Copyedits
I just got my copyedits so my mind is elsewhere at the moment, like "Isn't douchebag one word?" and "Would you really use the word 'an' before spelling S-L-U-T?" (Turns out, you do!) and "The AP style book says you're supposed capitalize Marine." Not to mention the confusion over what my book is actually called:
If you look, the copy editor crossed out SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL (which is the new actual title) and wrote THE NEW NORMAL (which is the old title). Yikes! That could have been weird!
Anyway, what all this means is that I haven't really been thinking about a proper post. But I do think copyedits are an interesting topic. Some of the issues that were pointed out made me feel like a complete idiot for not noticing what I'd done. For example: If the characters were in a dark room, how would the protagonist know they were wearing the same kind of shoes? D'oh! Also, I have sticky notes on the pages to myself that say things like, "What does recast this mean?" and "What does small caps mean?" It can be very confusing!
So...let's talk about copyedits. Any funny or memorable mistakes you made? Or things you refused to let get past without a STET? Share your stories!
If you look, the copy editor crossed out SOMETHING LIKE NORMAL (which is the new actual title) and wrote THE NEW NORMAL (which is the old title). Yikes! That could have been weird!
Anyway, what all this means is that I haven't really been thinking about a proper post. But I do think copyedits are an interesting topic. Some of the issues that were pointed out made me feel like a complete idiot for not noticing what I'd done. For example: If the characters were in a dark room, how would the protagonist know they were wearing the same kind of shoes? D'oh! Also, I have sticky notes on the pages to myself that say things like, "What does recast this mean?" and "What does small caps mean?" It can be very confusing!
So...let's talk about copyedits. Any funny or memorable mistakes you made? Or things you refused to let get past without a STET? Share your stories!
When I got my copyedits from my editor I wanted to throw my arms around her and shout THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. Because there really were some glaring errors and unfounded assumptions in the manuscript. Thank goodness they were easily fixed. I had a wonderful first-time editing experience, with both my out-of-house and in-house editors. (My publisher got a fantasy expert to go over it initially, which was pretty fab of her.)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite copyedit was the suggestion that I change a trash can to a recycling bin. I have very green copyeditors, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteI love copy edit time. In fact, I'm already looking forward to it for book 3, even though I'm still waiting on my macro edit letter and it's a long way down the road! But I'm geeky enough to love those discussions and arguments. At Sourcebooks, we do this all electronically and I love knowing that Matt the freelance copy editor was sitting there at 3 AM writing me a note about how I'd changed Ethan's brand of cigarettes and did I want to do that. (No I did not)We have had lively debates over grammar and because Dreaming Anastasia is a fantasy series, we generate dozens and dozens of comments about issues of magic continuity. And a huge debate about things like whether we want to spell it 'magic' or 'magick' (At one point, Matt decided that if Ethan was talking we'd use the 'k' and no 'k' for Anne. Eventually, we got collectively exhuasted by this.) I have been lucky to have the same editorial team for all three books. So they catch a lot! and I'm always grateful for comments like 'Baba Yaga couldn't do this in book 1. Why can she do this now?'
ReplyDeleteI think for me what was surprising was seeing about how consistent I was about inconsistent capitalizations. I'm sure I drove everyone crazy!
ReplyDeleteMy favorites were whether or not douchebag should be one word or two, and if butthurt should have a hyphen. (You can see my opinion in this comment! Haha!)
ReplyDelete