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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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Requested submission responses
Sorry about asking a question on a blog entry this old, but it pops up on the web. If an e-mailed query gets a request for paper submission, can I confidently expect to receive a response, either positive or negative?
Bill
e-mail submission question/comment
When submitting by e-mail (to the sff address), is there supposed to be an automatic reply indicating that you received it? A submission by me didn't generate one. Of course, if there is an automatic reply, I'll assume that my submission might have been caught in a filter somewhere. :)
Re: e-mail submission question/comment
No, I'm afraid we don't have the SFF email inbox set up to generate an automatic reply. So you can interpret any initial resounding silence in the affirmative! Best, Jessica
Edits
Hi Ms. Wade,
Thanks so much for doing this. I have a question about edits. We hear so much about how a book must be perfect, must be a standout in all ways and fashions, before an agent or editor will take it on...but at the same time we know that editing is an absolute necessity, and we see many helpful editors like yourself discussing intensive edits.
How much editing does a book need, then, before you will pass on it? Does voice or concept or a combination of them really carry the day, and plot points can be worked out in edits? What makes the decision for you that you have to have this book, if it isn't a great story start to finish?
Re: Edits
Hmmm! That's a tough one. I hope not to bore you with platitudes, but I would say that really you ought to make the book the absolute best that you can. Or at least, you should not be rushing happily off to the post office thinking, "I think this is pretty good, but I know the middle is sagging terribly" or "the stepmother's voice is really not wicked enough and that's obscuring her motivations..." If you've made the voice and plot as strong as you can without outside guidance, the work should speak for itself.
But as you say, yes, I expect books to come in with flaws, and I'd be out of a job if they didn't! I've bought first novels that needed lots of work. But even if there's something not quite right going on with one or two of the book's elements, others (like a really unique voice, or a totally cool concept) will be so strong and so evident that I'm willing (or dying) to take a chance on an author.
So what's my answer: don't worry about making it perfect, just worry about making it darned good!
From our door to yours...
How many people does a manuscript go through before it lands in your hands? Does it come straight to you, or are there people that screen stuff before you get it?
Re: From our door to yours
Because I'm an associate editor, which is mid-level, I don't have an assistant, so slush does come directly to my hands. That's only if it's addressed personally to me though---any unagented submissions that simply say Ace or Roc on them go to our editorial assistants, the esteemed Danielle Stockley and Cameron Dufty. I also check the inbox we've set up for email submissions (sff@us.penguingroup.com). If you want to submit there, you should check out our guidelines.
Editing when you read for pleasure
I'm a firm believer in the genius of editors and copy editors. And I swear I'm not just saying that because I'm a copy editor for my day job. :)
Jessica, do you find that even when you read books for pleasure that you line edit those books as you read them? That happens to me sometimes -- I'll be reading a book, and something innocuous, like a dialogue tag, will scream at me, and I'll think to myself, "No, no, no -- there shouldn't be a tag there."
Re: Editing when you read for pleasure
Jackie-- Yup! It drives me berserk. You're reading along happily and then, bam, you can't believe an author made that word choice or a typo that silly got through. I think it's a function of seeing a book as a work in progress rather than an ideal, finished product. The veil is lifted--we ate the apple and now we wish Adam and Eve would go get some fig leaves already! --- Jessica
THANK YOU!
Okay, this is going to ROCK!
I love learning all this stuff right from you guys.
Thanks for taking the time:-)
Thanks Jessica for that
Thanks Jessica for that interesting look into your life! :D
I'm trying to think of a genius question and failing miserably. So here's a random one instead.
On average how many new authors come across your desk each year and do you have a vague breakdown of where you find them? (ie. agents, slush submissions, conferences, etc.)
K
re: Thanks Jessica for that
Thanks for the question, K.B.! It's a good one --- but it's not easy to answer! The vast majority of our new authors come from agents. How many do we see in a year? I have no idea! 30? 50? 100 or 200 for some editors! (And I'm talking about agented submissions... not unagented. I would guestimate we have 1,000 unagented submissions a year? 1,500? Maybe the Ace editorial assistants will chime in here and disagree...) But there are a few new authors each year who come through other channels. I can think of a couple of recent Ace/Roc authors who were originally unagented. And there are 2 or 3 Ace/Roc debut authors who have come out of conferences. So it does happen!