- I had lunch with my editor at the MOMA, which I never actually visited when I was in New York, even when I worked only three blocks away. I really enjoyed it. I wasn't nervous about this one, because I worked with her before I left the City. Basically, we talked about the projects we were working on together, and I told her about my agent extraordinaire. It was lovely to see her and catch up.
- My good friend Maria Gomez and her boyfriend Josh had their first Alice's Tea Cup visit ever...and I got to see Maria's face when she realized how huge the scones are. Pumpkin is the best kind, just fyi. (We had an epic sushi dinner in Astoria afterwards. I was sooo full that I couldn't walk, and we had to take the bus back. But Maria and I agreed that it was totally worth it.)
- Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall hit the New York Times bestseller list in its first week!!! (insert squealing here) I'm so happy for her! Let everyone witness that I blogged about it before it was famous. (Yes, I do keep track of these things. I also read Rebecca Stead's When You Reach Me before it won the Newbery, but I wasn't quick enough to blog about it before the annoucement. Sigh.)
- At Wine and Roses, I had an abbreviated drinks with old co-workers, including the other editorial assistant who used to be on my team and has since left New York but took a train into the city a day early to see me. Yay!! (She was coming in to the City to go to Lauren Oliver's book release party on Friday.) I was so glad to see them and soooo sorry that I had to leave early to rush over to a dinner engagement.
- My editorial letter for the manuscript I submitted in January was hand-delivered on Tuesday. Since I spoke to my editor on the phone in early February, I knew most of what it said already, but still, that warrants its own blog post too.
- I stopped by my old workplace twice to catch up with my old co-workers. One of them took me out for soy chai lattes, and I heard about all the office gossip. She actually got me all excited for her new titles, and I made her promise to send me galleys. Unfortunately, since some of them were new acquired, I have about a year to wait.... Sigh.
- Lunch with author/editorial assistant Alexandra Bracken and our mutual friend Maria Gomez turned into an epic quest for Red Mango in the Rockefeller Center. For those who are curious, it is above NBC Studios's gift shop and probably only intended for tourists, not for determined publishing peeps. Discussion topics included random whatnot that editorial assistants are forced to do, how working as an editorial assistant while aspiring to write can drive you batty, and the upcoming publication of Alex's debut novel, Brightly Woven, next week!! I haven't read it yet, but I'm totally buying it when it comes out. :-D!!!
Showing posts with label Editor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Editor. Show all posts
Trip to NYC!!!!!
Guess what? I went to New York this week.
I Got to Talk to My Editor Today :-)
When I woke up this morning, I discovered an email that my editor had sent fifteen minutes before. She wanted me to call her. Generally, she thought the manuscript was terrific, but she wanted to chat.
I emailed her back, saying I would call in an hour, and I set about a rushed version my morning routine - the coffee, the shower, the gathering of writing materials (mainly manuscript, notes, and pen and paper for more notes).
I also fretted. I bit my nails. I considered calling earlier to get it over with. I know this woman. She's wonderful, but the word "generally" tipped me off that something big was wrong.
There was. I called and found out it was too short.
Apparently, there was a miscommunication between my wonderful editor and me. I followed the contract, which said 30K, but in her mind, she was thinking it would be longer, maybe 45-50K.
And so basically, my editor said, Good stuff, but we want more.
As far as significant revisions go, this is the best news ever.
When I received the contract, I knew how slender it would make the book - probably just as slender as The Spiderwick Chronicles once were. I knew that this would severely limit the amount of description the book would need, and when you're writing a middle-grade fantasy with a lot of plot, some description is necessary.
Also, since this is an IP project, the plot was already mapped out. With only 30K, I struggled to find room for slower, character-building scenes to balance out the action scenes. Without those scenes, I worried that the novel would come across as flat and ultimately forgettable, which is not what I want for my first novel.
I am so thrilled that I can expand this manuscript into a fuller story. The story can have all the room it deserves to have.
And then we can line-edit out the excess, of course. :-P
(The funny thing is that when I worked in editorial, we were forever struggling to get writers to cut their description. It's strange to be told that I have the opposite problem.)
I emailed her back, saying I would call in an hour, and I set about a rushed version my morning routine - the coffee, the shower, the gathering of writing materials (mainly manuscript, notes, and pen and paper for more notes).
I also fretted. I bit my nails. I considered calling earlier to get it over with. I know this woman. She's wonderful, but the word "generally" tipped me off that something big was wrong.
There was. I called and found out it was too short.
Apparently, there was a miscommunication between my wonderful editor and me. I followed the contract, which said 30K, but in her mind, she was thinking it would be longer, maybe 45-50K.
And so basically, my editor said, Good stuff, but we want more.
As far as significant revisions go, this is the best news ever.
When I received the contract, I knew how slender it would make the book - probably just as slender as The Spiderwick Chronicles once were. I knew that this would severely limit the amount of description the book would need, and when you're writing a middle-grade fantasy with a lot of plot, some description is necessary.
