I read your recent entry about self-publishing (and the links therein) with some interest. I currently work as an editor at a vanity publishing company. As far as I can tell, it's a relatively honest and professional one, but it's still a vanity publishing company. Will having this on my resume hurt my chances of eventually getting a job in the real publishing industry? It's frustrating to work with books that are accepted regardless of quality, but hey, the job market's tough right now, and this is a better use of my English degree than waitressing.
It might... I suppose it depends how you spin it. It's certainly understandable that you want to do something of the editing sort while you look for a job in trade publishing. Most people in editorial won't consider vanity publishing as actual publishing experience, though. If you stay caught up with what's on the market now and can prove that to a publisher, it may not count against you. It might be smart to come with a couple jokes about self-publishing, just to set the tone.
How many self-publishers does it take to change a lightbulb?
Answer: The lightbulb doesn't need to change; it's just the wrong-headed publishing industry that expects lightbulbs to shed light.
I'm just getting ready to buckle down and send out a bunch of queries for my middle grade manuscript, but it suddenly occurred to me that this time of year might be the worst time to try to get agents and editors' attention. As the holidays approach, do agents and editors tend to push stuff off their desks to clear the decks for their time off, and therefore reject more than usual?
Yes!
Or do they store up queries and manuscripts, knowing they might have more spare time to read over the holidays?
Yes!
Or does it just not matter?
Yes!
Look, you have to try to remember that there are tons of different editors, and they're not all using the same brain. There are about as many different workstyles as there are editors. So some of them will do one of the things you've mentioned above, and some will do other things you haven't even thought of. I plan to burn all my outstanding reading in a bonfire while cackling / singing christmas carols.
Do you know why some really, really prominent children's books - like the last volume of a certain boy wizard series - are edited so badly? I'm certainly I'm not the only person who read through the last few installments of Harry Potter thinking OH MY GOD CUT CUT CUT!!!!
The obvious explanation is that a bigshot author can demand their immortal prose be left untampered with, on threat of decamping to a different publisher.
Yes, in large part.
Another still more depressing possibility is that the publishers just don't care and skip the editing process in order to get the big-name book out there bringing in all that lovely money as soon as possible.
Yes again.
But if the latter, that seems short-sighted, as a well-edited book is surely more likely to stand the test of time and keep making money for the publisher in future (if, of course, that publisher retains the rights - if not, maybe they don't care.).
It's certainly difficult to imagine that Bloomsbury couldn't find someone competent and willing to work on HP. Was there some poor editor weeping in her office over being prevented, by authorial ego or sales department supremacy, from doing her job properly?
Yes, that's possible. There are also a few editors who, unfortunately, just don't really give a crap.
I agree with you that there are further books in certain series that could have done with a sh**load of editing beyond the editing I know they received. (Never assume they weren't edited at all--they were.)
But I'd like to say a couple things about the short-sightedness of publishing, to provide some context, without actually
defending it.
For one thing, for 99.99% of books, publishing is
about the now. Being able to sell 500,000 copies
now is the very best most books can ever hope for. Trying to create a book 'for the ages'--a book that will last past the author's own lifetime, nevermind just making it to two years from now-- is playing with such long odds it's ridiculous. That's a fact of the industry, and something to bear in mind.
It's also worth remembering that as long as the first book in a series is in good enough shape to keep hooking readers, it doesn't matter so much how badly plotted, excessively adverbialized, and padded with filler the last books are. Readers will still want them. That's a fact of the reading public.
So yes, sometimes authors prevent editors from doing their jobs. Sometimes publishers prevent editors from doing their jobs. Sometimes editors just don't do their jobs. And sometimes it's a combination of all three.
It takes a lot of fight to be a good editor. And it also takes knowing what fights are worth fighting.
