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Hello all. I'm Jessica Wade and I've already written an intro post, but here I just wanted to say hi as the guest blogger for Ace/Roc and explain what I'll be doing this week. My assignment is to give you all an idea about what goes on in the hallowed halls of our imprint in the course of a week.
An editor's life can vary greatly from day to day. Most people seem to think that I read all day in a comfortable chair. To that I say: hah! Sometimes I do get to read at work...but more often I read at home. The work day is full of minutiae that fills a lot of my time (Ginjer Buchanan, Ace/Roc Chieftan, calls it "getting nibbled to death by ducks" or alternately "like herding cats"). I read a lot of emails. Authors ask me for things, other departments ask me for things, agents ask me for things from other departments for authors. I send a lot of emails. I read and route cover copy. I write Title Information Sheets. I cover conference books. I fill out more forms than you could possibly imagine. I request checks. I try to stay on top of what's hot in the genre by reading trade publications like Locus magazine and checking out bestseller lists. (Incidentally, urban fantasy and military science fiction are super hot right now! See, I know my stuff!) I go to lots and lots of meetings. I answer the phone, make copies, sharpen pencils, and engage in many other glamorous pursuits. Like filing.
When I do edit, I think what I'm doing is different from what most people imagine I'm doing. The first time I read a book, I'm looking for global changes, not spelling mistakes. I'll talk to an author about characters, or plotting, or the right way to end the book. After a revision, I'll line edit a book. I'm looking for places where the language doesn't flow quite right, continuity is off, or the reader might have trouble understanding just what the author is saying. If I see a spelling error, I'll fix it, but it's really a totally different person (the copyeditor) who goes over the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb (or pointy red pencil, as the case may be). Copyeditors make some genius catches. Here's an example of copy-editing that blew my mind. In The Becoming by Jeanne Stein, a character called David used to be a football star. Jeanne had him playing for the Raiders. But the copyeditor figured out that in terms of his age, and because he had a Superbowl ring, he couldn't have played for the Raiders-they hadn't won the Superbowl in the right period of time. So now David is an ex-Bronco!
Anyhow, that's a general overview of my role as Ace and Roc Associate editor! We'll see what this week brings to Ace and Roc. I am guessing it will be excitement, wonder, glory and very probably...werewolves!
(Oh, and if there's any aspect of our imprint in particular you'd like to see addressed, feel free to comment below and I'll do my best to give you the basics.)
-- Jessica Wade, Roc/Ace, Associate Editor
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