Also, since this is an IP project, the plot was already mapped out. With only 30K, I struggled to find room for slower, character-building scenes to balance out the action scenes. Without those scenes, I worried that the novel would come across as flat and ultimately forgettable, which is not what I want for my first novel.
I am so thrilled that I can expand this manuscript into a fuller story. The story can have all the room it deserves to have.
And then we can line-edit out the excess, of course. :-P
(The funny thing is that when I worked in editorial, we were forever struggling to get writers to cut their description. It's strange to be told that I have the opposite problem.)
Here Comes the Sun...
Today looked like this:
After a week of snow (which was much needed on ski slopes), seeing the sun again was glorious.
I played hooky for a whole two and a half hours.
Then, I tore myself away from the sunshine and got some very important items off my plate:
After a week of snow (which was much needed on ski slopes), seeing the sun again was glorious.
I played hooky for a whole two and a half hours.
Then, I tore myself away from the sunshine and got some very important items off my plate:
- Went to the post-office and mailed the signed contract for the IP project I have been working on. Hurrah! (I actually got this email on Monday, but after all the car trouble, I was waiting for a day when the roads would be clear. No mishaps today.)
- Finished reading my manuscript outloud. For those who don't remember that post, it's the last step in my step-by-step self-revision process. And to be honest, it was a lot of fun! I did voices for the different characters. I got into the emotions of each scene. I giggled at my own jokes (again). I made notes on all the things I wasn't sure about, but all in all, I recognized that the manuscript was as good as I could get it by myself. So, I....
- Sent manuscript off to my editor and her assistant! Double hurrah!! :D There's a part of me that's nervous, and there's another part of me that feels like this is a very solid draft. There will be things wrong with it, of course, but nothing that can't be fixed. I'm reasonably good at revision. (The more problematic thing is if I don't match the vision that my editor had in mind. That's the trouble with IP projects. Even with the plot in front of you, you never know what you're going to get.) Mainly, I feel like I've accomplished something significant this week. I totally deserve the upcoming weekend.
This is how it happens.
Your phone rings when you're doing something completely different. You think it's someone you know, but you don't recognize the number. You answer politely, the same way you taught yourself to do when you had to play receptionist back in those other jobs. The caller introduces themselves. Depending on how well you know them, you chit-chat for a while. Then, the caller says the magic words, "I'm please to make you an offer on [insert title or description of work here]."
Your heart stops. You kind of can't believe it, but your mouth keeps talking, lining out the finer points of the deal. Then it starts to sink in. You start talking about how excited you are. The caller, ie. the editor, is pleased for you. You can hear it in her voice when she tells you when you'll be able to expect a contract. Finally, she says that she has to go, and you say your goodbyes, possibly mentioning again how excited you are. Then, after you've hung up, you go tell everyone you know.
That's how it happened for me at least. Yesterday morning.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was filing order reports at my dad's office where I've been helping out twice a week. When I heard my phone, I thought it was my dad. It was not. It was an editor I knew very well from my time in a publishing house in New York.
I called my parents first. Then I emailed my friends at said publishing house. And told my uncle in passing. Then his wife. Emailed my siblings. BBMed my ex-roommate, whom I have known since 8th grade and with whom I roomed in New York. G-chatted another friend, whom I have known for just as long and with whom I used to exchange drafts of stories while in high school. Called my grandmother, my great-grandmother. Really, there's not too many people who don't know at this point.
Now, the aforementioned editor made me an offer on the basis of some sample chapters I did, for this proposal that I worked on before I left the City. Which basically means that I have a whole 'nother manuscript to get started on...
And I couldn't be more excited.
Your phone rings when you're doing something completely different. You think it's someone you know, but you don't recognize the number. You answer politely, the same way you taught yourself to do when you had to play receptionist back in those other jobs. The caller introduces themselves. Depending on how well you know them, you chit-chat for a while. Then, the caller says the magic words, "I'm please to make you an offer on [insert title or description of work here]."
Your heart stops. You kind of can't believe it, but your mouth keeps talking, lining out the finer points of the deal. Then it starts to sink in. You start talking about how excited you are. The caller, ie. the editor, is pleased for you. You can hear it in her voice when she tells you when you'll be able to expect a contract. Finally, she says that she has to go, and you say your goodbyes, possibly mentioning again how excited you are. Then, after you've hung up, you go tell everyone you know.
That's how it happened for me at least. Yesterday morning.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I was filing order reports at my dad's office where I've been helping out twice a week. When I heard my phone, I thought it was my dad. It was not. It was an editor I knew very well from my time in a publishing house in New York.
I called my parents first. Then I emailed my friends at said publishing house. And told my uncle in passing. Then his wife. Emailed my siblings. BBMed my ex-roommate, whom I have known since 8th grade and with whom I roomed in New York. G-chatted another friend, whom I have known for just as long and with whom I used to exchange drafts of stories while in high school. Called my grandmother, my great-grandmother. Really, there's not too many people who don't know at this point.
Now, the aforementioned editor made me an offer on the basis of some sample chapters I did, for this proposal that I worked on before I left the City. Which basically means that I have a whole 'nother manuscript to get started on...
And I couldn't be more excited.
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