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seawaspAs part of 2009, I've decided to try and thank people who make a difference in my life and that of my family -- especially people who often may not get thanked for what they do.
In this case, it's my publisher/editors.
Authors often hear horror stories about editors; the process of "becoming a published author" is an arcane one to many people, and most of us who fortunately BECOME authors still started out as innocent readers without any idea of what really goes on -- just stories, often scarily funny ones of stories mangled by the publisher, of changes forced on an author, etc., making many new prospective authors fearful of That Moment when an Editor actually touches their work.
Well, I'm here to say that, thus far, EVERY interaction I've had with editors has been positive.
As most people here know, I found a rather... different route to the door of publication, by flaming Eric Flint in public on Usenet for his arrogance and wilful hack jobs on poor deceased authors. (We do not recommend any other prospective author attempt to emulate this approach -- just a warning). But it was just a door opening; I had to be ready to step through.
My first "Editorial Suggestion" experience was from Jim Baen himself (transmitted through Eric), wherein he (besides pointing out that the stories which became Digital Knight were too short -- at that time they were about 55-60,000 words total) mentioned that the transition of Verne Domingo from Druglord to Semi-Respectable Citizen needed something clearer and more defined. This was partly simply to make sure that the continuing character of Verne was no longer seen as being associated with that group, but also to help define what it was that made Verne and Jason go from allies-of-convenience to associates and eventually friends. This resulted of course in the section of _Digital Knight_ which was titled "Lawyers, Ghouls, and Mummies", and not only did this help define Jason and Verne's relationship, it also gave a glimpse of Verne's household, his people's personalities, what it might be like to be Verne, and introduced a few other characters of interest. As the first "bridge" section, it accomplished a great deal... and in the end also gave me what remains my absolute favorite scene in that novel.
Thank you, Jim. I wish I could have met you so I could have thanked you in person.
The next editorial experiences I had were from Eric himself, as a coauthor but also an editor of considerable experience and skill (something I'd come to grasp during the resolution of our debates RE the Schmitz and other author reissues). In _Boundary_, he was able to take what was "serviceable" material and made it, I think, damn good -- just by pointing out to me what wasn't quite working in it. These might be poor assumptions of how the world works (the original characters of Madeline and her boss, for instance, were much more Bad James Bond than semi-realistic), or my trying to cut story corners because I was trying to get to the end, or other bad habits of new authors. Eric can be a hardass when he conveys these things -- but he also always tries to make a point about what was GOOD, and why these issues are there to make what's good better, NOT to tear apart what you've done.
Yeah, sometimes it stings, at first, but by GOD it made Boundary a MUCH better story, and a much better book. Hopefully the same will be true of Threshold.
Thank you, Eric. It's always fun talking with you, and you never fail to have something new to tell me that, once I GRASP it, makes what I do a little bit better.
Most recently, I submitted the first draft of _Grand Central Arena_ to Toni; it came back with quite a list of things that she felt didn't quite work (and a final comment that had to be translated because for a moment it sounded like she was going Lit'ry on me!) but with the overall positive slant of "if you think you can do this, we'll take it".
Some of the comments and suggestions, at first, made me blink, or wince, or have a gut reaction to argue. But I didn't. And I thought about them. And virtually all of them, once I'd thought about it, were not merely good comments, but once I started FOLLOWING them I started seeing the story more clearly. Grand Central Arena remained the story I wanted to tell.... but now it was a BETTER VERSION of the story I wanted to tell. It was stronger. It had fewer weak spots where someone could kick at it and say "Now, WAAAAAIIIT a minute, that wouldn't work...". It had new scenes that made the whole universe a little more clear and a little more alive.
In short, it made my work better. And THAT is what editors are supposed to do.
Thank you, Toni. For seeing the Sensawunda I was trying to project, and showing me that it could be done -- by me! -- better than I was doing it.
So for anyone out there who reads these boards and has heard horror stories of editors... remember that most of them are there to HELP your writing. Not all of them are writers -- but all the good ones understand what makes writing WORK, and what they want to do with any suggestions or requests they make is to make your material better.
In this case, it's my publisher/editors.
Authors often hear horror stories about editors; the process of "becoming a published author" is an arcane one to many people, and most of us who fortunately BECOME authors still started out as innocent readers without any idea of what really goes on -- just stories, often scarily funny ones of stories mangled by the publisher, of changes forced on an author, etc., making many new prospective authors fearful of That Moment when an Editor actually touches their work.
Well, I'm here to say that, thus far, EVERY interaction I've had with editors has been positive.
As most people here know, I found a rather... different route to the door of publication, by flaming Eric Flint in public on Usenet for his arrogance and wilful hack jobs on poor deceased authors. (We do not recommend any other prospective author attempt to emulate this approach -- just a warning). But it was just a door opening; I had to be ready to step through.
My first "Editorial Suggestion" experience was from Jim Baen himself (transmitted through Eric), wherein he (besides pointing out that the stories which became Digital Knight were too short -- at that time they were about 55-60,000 words total) mentioned that the transition of Verne Domingo from Druglord to Semi-Respectable Citizen needed something clearer and more defined. This was partly simply to make sure that the continuing character of Verne was no longer seen as being associated with that group, but also to help define what it was that made Verne and Jason go from allies-of-convenience to associates and eventually friends. This resulted of course in the section of _Digital Knight_ which was titled "Lawyers, Ghouls, and Mummies", and not only did this help define Jason and Verne's relationship, it also gave a glimpse of Verne's household, his people's personalities, what it might be like to be Verne, and introduced a few other characters of interest. As the first "bridge" section, it accomplished a great deal... and in the end also gave me what remains my absolute favorite scene in that novel.
Thank you, Jim. I wish I could have met you so I could have thanked you in person.
