That's where I am on this never-ending manuscript. It's from Random House's subsidiary, Guideposts Publishing, and (more specifically) from their Christian fiction department.
Now, I actually think that, like most genres, there are gems to surely be found in this genre. I've even read one or two. But this is a compilation of novels from the same author that Guideposts is now serializing - and I've taken part in editing two of them. So I can heartily tell you: this stuff ain't that grand. (I feel confident in airing this since I've noted neither the title nor the author and, as a rule, bosses aren't allowed into the private life, you know?).
Anyhow, this is the dregs of copyediting.
But, as my high school friend, Jessica, noted on Facebook: this ain't a bad way to spend a day. Or to make a living, I'd add. (Thanks, Jess, for the perspective). And I'm really not complaining about the job, per se, so much as this particularly LONG (644 pages) manuscript of not all that great composition. It's a reminder, really, of what I often tell students who confide they'd like to be published writers.
If you fail to truly grasp this concept, you'll likely be stymied by a publisher politely declining your word...500 times over. And if that doesn't work, there's always me.
On the other side of the galleys. Posting a blog about your never-ending but less than scintillating and even less brilliantly-written manuscript.
Now, I actually think that, like most genres, there are gems to surely be found in this genre. I've even read one or two. But this is a compilation of novels from the same author that Guideposts is now serializing - and I've taken part in editing two of them. So I can heartily tell you: this stuff ain't that grand. (I feel confident in airing this since I've noted neither the title nor the author and, as a rule, bosses aren't allowed into the private life, you know?).
Anyhow, this is the dregs of copyediting.
But, as my high school friend, Jessica, noted on Facebook: this ain't a bad way to spend a day. Or to make a living, I'd add. (Thanks, Jess, for the perspective). And I'm really not complaining about the job, per se, so much as this particularly LONG (644 pages) manuscript of not all that great composition. It's a reminder, really, of what I often tell students who confide they'd like to be published writers.
Which is also my key point:
Don't write to publish. It just ain't as glamorous as you might think. And, besides, you shouldn't want to be published; at least, not for the sake of being published. If you're really a writer, it's not what you do - it's who you are. Publishing the craft, then, becomes secondary to actually crafting the written word into an expression of communicative art.
Don't write to publish. It just ain't as glamorous as you might think. And, besides, you shouldn't want to be published; at least, not for the sake of being published. If you're really a writer, it's not what you do - it's who you are. Publishing the craft, then, becomes secondary to actually crafting the written word into an expression of communicative art.
If you fail to truly grasp this concept, you'll likely be stymied by a publisher politely declining your word...500 times over. And if that doesn't work, there's always me.
On the other side of the galleys. Posting a blog about your never-ending but less than scintillating and even less brilliantly-written manuscript.
While I'm stuck on page 446.
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