|
|
|
2007
2006
2005
2004
October 2007Speaker: Elaine Chubb, Production Manager (now retired), Farrar, Straus, and Giroux Publishers New York and copy editor for Copyediting newsletter Elaine recently moved to Portland from New York City. As a production editor at Farrar, Straus, Elaine was in charge of the freelance editors in the children's division. Because of the kinds of books Farrar, Straus published, most editing was still done on hard copy. Elaine had many anecdotes about "her" editors: opening a box containing the edited manuscript and being greeted with the overpowering smell of stale cigarette smoke, finding cat hairs on the manuscript pages, and more. Much of Elaine's talk pertained to editing on hard copy, but she discussed editing online, also. Her checklist for copyeditors included knowing that their jobs meant meticulous reading and correcting or querying for accuracy, consistency, and clarity; knowing what reference books to use; checking for grammar and syntax; knowing what their responsibility was regarding fact checking, design element coding, and obtaining permissions for quotes; and knowing what not to edit, such as quotes, appendixes, and tables. Elaine also provided information on how to tackle a manuscript, starting with counting the pages and checking that all the elements are there and readable. She suggested getting an idea of the manuscript and its special needs before diving in: read through the T of C, skim the key heads, and read a few pages as well as look for special elements such as notes, tables, lists, and captions and labels for artwork, which may require special editing. She reminded us to review special instructions from the publisher. For example, be clear about the level of edit required and how much fact checking you are responsible for. If you must contact the publisher, gather all your queries so you make only one call. Ask only major questions, not minor points of style. When you begin editing after a break, the next day for example, read the last part again to refresh your memory and avoid discrepancies. Elaine also gave us copyediting tests to take home. notes submitted by Sue Mann The Portland chapter of the Northwest Independent Editors Guild met on Monday, June 4, 2007. Guild member Kristin Thiel spoke about writing and editing book reviews. Kristin writes for several publications, including Rain Taxi, a book-review publication; Kirkus; Library Journal; and the Oregonian. Kristin believes there are important reasons for writing book reviews, including staying abreast of what's happening in the publishing world and continuing to hone critical thinking and editing skills. To review a book, she reads it in one day or two consecutive days. She reads both as a critic and as a reader. Because she knows she'll write immediately after reading the book, she doesn't take notes but makes marks in the margins next to text that will be important to the review. She reads the whole book but doesn't reveal the ending, although she may describe it or its impact. She strives not to be subjective, but rather finds text to back up her observations. Review managers decide how long the review should be depending on the book and the reviewer. They also edit reviews, especially noticing such things as lack of focus and ineffective use of the first person. They also make sure reviews are coherent and thoughtful. Reviews are frequently put through more than one level of editing. To get work reviewing books, find out the guidelines from review publications and work on spec first if no review clippings are available.
notes submitted by Sue Mann
Karen Kirtley was the speaker at the April 2, 2007, Portland Editors Guild meeting, held at Old Wives Tales restaurant. Karen has been an editor at Harcourt Brace in New York and while there edited the 7th edition of the Harbrace College Handbook. In the Northwest, she has worked as an editor at Amadeus Press and Timber Press. She co-authored Alma Rosé: Vienna to Auschwitz with Richard Newman shortly after leaving Amadeus Press. She teaches Book Editing and Advanced Book Editing at Portland State University. She is a very nurturing mentor to young editors. Karen discussed publishers in the Pacific Northwest and how some provide editing tests online that we can download. She mentioned some of the pitfalls to look out for when taking the tests: use of who-whom, affect-effect, like-as if, and so on. She suggested adding notes when we feel that although one answer is correct, strictly speaking, we are open to change and thus are flexible. Before sending in the test, she suggested reading the answers backward to make sure spelling, etc., is correct. When working with individuals, she suggested we be sure to ask what the author is seeking and to be very specific about the kinds of editing we do and what we can provide. She discussed permissions and when they’re required. Karen provided several handouts, including a checklist for agreements, a standard freelance agreement, and Web sites for rate information.
