Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Finding a Good Editor


A really good editor is hard to find. I had hoped to have Rescuing Rita, the prequel to Stealing Mercy, published before or on Mercy’s second book birthday on July 21st. It could still happen, but sadly, my editor’s father died. It’s funny (only it’s not) that the night before I heard the sad news I had a bizarre dream.

In my dream I am going on a trip with my editor and she is in a hurry to get to where ever we are going. She throws my clothes into my suitcase, puts my lap top into my bag and yells for me to hurry. I scurry after her, complaining and begging her to let me carry my own stuff, but she doesn’t listen. I trail after her.

In real life, my editor, and most anyone who knows us both, would admit that if I had to race my editor, I would win. I’m not saying this to brag—it’s just true. But in my dream, she was winning, just like she would win if we were pitted in an editing contest.

So when my editor told me that her father had died and that if I wanted to find another editor, she would understand, I told her that waiting for her was worth it to me. I would (will) wait, unless she wanted/needed a respite from Rita. She responded that she was happy to continue editing for me, but life and death got (momentarily) in the way.

A good editor is so hard to find. To make my point, I’ve included a few of the reviews from my novel, Hailey’s Comments. (A different—although wonderful—editor.) And I’m the first to admit if I was more of a wordsmith, finding an editor to catch all of my mistakes wouldn’t be so difficult. (And no, I don’t personally know the people who left the reviews, but I’m deeply grateful for their time and kind words.) 




1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Really fun and light read! June 21, 2013
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I got this yesterday and ended up staying up late into the night to finish. It was a well-weaved story with great characters and intrigue. It's got some clean romance but it's more weighted towards mystery than romance. I really enjoyed it and will be looking for other books by this author. The reason I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars was because there was a handful of typo errors. It didn't really bother me and frankly, if you've ever tried to edit a book, you know how difficult it is to not have them. :)
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I'm giving Hailey's Comments 4 stars instead of 5 due to some editing issues that pulled me out of the story a bit. There were a few more than should be allowed, but nothing that another pass with editing couldn't fix. Mostly things like, I my... You do get a glimpse into the writer's directional thought though with these errors. One thing I will say about the writing is Mrs. Tate did a terrific job of weaving a story without use of vulgar/foul language. It wasn't until after I finished the story and was thinking about the 'bad guys' that I skimmed back over some of the scenes and realized she had so well written the characters that she didn't need to take the shortcut of using foul language to develop them.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, light reading July 9, 2013
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I enjoyed the book as a light, easy read. I wanted a better description of what Emma looked like. Sometimes, I felt lost in the location/setting, but the storyline kept me interested. Numerous typo's!!! Need a better proof reader!!
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