By barb janes
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs is making a chore for the reader who reads – Dr Suess
A dozen writers forsook their work and opened Zoom for a presentation hosted by FriesenPress. Inside The Edit: Navigating Process, Partnerships and Publishing Routes, was hosted by the personable Bret Newton, an editor with ten years of experience with Friesen’s.
Why edit? For me, it’s partly a stalling technique as I back-burner what’s going to happen next to whom in my novel. But I’ve also found it a clarifying exercise, discovering inconsistencies, poor turns of phrase and even – gasp! – spelling errors. An outside editor, Bret Newton explained, represents your future readers by asking questions and giving feedback. The editor asks questions about clarity, cohesion and flow, and works with the writer to maximize impact. As Bret pointed out, nothing undermines the credibility of the author more than poor editing, so (gentle reminder) use spell check and or Grammarly.
Walking us through various types and levels of editing, we learned of Developmental Editing, which offers commentary, advice, structuring. For fiction writers, Developmental Editing looks at plot, organization, and character development. Non-fiction writers will receive feedback on structure, organization and argument development. Editors of both kinds of writers will be looking for ways for us to strengthen consistency. An editor doesn’t mean less work for the writer – the editor does not make changes for you, but asks questions that will help you make your own changes.
In a Manuscript Evaluation with Friesen’s, an editor will read your entire book, and offer you feedback about what will have the biggest impact on improving your material.
For a full look at and pricing of services offered by Friesen’s, check out their website: https://www.friesenpress.com/publishing-services/editing
MWG members might want to apply through the Guild to have a Beta reader look at their manuscript before sending it on to an editor.
A nuance new to me is that in Traditional Publishing (say, Harper or Knopf), your editor will be supplied by the publisher and collaborate with you – and the editor and publisher get the final say. The Publisher bears the financial cost.
With a Service Provider such as Friesen’s, most communication is done via comments in your WORD document, and you as the author have the final say. And bear the financial cost.
Just as we have indie music and indie film, we now have indie publishing through companies such as Friesen. If you choose to go that route, do your homework and plan your budget – and ask lots of questions about what is and isn’t included.