Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult
A discussion by Agent Double D.3 (Many thanks to LiveJournal user quietselkie for the new moniker)
In publishing experience, I would rate myself as a virtual "n00b" as my gaming friends say. This rating is based on having only one book published so far and that one limited to the e-publishing world. Since publication, though, I've been inundated with the confusing aspects of the whole schemozzle. Thus, to make things a little clearer to my own mind, I've been reading, listening, bugging offices and using illegal wiretaps for the sake of National Security.
The net result of this somewhat nefarious activity, is a short list and discussion of responsibilities within the publishing world as I've been able to discern them.
To all you veterans of the printed word (and e-printed word,) feel free to send comments and corrections for any of my misunderstandings. Full kudos will be given to advice (and bribes) received and the award of a pint of cyberbeer, will be donated to the commentee. If I dislike the suggestion sufficiently I'll send the boys around for a short interview performed with the aid of half a brick. Anyway to cut to the quick-the dirty deal begins…
Agent Double D.3 reporting:
Author's responsibilities
1. The author is responsible, first and foremost, for writing the damn book! It isn't going to do anyone any good if your masterpiece is propped up on a barstool watching the Braves do what the Braves do, while pickling your brains and liver with the latest Glenfiddich. So get with it dudes and dudettes! Writing is hard work and requires using a keyboard, pen or typewriter to get the thing done. Note: This point of responsibility is much more prevalent in the case of proposal contracts. I.E., those cases where the author has been contracted for a book which hasn't yet been written. Just remember-not completing a book under these circumstances tends add you to the seriously pissed at list (SPAL). Authors want to avoid being on this list as much as possible.
2. The second author's zone of responsibility is a tough one. The author is responsible for providing the cleanest manuscript they can. That includes good punctuation, spelling, removal of rubbish words, continuity and-God forbid-a manuscript which contains a logical and damned good story. Having, for example, your heroine beating off a gang of villains with a paperclip tends to work only if the paperclip is very large and extremely sharp. Also the author needs to check publisher guidelines to see how they want the manuscript submitted. If the publisher wants it in courier font, double spaced and every third page done in polka dot pink, make sure it's courier font, double spaced and every third page done in polka dot pink.
More importantly all of these points should be attended to before the editor sees it for the first time. No one expects the author to catch all the Goobers in a manuscript but a good self edit will catch the majority of them. It should be emphasized here it is not the editor's responsibility to take your hurried first draft and craft it into a beautiful manuscript just for you. (See editor responsibilities later.) If they'd wanted to do so they'd have written the book themselves. Note: repeatedly failing to do the above and constantly informing the editor to fix it themselves is a typical SPAL blunder.
3. Thirdly, and this can be very tough, the author has to work with the editor. Repeat after me… "Editors are our friends". Much like sergeant majors in the military, editors help authors. A good editor will go through an author's nice clean manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and leave it a bloody, bruised mess on the sidewalk. Why? Because they love authors. An editor would love the author's book to be the next world-wide bestseller because that means money. It's the editor's distance from the book which allows them to see the problems an author is too close-blind to notice. (Close-blind - A symptom where the author has read and edited the story so many times they now read what they think they've written and not the words/scenes they've actually written.)
It is the author's responsibility here-after ripping a few pillows to shreds, screaming at the spouse/significant other and kicking the respective dog/cat-to sit down and work through the editor's comments and suggestions. Editors expect a little negotiation and not all the recommendations are set in stone. Overall though, it's worth while checking each point carefully as a lot of what the editor says has a good reason behind it and will generally improve the book. Note: Screaming and yelling at the editor about the damage to the author's "baby"; the author's voice; the ruination of the author's perfect masterpiece or constantly spamming the editor/publisher with email/snail mail complaints and nagging them is a very good way to end up on the SPAL.
4. Fourthly, it is the author's responsibility to behave professionally. Writing, whether for pleasure or profit, is a business. Publishers publish books to entertain the public and to make money. An author is expected to understand this and maintain a required decorum relevant to the industry. This entails being courteous to fans, family and their editor, and timely with edits. Authors will need the ability to negotiate, to handle their own sales pitch and to give everyone (publishers, editors, readers, booksellers,) the overall impression that the author knows what they're doing in a world based on profit, loss and "good God, what was that?" This also includes the author promoting themselves and their books. What? Authors have to promote themselves! Yes my dears, in this hi-tech, everybody wants-it-easy-by-pressing-a-button days, you actually have to work to sell your products.