notes submitted by Sue Mann February 2007 Speaker:Mary Spinnler, EA, LTC A-1 Income Tax & Bookkeeping, Inc. 7810 SE Johnson Creek Blvd Portland, OR 97206 503-777-1040 An Enrolled Agent and self-employed person for twenty-three years, Mary Spinnler provided a wealth of information on taxes. The following are just some of the points she covered. Due to possible notetaker errrors, these points alone are not meant to provide tax advice. Research on your own and/or consult with a professional. In the least, these meeting minutes will hopefully introduce you to a deduction you didn't know you could take and inspire you to get those taxes done! Mileage: Deductions for wear-and-tear and expenses for your business vehicle can be handled one of two ways. 1) Record your car's mileage on Jan. 1 and the mileage on Dec. 31. Record total miles driven for business (not commuting, which doesn't count) at the end of each day. Those three numbers are all you need for figuring how much your car was used for business. The cents/mile figure the IRS sets each year is meant to include gas, depreciation, oil changes, etc. 2) Figuring your actual deduction requires you to keep all gas, repair, oil change, etc. receipts. TriMet Tax: If you work within the TriMet area, make a profit, and are self-employed, you need to file a TriMet tax (which will count as a business deduction the following year). Health Insurance: You can deduct individual health insurance premiums that you pay for and that are in your name. Anything else that is paid for with post-tax money—dental, optical, copays, etc.—can be deducted. If you travel a lot for medical reasons, there is a mileage rate for that deduction as well. Phone/Fax: If you paid for long-distance phone service Feb. 2003–Aug. 2006, there is a phone credit you can take. This is figured based on your number of exemptions. A separate fax line is deductible. Non-cash Donations: Items must have been in good condition when you donated them, and you value them at what you think the charity will be able to sell them for. If you donate any one item that is worth more than $500, you must have an appraisal, or some sort of third-party valuing of the item. It's a good idea to take photos of any item you donate; a photo provides great proof of an item's estimated worth. All Donations: You must have a receipt. (A cancelled check is fine.) Travel: Meals (including tips) and entertainment can be deducted at 50 percent. The IRS has a travel meals per diem of $39/day (minimum, dependent on what city you travel to). Determine whether your trip is deductible based on your intent: did you travel for business, or did you go for pleasure? Document exactly how much time you spend working and what you're working on during that time. A trip can be partially deductible, based on how much time you spend actually working. Education: A lifelong learning credit does not have to be for a full class. You could count a workshop or a seminar, for example, on that line. Notetaker: Kristin Thiel
December 2006
|
 | H.G. Wells
said "No passion in the world is equal to the passion to alter someone
else's draft." So congratulations on being passionate people! |
| Publishing
house editors doing less editing, but mss. are expected to be closer to
pub-ready than ever before. So it's a growing area. |
| As editors,
you appreciate structure. Here's one you might recognize: |
| FIVE STAGES OF
BEING EDITED: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance. |
| FIRST STAGE: DENIAL
– "Don't you love it? You don't love it???" |
| Sure,
authors know they're going to be edited, but editing means changing this
darling of theirs, and they're secretly hoping you'll love every single
word. |
| The fiction
writer's ego is as naked as a baby bird. Be gentle, and be positive! |
| Your editorial
letter or email will be re-read and re-examined and quoted to friends and
family, so start with praise. Before you start to change the manuscript,
show that you "get it." |
| Example:
Fiction authors LOVE style sheets that include their characters' names –
not just for accuracy, but as proof that the imaginary beings in their heads
have become real. |
| STAGE TWO:
ANGER. "How dare you alter my masterpiece?" |
| Anger covers a
lot of territory, from irritation to rage, and most authors will try to
decently hide their anger. But it's there – ESPECIALLY if the feedback
they get from you is vague. |
| "Chapter
Ten is too slow" is fine, but "The ending didn't work for me"
is not. |
| EXAMPLE: A romantic
suspense writer's editor kept insisting the police chief hero should be made
to seem guilty of some crime (for more suspense). The author felt the
heroine wouldn't go near him if she thought he was guilty. Editor insisted,
so she had him accused of police brutality. But editor wanted him more
guilty, so she kept tinkering, and finally in desperation changed his hair
color from blond to black. The editor said "Now you've got it!" |
| So when you
run into anger – or resistance – try to be specific. (Of course, you
can't be TOO specific, to the point of trying to rewrite the book.) |
| STAGE
THREE: BARGAINING. "Okay, I'll cut out the pie fight, but the chariot
race is brilliant, it stays." |
| Here you have
to step carefully. Maybe hero's dog's name is silly, but it's the author's
actual dog. |
| Still, don't
back down when you have serious concerns. |
| My own
editor's biggest mis-step – she let me talk her out of something (removing
a minor character) then insisted on it later in the process, when it was
much harder to do. |
| So when it
comes to bargaining, pick your battles, but stand your ground. |
| STAGE
FOUR: DEPRESSION – "I can't stand this, my book is being ruined. I
can't face making these changes." |
| At
this point, the author is exhausted. You may be really getting into the
editorial process, but the author has been rewriting this thing in her head,
possibly for years. |
| EXAMPLE:
With my first, unpublished manuscript, the senior mystery editor at Avon
asked for extensive changes – then rejected it anyway. I was ready to give
up altogether. |
| As
independents, you won't be rejecting manuscripts, but if you run into
author's depression, be patient. |
| Our
stages so far: Denial – be positive. Anger – be specific. Bargaining –
be firm. Depression – be patient. |
| Finally,
STAGE FIVE: ACCEPTANCE. At this point, what I hope you will "be"
is well rewarded, because good editors are worth their weight in royalties,
and most authors accept that. |
| In
my case, that Avon editor improved my work so much that the very next
publisher to see it, Bantam Dell, offered me a contract and has now
published six of my books! The latest, BRIDE AND DOOM, comes out in
paperback at the end of this month – I hope you'll take a look at it. |
Notes by Tim McLaughlin
Notes by Tim McLaughlin
A dozen members of the Portland chapter had a convivial and productive
meeting for dinner at Alexis Greek restaurant on Feb. 13.
