Hello
Can anyone help me to help my daughter please? She has signed her first publishing deal ...... ahead of me, now how annoying is that!!!! And like all children, she thinks her mother knows the answer to everything. I'm happy to go with this, even though it's not entirely true. Now the thing is she has is just about to have her first meeting with her editor, and wants to know exactly what an editor does. HELP, 'cause her mother doesn't know, and so I am about to shatter her dream of me being all things to all people. WOuld really appreciate your help out there.
Mary

It all depends on the publisher, editor and how they see the work. Some POD publishers have an editor who edits typesetting only - keeping everything neat and tidy but won't play with the words. More serious publishers want the book to be bulletproof before it goes out so an editor will suggest areas where the writer can tighten and polish the prose.

For a good insight, take a look at "Solutions for Novelists" or "Solutions for Writers" by Sol Stein (the first is subtitled, "Secrets of a Master Editor") - it gives a good idea of what he does.

Colin M

Who's she signed with, Mary? I suspect that a meeting like this will be a hello and a discussion about the book and what revisions the ed feels your daughter needs to make. Tell her not to worry!

Nik,

Hi Mary,
I'm lucky (or unlucky if you count the wages) to work as an editor for a mid-sized non fiction publishing house based in Soho. I can tell you what my typical day might involve? Usually I have three or more projects on the go at once, usually at various stages of development. Call them Project A, B and C.

Project A is near sign-off. It's been passed between myself and author and the final proof corrections have been put on. It's now in that limbo between Typesetting and final sign off from editorial. Nice but always a panicky stage if something has gone wrong (it always does) so I need to keep an eye on this while: I am copy editng Project B which has just come back from the author with a zillion proof corrections and added papragraphs that she forgot to tell me about in the original proposal. Ho-hum. I'm about to have a meeting with design regarding the cover for Project B and will give feedback to Author sometime next week. Might even have a spread of colours to show her.

Meanwhile, I've an editorial meeting in a minute to discuss a new series of pocket books that will accompany our main range and we're going to need an author. Will check my contact list to see who is available, or who is reliable. Project A will come in soon, a book we have just commissioned on healthy eating for kids. Meeting author tomorrow and will go through the flatplan and her original proposal. Have to get my ideas down for that. Oh and I'm hungry, better go and get a sandwich.....

and then there's the unsolicited proposal pile that's sitting lurking in the corner. Might read on train or else die trying .....

This is only a snapshot of the average day. Every editor works different, every publisher has different requirements from authors. Tell your daughter to do her homework on the types of books the House publishes, know her subject to the bone and dress smart! We always appreciate a professional attitude from new authors!

L

A good editor, I think, acts a bit like an ideal reader. He/she will be sympathetic to what the writer's vision is, but will be able to point out where the text needs more work. Perhaps there's a scene that needs to be put in that will just complete one story strand? Or maybe there's an unintentional shift in POV that is confusing to the reader. Maybe the pace flags a bit in the middle. Or maybe the whole thing is perfect, and your daughter will just receive confirmation of that. Well done to her for getting there.

Yes, sorry - meant to say congrats to her for landing a deal!

Mary, congratulations to your daughter's achievement!

The above all fits with my experience. The editor will want to talk and listen about the book, discuss revisions (there'll be some, I'm sure) and get a feeling for whether she and your daughter see it the same way - particularly in terms of how the editor plans to sell it to the trade, what kind of beast the book is, who would buy it in the bookshops, and so on. She'll also want to get to know your daughter as a person a bit; it's a very personal business which thrives on relationships working, even within businessy limits. Your daughter might want to ask about what will be happening when, and perhaps a faint idea of what sort of publicity and promotion will be going on nearer publication.

'Editor' can be a confusing term. One of the first things your daughter's book will undergo is being sent to a copy-editor, who's (usually) freelance, and will go over it with a magnifying glass for everything from proper spelling of foreign words to continuity slips, and mark up the MS with italics and so on for the typesetter.

A very good book on the whole process is 'An Editor's Guide to Writers' The subtitle is 'The Wood for the Trees' but it used to be published with that as the title, so you may find it under either.

Does your daughter have an agent? If not, and she doesn't want to try and get one now, it really would be worth her joining the Society of Authors, who can and do advise on every part of the process, as well as having their famous, essential, microscopic contract-checking service.

Emma

Thank you to all of you; this has all been so useful. Yes she does have an agent, but didn't want to show her ignorance by asking her agent! Oh the pride of youth! So on the being taken care of front she is okay. She just didn't want to go into a meeting knowing nothing at all. Will now follow the advice you have all given; thanks a lot.
Mary

Mary, please let us know how she gets on.

Roger

Yes please do, Mary - and wish her the best from me.

Nik.

Will do and thanks again.
Mary