This concept does come from the Jurassic period, true, but it's still a fact of the modern day author's life. It is also another good reason for an author to learn how to be professional in their outlook. This includes: interacting on internet groups, maillists and bulletin boards; attending conventions and booksigning; convincing the author's local bookstore to stock their books; chatting up the local radio stations and newspapers. All these ways of introducing the author to potential fans require a degree of professionalism; the better the author is then the better the chance of making more sales. Not to mention the trials and triumphs of meeting the audience. For an author nothing can be as wonderful or as horrific as meeting their fans face to face. A well-tuned professional attitude can make or break an author at these events. Note: behaving unprofessionally by spitting and cursing at people, being negligent of other people's feelings, manipulating, whining, complaining, running down other authors in the business and otherwise being an overall ass will do serious damage to your position on the SPAL.
5. The last and most important responsibility for an author is-don't kill yourself! Points one through four are all important and have to be done. The author needs to remember, though, about the big thing out there called the World. The World normally has responsibilities like, family, bank balance, bills, health and all the other nasty things associated with it. Unfortunately the author also has responsibility to these things as well as their writing. In most cases the World will encroach into an author's writing time and is usually invariably unhappy with the author most of the time. A little of this is to be expected and shouldn't be allowed to distract the author from achieving the above four sections. Examples of what might happen should the World become seriously unhappy:
a. Spouse sues for divorce after having not seen author for three years.
b. Bank manager sues after not having seen deposits or overdraft payments for three years.
c. The author's body sues author for not contacting a doctor after having been sick for three years
d. The author's dog sues for T-bones after not having walkies for three years.
The message is pretty clear. The author needs to look after the World in order to be able to write effectively and without additional stress. Note: Ignoring this advice can lead to entries on a ton of SPALs or possibly death. Second Note: Dying for one's writing puts a really big mark on the author's SPAL.
Agent Double D.3 ending report. Tune in to these Interwaves in two week's time (yes, two weeks. It takes me almost a week of snark to write this little sucker.) The next issue tackled by Agent Double D.3 is editor's responsibilities-or is it irresponsibilities?
Disabling illegal wiretaps and signing out: Roger and Rabbit.
In publishing experience, I would rate myself as a virtual "n00b" as my gaming friends say. This rating is based on having only one book published so far and that one limited to the e-publishing world. Since publication, though, I've been inundated with the confusing aspects of the whole schemozzle. Thus, to make things a little clearer to my own mind, I've been reading, listening, bugging offices and using illegal wiretaps for the sake of National Security.
The net result of this somewhat nefarious activity, is a short list and discussion of responsibilities within the publishing world as I've been able to discern them.
To all you veterans of the printed word (and e-printed word,) feel free to send comments and corrections for any of my misunderstandings. Full kudos will be given to advice (and bribes) received and the award of a pint of cyberbeer, will be donated to the commentee. If I dislike the suggestion sufficiently I'll send the boys around for a short interview performed with the aid of half a brick. Anyway to cut to the quick-the dirty deal begins…
Agent Double D.3 reporting:
Author's responsibilities
1. The author is responsible, first and foremost, for writing the damn book! It isn't going to do anyone any good if your masterpiece is propped up on a barstool watching the Braves do what the Braves do, while pickling your brains and liver with the latest Glenfiddich. So get with it dudes and dudettes! Writing is hard work and requires using a keyboard, pen or typewriter to get the thing done. Note: This point of responsibility is much more prevalent in the case of proposal contracts. I.E., those cases where the author has been contracted for a book which hasn't yet been written. Just remember-not completing a book under these circumstances tends add you to the seriously pissed at list (SPAL). Authors want to avoid being on this list as much as possible.
2. The second author's zone of responsibility is a tough one. The author is responsible for providing the cleanest manuscript they can. That includes good punctuation, spelling, removal of rubbish words, continuity and-God forbid-a manuscript which contains a logical and damned good story. Having, for example, your heroine beating off a gang of villains with a paperclip tends to work only if the paperclip is very large and extremely sharp. Also the author needs to check publisher guidelines to see how they want the manuscript submitted. If the publisher wants it in courier font, double spaced and every third page done in polka dot pink, make sure it's courier font, double spaced and every third page done in polka dot pink.
