconsistencies in the story line. And I DID take my red pen to the text!
I subsequently met the author at a local writing workshop. I knew she was in the process of writing a second book. So, without any intention of offending her or her story, I subtly “recommended” that she use a different publishing operation. I told her that there were a lot of errors in the published copy. She told me she was going with a different publisher (though she didn’t acknowledge or ask me about the types of errors).
An editor/ copyeditor easily would have caught all of those annoying goofs.
Instead of remembering her book as “a good read,” I now only remember it for being the one with all the typos and story mistakes.
Editing is worth it! If I’m reading something and I find one or two typos, I feel mildly annoyed. Once I’ve found three, I’m deeply suspicious. When I’ve found over four, I’m tempted to stop reading. And meandering plots that don’t go anywhere, unsympathetic protagonists who act out of character, confusing POV shifts — I can do all those myself. If I buy a book that’s poorly edited and sloppily written, I feel cheated. And I’ll remember the offending writer and publishing company the next time I go book shopping.
Editing is totally worth it. Editing puts a better-quality book on the market. I wouldn’t care how long the wait was, as long as the book’s quality was excellent.
I will just throw this in as a side note, longer books are not always a sign of less editing.
I’m an author with 3 books in a series coming out next year. So far I’ve written and turned in 2 and am working on my third. Every book I’ve written has been longer than the one before it. This is NOT because of my editor, who has been everything wonderful in the world and worked very hard on the books I’ve given her. It’s because I’m writing larger, more complex books as the world gets bigger. I’ve noticed that most series books operate this way. It seems to be a natural progression as the reader and the writer become more intimate with the created world, and want to do more with it. Doing more often means more scenes, more twists, more plot, and (naturally) more words. This makes for longer books whose length has nothing to do with the presence or lack of editing.
Also, hopefully as they write authors do get better, necessitating less editing… HOPEFULLY being the operative word :D
Just wanted to throw that in.
- Rachel