What We're Writing Week: Julia is Copyediting

 JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm occasionally having to pinch myself, because it's been such a long time, but it appears AT MIDNIGHT COMES THE CRY is really, truly happening. I've had meetings about authors who might generously give a blurb, been assigned a publicist, and I recently got the copyedits to work on.

When I started in this business, the copyedits arrived as an actual printed manuscript, the same one I had sent in, with mark-ups in yes, you guessed it, red pencil. The author had to respond in blue pencil, and if you wanted to add anything, like a better turn of phrase or a bit of explanation, you had to handwrite it. Publishing has NEVER been a technology-forward industry (the Gutenberg press exempted.)

I was fine with the old way, but I have to admit, having the designer's and copy editor's notes in comments in Word, and being to make changes without trying to squeeze them in between double-spaced sentences, is a pretty sweet upgrade.

The first thing I did when I got my packet was read the Author Instructions, which carefully lay out how to respond to comments, make changes, etc. There were several places urging me to call or email with questions, leading me to suspect the average publishing company doesn't have a lot of confidence in the ability of writers to follow directions. Fair enough.

Then I read through the notes, to get an idea of how big a job I had in front of me, and what the larger issues needing fixing were. I tackled those first, and afterwards went through page by page,  changing or agreeing or STETting. We don't actually STET anymore, and I have to admit, I did enjoy a large, slashing STET scrawled in the margins, conveying with my penmanship my incredulity that anyone would make this suggestion.

At this point, I've finished all the copy editor and designer's queries, so yay for me! The next task is to insert a few bits and pieces that will better prepare the audience for some events at the end of the book. Finally, I'll do a line edit, looking for places I have an awkward phrase, or use the same word twice in close succession, or just have an unnecessarily over-stuffed sentence. The edits are due back by April 4, and I'm very happy to say I won't have any issue getting them in on time! (That's a first for me...) Then it's on to the next book.

 

And now for something completely different! I'm one of some 250 authors participating in Crime Writers for Trans Rights, an online auction benefiting the Transgender Law Center. You can bid on fun crafts, character names, signed books, audiobook narration, professional research assistance, conference registrations, and in my case, a 30 page manuscript review and an in-person (or in-Zoom) coaching session! I hope you'll check it out and find something fabulous.

Debs on Writing and Not Writing

DEBORAH CROMBIE: What I have actually been writing this week is this:

It does have a title (Yay!), and a little bit of a plot--but I can't tell you any of that!

What I can tell you is that I think it will be set in London's Bloomsbury, in the dark days of late autumn, and--well, stuff happens. And then more stuff happens. And hopefully it will be gripping and intriguing and I'm dying to get started on it.

My agent is looking at the proposal today, and then we'll talk, so cross your fingers that she likes the idea!! 

What I've been working on the last few weeks is this:

First my editor's edits (that's the pile with the stickies) on A BITTER FEAST, then the copy edit. Fortunately, it was the same copy editor I've had for many books and she does a great job.

Here's page 1 of my style sheet (the reference your copy editor makes for names and word usage):

If you were to read through the manuscript, you'd see that I have once again utterly failed at compound words...

Then, today, my page proofs arrive!! These are the typeset pages, and it's the first time you get to see what the finished book pages will look like--and how they will read with all the changes that you made in the copy edit. It's very exciting!

And also very scary, because the only changes you can make at this point are to correct type-setting errors.  So if you're not happy with what you wrote, yikes, it's too bad.

And now, because it's spring, and we are all about flowers, here's a little snippet from A BITTER FEAST. Gemma has arrived at Melody Talbot's parents' house for the weekend, and this is her first view of of the fabulous gardens.

From the garden came the Jack Russell’s high-pitched yips, and Charlotte’s even more shrill squeal of excitement. Gemma realized she’d left the child in Addie’s care too long. She stacked the breakfast plates in the sink and headed for the French doors that led to the terrace.

She stepped out into the crisp morning and stopped, her breath catching at the sight that greeted her. Last night, she’d only glimpsed the garden through the windows in the fading dusk, and then her gaze had been caught by the distant hills.

Now, she marveled at the riot of color and symmetry spread before her. The flagged terrace merged into a smooth expanse of emerald lawn anchored by a rose-draped pergola. Two long tables had been set up in the grass on either side.

At the lawn’s edge she could see drifts of flowers bisected by a shallow flight of steps, and beyond that, more green lawns and steps, leading her eyes down to the curve of the little river.

On either side of the top lawn, double herbaceous borders blazed in a profusion of late summer reds and golds. She’d no idea so many different flowers even existed.

And here's a photo from a very real house near my fictional Beck House. This is the Lords of the Manor hotel, in Upper Slaughter, Glouscestershire.

The borders are lovely but not as beautiful as the ones I made up!

The page proofs also mean that ARCs will be coming very shortly, so look out for a giveaway soon!

  
Kincaid/James #18, coming October 8th, 2019 from William Morrow.

Readers, how good are your copy-editing skills? And can anyone else get compound words right?