We discussed future outreach activities:
| We'll be having a table at the Writers Resource Fair, at the Portland
downtown library, on the afternoon of March 12. Hilary Russell is
coordinating, and four volunteers will be staffing it. The fair is 12-4 p.m.
and should be lots of fun -- come check it out! |
| We'll have a booth at the second annual Wordstock, Portland's literary
festival, on April 22-23. Anne Dujmovic is the coordinator. It's great fun
-- if you'd like to staff the booth for a 2-hour shift (with another Guild
volunteer), consult the signup sheet at www.edsguild.org/wordstock.htm
for available shifts, then email us with your preference(s). |
| We'll have a table at the Association of Personal Historians conference in October in Portland. No signups for that yet. |
Sherri reported that Seattle-area Guild member Randy Hilfman will be
competing in the Oregon Spelling Bee for adults over 50 in Aurora, Oregon, on
Saturday, April 8 and would love to have members there to cheer him on! The
event is at the Pythian Hall, 99E and 2nd Street, and begins at 1pm.
Elizabeth Raintree briefly discussed the Editors Assn of Canada national
conference, which is in Vancouver, BC, this year, June 9-11. When she finds out
the registration fee, she'll pass that info along via the listserv.
Martha Wagner updated us on the Guild's conference-planning efforts. Folks in
Seattle are interested in having a one-day conference aimed at bringing all
Guild members together -- or as many of our 185 members as we can -- and to
raise our profile in the literary (and larger) community. They will have
their first planning meeting this Thursday in Seattle, and asked Martha to
gather feedback from the Portland group. They want to have the conference in a
place, possibly Olympia, where Portland members would come too. Martha gathered
feedback from the group on locations and on topics that were of interest to
Portland members (most of which centered on how to run an editing business,
rather than how to edit).
The group agreed to move its April meeting to ****Monday, April 24**** so that
people who hear about us at Wordstock can come to a meeting right away. We won't
meet on Monday, April 10. A reminder will be sent via the listserv by the
Guild's capable administrator in Seattle.
We discussed possible meeting topics/speakers for the future, including:
| Christine Clifton-Thornton from Seattle on "working with difficult
authors" (Sherri will contact) |
| Someone from Timber Press (Halle Reese will explore) |
| Folks from Xerox talking about e-books (Halle will explore) |
| Someone from the PSU publishing program (Hilary Russell had suggested, and the PSU students at the meeting might also be contacts) |
| Dinner at Wild Abandon (Cher's friend's restaurant) |
| Speaker on how to do your taxes/organize your books for the new year, for December? |
Other ideas mentioned: Beyond Words Publishing, a local literary agent,
Elizabeth Lyon, health insurance, "service topics" (i.e., how to do
something better), a panel of local publishers talking about what they look for
in editors.
In light of the recent departure of longtime Portland coordinator Sue Ridge (who
took a Seattle job offer that she could not resist), Sherri suggested that
different members volunteer to do one each of the many things Sue used to do (or
wished she had time to do), so that no one would be overworked. Click to see the
list so far. Thank you, volunteers!
Several Guild members shared affordable marketing ideas that have worked for them. Notes at www.edsguild.org/3_05.htm.
The group discussed Wordstock (Portland's book festival, to be held in April) and narrowed the field to two possible regular public meeting places for the Guild (Alexis and McCormick's). Member Elizabeth Raintree briefed the group on the Editors' Association of Canada (Association Canadienne de Reviseurs). She will be meeting with an EAC representative on an upcoming trip to Vancouver, B.C.
We discussed our meeting expectations and set a plan for future meetings. One idea was to schedule meetings on the same day of the month at the same location. Potential locations are still being researched, but we proposed meeting on the second Monday of the even-numbered months (December, February, April, etc.). [We subsequently proposed this on the listserv and heard no objections, so this is now our policy.]
In addition, we are researching potential speakers, including Karen Karbo and Michael Powell, and topics, including publishing genres/specialties and how to educate clients.
