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Guild member Barbara Sjoholm (Wilson) presented an engaging stroll through what might be described as an accidental journey into journalism and publishing, which eventually led to her co-founding Seal Press, a Seattle-based feminist publishing house. In 1976, with a background mainly in languages—specifically Spanish and Scandinavian languages—Barbara joined Northwest Passage, a volunteer alternative newspaper, and worked on it for two years. It introduced her, and many of the others who worked on it, to the idea of being both editors and writers, and to the practice of working collaboratively. At first the paper was “low on fact-finding and low on style manuals,” but she would work with authors to get their stories into a more readable form. This experience taught her how to explain what was wrong and defend her editing work to an author. She learned how to draw work out of writers and be diplomatic about communicating with them. She and Rachel da Silva founded Seal Press in 1976 as a letterpress project. Their first book was a poetry chapbook by Melinda Mueller. The press focused on the writing of Northwest women, including a series called "Backbone." Subsequent series included fiction, nonfiction, humor, and a “women of color” series. The first huge editorial project for Seal Press came in 1981 with the beginnings of the groundbreaking domestic violence book Getting Free. Barbara said she worked with the author, Ginny NiCarthy, for almost a year. The experience of working deeply with an author, she said, greatly helped her improve her skills, as did the influence of Faith Conlon, who had just come to Seal with publishing experience from New York. Barbara said that Faith brought professionalism and structure to the book and to the press. Getting Free has sold 150,000 copies and is still in print. That book pushed Seal to think bigger and realize that it had a new mission, to reach other underserved populations. And the press became very involved in the Women in Print Movement, which emerged from the women’s movement to pursue justice and equality for women by putting feminist writings into print. Barbara says she and her staff developed a messianic feeling about keeping books in print on subjects that traditional presses were ignoring. A subsequent title was The Things That Divide Us, which looked at issues of racism, ageism, and other “isms.” Barbara found she really enjoyed developing projects in collaboration with authors, particularly first-time authors, and she learned a lot about writing through working with authors. She said experienced authors sometimes had adversarial relationships with editors. Along the way, Barbara continued with her own writing on the side, including Murder in the Collective, a feminist mystery, which spawned a whole genre. Her lesbian detective novel, Gaudi Afternoon, was made into a movie starring Judy Davis, Marcia Gay Harden, Lili Taylor, and Juliette Lewis. Barbara spoke briefly about her memoir Blue Windows—about growing up in a Christian Science household—published in 1997 by the New York house Picador. She told of the fun of having been sent on a “real book tour.” Having sold Seal Press a year and a half ago, Barbara is now freelancing as a developmental editor and teacher (including at Richard Hugo House) in between doing her own writing. She does some copy editing, but thinks she doesn’t really have the perfectionist bent that it requires. She works in “deep sympathy” with authors and cares that they get their work published. She works with about one author a month; most clients seem to find their way to her, she said. She has also started Women in Translation, which has published about 15 books. As an editor she works to polish the English of the nonnative speaker, but she also notes that foreign authors can present challenges and be a “pain in the neck.” [She did not elaborate.] When asked by an audience member how she estimates a project for developmental editing, Barbara said she reads through a manuscript quickly as a first step, then discusses with the author/client what he or she is looking for and what the budget is. She works hourly only, rather than on any kind of arrangement for a cut of royalties. She said she is “edging out” of working with difficult clients, so if she senses that she and the client are not communicating in this first discussion, she will pass on the project. When asked how she defines the difference between developmental editing and substantive editing, she said developmental involves thinking logically and structurally about how the book should go together, while substantive editing is keeping the meaning, or substance, in a small amount of space. When asked how to transition into developmental editing, Barbara suggested practicing on friends’ works or joining a writing group as someone who is interested in editing. Barbara “illustrated” her talk with copies of many of the books she has written or edited through the years. --Ann Gosch, notetaker |
