Editor’s Desk - Presentation IS Important!
Posted by: Editor Maura in Tips and Tricks, Editors Desk
(All opinions and statements in this post are my own opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of Aspen Mountain Press. Yell at me, if you wish.)
I keep hearing a statement from aspiring authors that absolutely makes me shudder. There seems to be a belief that spelling and grammar issues are solely the job of editors and don’t need to be worried about by the authors.
It’s true that, when the rubber hits the road, we editors are responsible for correcting spelling and grammar issues. But failure to make your work the cleanest and best it can be possible before you submit it may mean you never reach that point. The editor (or agent) may never even request a full because their appreciation of your story may not be enough to balance the costs and resources needed to get it through the publication process.
The first thing aspiring authors have to understand is that your submission – be it synopsis, partial or full – is your interview for a contract. It’s what you will be judged on. Why would you choose to make less than the best impression you possibly could? Would you show up to interview for a modeling shot with grimy hair and say that’s the hairdresser’s job? Shooting yourself in the foot is not a great start to any venture.
Now, keep in mind that almost every submission contains some errors, that’s normal and expected. But a plethora of easy to find and fix ones tells me (accurately or not) that the author doesn’t care enough to do the very best job possible. That it’s not important to the author. Are they lazy? Are they going to be difficult to work with?
Another thing it tells me is that if I contract this work, it will cost my house more money to get it in shape for publishing than it would an equivalent story that is cleaned up and corrected. The longer I have to spend on it, the longer my line editors or proofers have to spend on it, the more it costs. Publishing is still a business and it’s part of my job to make the best use of my house’s resources as I can.
It also directly affects my ability to appreciate and enjoy the story. Like it or not, each time I see an error, it drags me out of the story and breaks my immersion. Too many times and I can’t follow the story very well and end up not liking it as much as I possibly could have. You don’t want to let mechanical errors get in the way of the story.
I want to strongly encourage anyone who submits a work for publication to utilize the marvels of spellcheck and the eagle eyes of a test reader or critique partner. Make your submission as clean and correct as you possibly can before you submit it and you will increase your chances of acceptance.
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February 15th, 2008 at 8:08 am
I’m not going to shout at you, Maura. There are some small things that writers may moan about and that’s with the advent of computers it seems to have done away with the typesetters job. Also, writers come up against house-style but as long as most editors realise (and sensible ones do) that a writer doesn’t always get it wrong but may have worked with a publisher that simply does something differently, then there doesn’t need to be a problem.
That doesn’t mean a writer shouldn’t do the best they can regarding punctuation and grammar even if it does go to line-editors and proofers. I treat my writing as I would any form of work. A manager wouldn’t appreciate sending a sloppy letter out, so when representing yourself and particularly with something as close to your heart as a story (and what writer doesn’t feel that way about their work, and if they don’t why are they writing?) then why would you send it out poorly presented?
It doesn’t matter if I’m sending an electronic document or posting by mail, I always take care of presentation. Editors WILL turn down submissions due to poor layout, bad grammar, and I even recall one editor writing how she received a manuscript covered in coffee stains that she just threw in the bin, and who can blame her? Time is money and life is short. I’ve even had small press editors thank me for the way I’ve set out my work. Let that be a lesson to new writers everywhere.
February 16th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Good point Maura, but…. and I’m almost afraid to tell you this but you have a typo LOL
Aline **grin**
(I know it was done to prove your point right.) Heheh
February 17th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Actually, Aline, it does sort of prove my point. I should have made someone else read the post and find that typo but I was writing late at night and settled for editing it myself.
And I’m a good self-editor, generally.
I fixed it - thank you for pointing it out.
February 17th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Sharon,
In house style or what people were taught as generally accepted never bothers me. As long as it’s clean and in the best shape possible.
I wrote a technical non-fiction textbook two years ago and got thank you letters from my editors because my manuscript didn’t need a lot of work and I went to a lot of effort to follow the author guidelines I had received.
I grin like mad whenever my editors tell me that they look forward to my submissions because they’re really clean. I call that a sign of success.