I'm a nearly brand new graduate planning to take a publishing course next year. I'm very excited about this, and have been idly day-dreaming future plans (and not-so-idly thinking of a way to get my relations to stop asking me what I want to be when I grow up.) The trick is, I'm from New Zealand. I'm happy where I am right now, but I'd like to travel eventually. My question is, what kind of experience would I need in publishing in New Zealand in order to get a job somewhere like, oh, let's just choose a city at random, New York? I hope to work in YA on the editorial side (but who knows what I will enjoy) and ideally would leave the country with three or four years' experience, always providing I hustle my way into a job soon enough. I know I'd need to be caught up on what's popular and so forth - books from the USA tend to get here anyway - but would there be any particular barriers to shifting locations dramatically like this?
Because there's so much crossover between publishing in the US and Australia/New Zealand these days, I wouldn't expect it to be a problem. As long as you get 3-4 years of
editorial experience and are well-read in the US market, then you should stand as good a chance as anyone. Of course, "as good a chance" is not as good as it was a couple years ago. Lots of good people are on the streets since December, so competition for editorial jobs is steep.
With this blog.And it makes me think perhaps there should be a touch of balance after the post The Intern Thinks She's Found Something below. It's true that as authors, you shouldn't count on interns having any power. Let us be sure to remember, though, that interns are not worthless. (Indeed, my office would quickly be awash in a backlog of work none of the editors have time to do without the (
I've been getting this question a lot recently.1. You'd better be seriously interested in children's books. Not "I could be interested if I got a job in children's books". Interested NOW.2. And that would mean that you're reading a lot of children's books --brand new ones-- NOW.Wait, wait, you say. Isn't there on-the-job training? Why do I have to familiarize myself with children's books
Hi! I have a question, and I'm not trying to be funny, I swear. I've noticed that editors often use words like "tomorrow" and "by Friday" and "next week" (in reference to when I should expect an offer, or a production schedule, or a set of proofs, or whatever). It virtually never does come tomorrow or Friday or next week, and generally, these promises are followed by months of radio silence. I
My second book has been accepted, the contract's signed, the check's in the mail, and I'm in the midst of tidying up the manuscript for the first round of editing.
However, I've just found out my editor has accepted a position at another house, effective more or less immediately, which means my WIP will be assigned to someone new. *gulp*
Instead of freaking out, I'll attempt to ask an intelligent
lol-- oh dear, new game!
Why did the self-published book cross the road?
Because it was too original and subtle for the side of the road it was on.
A man walks into a bar and orders a shot and a beer. The bartender gives it to him, he drinks it, and leaves.
About twenty minutes later the same man comes back and orders another shot and a beer. The bartender gives it to him, he drinks it and he leaves.
Another twenty minutes goes by and the same guy comes back in and orders the same thing.
Finally, the bartender says, "Look, you come in here every twenty minutes and order the same thing, but you never stay. What's the deal?"
So the man says, "Oh, well, I used to be a literary critic, but now I make my money as a vanity publisher. So every time I accept a really awful submission just for money, I come down here and I order a shot and a beer to quiet my conscience."
So the bartender says, "Well, why don't you just stop accepting crap?"
And the guy says, "Well, I'm an alcoholic, too."
Hey, it's a tough economy, so give the kid a break! At least she's trying to earn a living in New York rather than living off Mom and Dad. A recent study showed that young people who graduate from college during recessions end up with lower-status jobs and lower pay, and they keep their lower status and pay for at least 18 years.
I suggest that she try to get some free lance work that would expose her to higher quality manuscripts, help her make contacts, and pad her bank account in case her best shot at moving up is to return to school for a master's.
I know I'm not a fountain of self-publishing jokes, but it's easy to be smug when you come out of school in good times and can walk into any high-paying job. Young people now often have to choose between crappy jobs that they won't be able to move up from, or no jobs at all.
Anonymous 1t 5:27 a.m, I never had a job above minimum wage in my first five years out of college. This does not have anything to do with self publishing as far as I can see.
Yeah-- I'm not sure how taking a job at a vanity publisher would be WORSE than flipping burgers..
Some of them even have decent benefits.....
And it's not like she'd be able to get a job at a local paper--- most of them are CUTTING editorial staff.....
Though my advice would be to skip the publishing scene and try for a job as a techical writer/ government document editior--- more stable employment at this point, good benefits and hours, and you can always read and write in your spare time....
Just call me "Deirdre, the quasher of youthful dreams!" :)