The next editorial experiences I had were from Eric himself, as a coauthor but also an editor of considerable experience and skill (something I'd come to grasp during the resolution of our debates RE the Schmitz and other author reissues). In _Boundary_, he was able to take what was "serviceable" material and made it, I think, damn good -- just by pointing out to me what wasn't quite working in it. These might be poor assumptions of how the world works (the original characters of Madeline and her boss, for instance, were much more Bad James Bond than semi-realistic), or my trying to cut story corners because I was trying to get to the end, or other bad habits of new authors. Eric can be a hardass when he conveys these things -- but he also always tries to make a point about what was GOOD, and why these issues are there to make what's good better, NOT to tear apart what you've done.
Yeah, sometimes it stings, at first, but by GOD it made Boundary a MUCH better story, and a much better book. Hopefully the same will be true of Threshold.
Thank you, Eric. It's always fun talking with you, and you never fail to have something new to tell me that, once I GRASP it, makes what I do a little bit better.
Most recently, I submitted the first draft of _Grand Central Arena_ to Toni; it came back with quite a list of things that she felt didn't quite work (and a final comment that had to be translated because for a moment it sounded like she was going Lit'ry on me!) but with the overall positive slant of "if you think you can do this, we'll take it".
Some of the comments and suggestions, at first, made me blink, or wince, or have a gut reaction to argue. But I didn't. And I thought about them. And virtually all of them, once I'd thought about it, were not merely good comments, but once I started FOLLOWING them I started seeing the story more clearly. Grand Central Arena remained the story I wanted to tell.... but now it was a BETTER VERSION of the story I wanted to tell. It was stronger. It had fewer weak spots where someone could kick at it and say "Now, WAAAAAIIIT a minute, that wouldn't work...". It had new scenes that made the whole universe a little more clear and a little more alive.
In short, it made my work better. And THAT is what editors are supposed to do.
Thank you, Toni. For seeing the Sensawunda I was trying to project, and showing me that it could be done -- by me! -- better than I was doing it.
So for anyone out there who reads these boards and has heard horror stories of editors... remember that most of them are there to HELP your writing. Not all of them are writers -- but all the good ones understand what makes writing WORK, and what they want to do with any suggestions or requests they make is to make your material better.
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Date: 2009-01-02 04:11 am (UTC)i met Eric FLint (and Pam) at MarCon 3 years ago, i think. Pam and i corresponded for a good month, back and forth on a short story i was trying to write. this is what, eventually, let to me stopping trying to write - not that she wasn't encouraging or wasn't giving GREAT advice. but i could not translate it, i was too ill, and i had to stop, i know i was wasting her time. (this is not me bitching, at all. i am grateful for all of her time and effort, and have put EVERY BIT of it into use in school. i have it all saved. i WILL be trying again when i am no longer on opiates). and i am pretty sure Eric is the nicest guy over 40 i have ever met. i was a bit drunk when i stumbled into the "Universe" party - that was the first i knew that Eric was even AT MarCon. my decision to attend was literally last minute and i had't paid any attention because, up until the day before MarCon started i was supposed to be going to California that day. so i stumble into the room party (as i said - drunk - this IS MarCon we are talking about, and MarCon is the ONLY time of year that i drink. and jello shots...), i see Eric, i damned near swoon. Pam saw me standing there, jaw hanging, introduced herself and dragged me over to say hi to Eric, despite my drunkeness. i lamented that i didn't know he was going to be there and i had just the day before bought "The Ram Rebellion" and i couldn't get it signed. he took my name, address, phone number and email and then he MAILED ME A SIGNED COPY OF HIS FIRST BOOK. didn't even ask postage! i went and bought a second copy, so that he still made money off it. we talked about my short story (the one Pam helped me on sooooo much) and he had ideas to help, urged me to submit it to Universe (and told me to change the damned ending it was too depressing).
i'm babbling. i know i am. i've met a fair number of Authors. they are generally distant and don't really want to talk to their fans. but every, i mean EVERY Baen author i have met - real life or online - has taken the time and trouble to REALLY interact with me. i have a dozen emails from John Ringo and Eric Flint, half dozen (recent) from Micheal Z. Williamson, a couple from Mercedes Lackey. YOU comment on my LJ, and let me read/comment on yours. the only non-Baen author i have met who is even half as nice as Baen authors is Orson Scott Card.
really, i think its the Bar. i don't participate on it much (i hate the format, and it always confuses me), but it really allows interaction. and the Bar is because of Jim Baen (who wrote me once, too, and was so sweet. i, too, wish i could have met him). the Bar allows for a lot of lower-level editing and work, allowed intersectionality, interaction, encouragment... ok, i guess the Bar is really just a reflection of the fact that Baen is so cool. so cool, in fact, that i have even been purchasing EBooks - despite the fact that i hate reading books on a computer, i have been starting to, because Baen is that cool.
i think i'm done now :) Baen is the best!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-02 02:24 pm (UTC)threshold
Date: 2009-02-15 11:37 pm (UTC)the book has been in the works now for awhile and i was trying to find out when it would come out.
thanks in advance
Re: threshold
Date: 2009-02-17 08:15 pm (UTC)that slacking bastardmy esteemed and heavily overworked co-author Eric Flint not having the opportunity to actually put his parts into Threshold. Those parts will be about 40-50k words, plus he'll be tweaking/editing parts of the story to fit what he adds. Then I have to fix up everything and smooth out the joins.So at the moment it actually looks like my next solo novel, Grand Central Arena, will be published before Threshold; tentative publication date for GCA is Spring 2010.
Other than that, the only way to see new stuff from me sooner is on my beta-reading list, or occasionally when I post something for free on this LiveJournal (which I do on "Pixel-Stained Technopeasant Wretch Day" which is mid-April).