More importantly all of these points should be attended to before the editor sees it for the first time. No one expects the author to catch all the Goobers in a manuscript but a good self edit will catch the majority of them. It should be emphasized here it is not the editor's responsibility to take your hurried first draft and craft it into a beautiful manuscript just for you. (See editor responsibilities later.) If they'd wanted to do so they'd have written the book themselves. Note: repeatedly failing to do the above and constantly informing the editor to fix it themselves is a typical SPAL blunder.
3. Thirdly, and this can be very tough, the author has to work with the editor. Repeat after me… "Editors are our friends". Much like sergeant majors in the military, editors help authors. A good editor will go through an author's nice clean manuscript with a fine-toothed comb and leave it a bloody, bruised mess on the sidewalk. Why? Because they love authors. An editor would love the author's book to be the next world-wide bestseller because that means money. It's the editor's distance from the book which allows them to see the problems an author is too close-blind to notice. (Close-blind - A symptom where the author has read and edited the story so many times they now read what they think they've written and not the words/scenes they've actually written.)
It is the author's responsibility here-after ripping a few pillows to shreds, screaming at the spouse/significant other and kicking the respective dog/cat-to sit down and work through the editor's comments and suggestions. Editors expect a little negotiation and not all the recommendations are set in stone. Overall though, it's worth while checking each point carefully as a lot of what the editor says has a good reason behind it and will generally improve the book. Note: Screaming and yelling at the editor about the damage to the author's "baby"; the author's voice; the ruination of the author's perfect masterpiece or constantly spamming the editor/publisher with email/snail mail complaints and nagging them is a very good way to end up on the SPAL.
4. Fourthly, it is the author's responsibility to behave professionally. Writing, whether for pleasure or profit, is a business. Publishers publish books to entertain the public and to make money. An author is expected to understand this and maintain a required decorum relevant to the industry. This entails being courteous to fans, family and their editor, and timely with edits. Authors will need the ability to negotiate, to handle their own sales pitch and to give everyone (publishers, editors, readers, booksellers,) the overall impression that the author knows what they're doing in a world based on profit, loss and "good God, what was that?" This also includes the author promoting themselves and their books. What? Authors have to promote themselves! Yes my dears, in this hi-tech, everybody wants-it-easy-by-pressing-a-button days, you actually have to work to sell your products.
This concept does come from the Jurassic period, true, but it's still a fact of the modern day author's life. It is also another good reason for an author to learn how to be professional in their outlook. This includes: interacting on internet groups, maillists and bulletin boards; attending conventions and booksigning; convincing the author's local bookstore to stock their books; chatting up the local radio stations and newspapers. All these ways of introducing the author to potential fans require a degree of professionalism; the better the author is then the better the chance of making more sales. Not to mention the trials and triumphs of meeting the audience. For an author nothing can be as wonderful or as horrific as meeting their fans face to face. A well-tuned professional attitude can make or break an author at these events. Note: behaving unprofessionally by spitting and cursing at people, being negligent of other people's feelings, manipulating, whining, complaining, running down other authors in the business and otherwise being an overall ass will do serious damage to your position on the SPAL.
5. The last and most important responsibility for an author is-don't kill yourself! Points one through four are all important and have to be done. The author needs to remember, though, about the big thing out there called the World. The World normally has responsibilities like, family, bank balance, bills, health and all the other nasty things associated with it. Unfortunately the author also has responsibility to these things as well as their writing. In most cases the World will encroach into an author's writing time and is usually invariably unhappy with the author most of the time. A little of this is to be expected and shouldn't be allowed to distract the author from achieving the above four sections. Examples of what might happen should the World become seriously unhappy:
a. Spouse sues for divorce after having not seen author for three years.
b. Bank manager sues after not having seen deposits or overdraft payments for three years.
c. The author's body sues author for not contacting a doctor after having been sick for three years
d. The author's dog sues for T-bones after not having walkies for three years.
The message is pretty clear. The author needs to look after the World in order to be able to write effectively and without additional stress. Note: Ignoring this advice can lead to entries on a ton of SPALs or possibly death. Second Note: Dying for one's writing puts a really big mark on the author's SPAL.
Agent Double D.3 ending report. Tune in to these Interwaves in two week's time (yes, two weeks. It takes me almost a week of snark to write this little sucker.) The next issue tackled by Agent Double D.3 is editor's responsibilities-or is it irresponsibilities?
Disabling illegal wiretaps and signing out: Roger and Rabbit.
posted by sjwilling | 10:23 PM
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