thank heaven for copyeditors
Those of you who follow me on Twitter &/or Facebook may have noticed that I was working on copyedits for MUST LOVE VAMPIRES last week. (And if you don’t yet follow me on Twitter & Facebook, what the heck are you waiting for? :mistress )
Copyedits can be fun…but also vexing.
For one thing, getting copyedits on one book almost always means I have to set aside the writing of another. And that is vexing because they usually arrive just when I’m really on a roll.
For another, it’s not easy to jump from story to story & still keep track of everything that’s going on. Especially in a situation like this where I’m writing a Harlequin Desire set in South Carolina, then have to proof & edit a hot & sexy vampire romance set in Las Vegas. It can be tres confusing. :knock
And then there’s the fact that copyedits are basically a chance to bring to light all your little goofs.
Like calling your heroine Chunk instead of Chuck (short for Charlotte). Her small candy bar addiction not withstanding, I don’t think she’d appreciate that.
Or writing “crazy as a loom” when you really meant “crazy as a loon.” I’m familiar with loon insanity, but don’t even know how crazy a loom can get.
Whoops. All I can say is, Thank goodness for copyeditors. I’ve heard a lot of complaints & horror stories about them in my day, but for the most part, copyedits usually save my butt. Thanks, guys!
In addition to keeping me from looking like an illiterate slob, the nice thing about copyedits is that they A.) give me a chance to see if the revisions read as smoothly as I thought they did when I first turned them in…if I had revisions, which on this story I did. Very minor ones, thankyouverymuch. And B.) give me a chance to see if the story holds together as well as I thought when I first turned it in. It’s easy to be excited about something when you finally get to type “The End” & send it off to your editor after six months of heavy-duty work, but But then you start to think, “Oh, wait—did I cross that T? Did I dot that I? Did I remember to tie up all those loose ends?” And you think you did…I mean, it’s your job & you’ve done it twenty times before, but still…the doubts begin to creep in.
I am happy to say, though, that MUST LOVE VAMPIRES did hold together—beautifully, if I do say so myself. :eyelashes With a fresh eye, I was able to see the story as a whole & even chuckle at a few things I’d forgotten I wrote.
And I’m even happier to have the copyedits finished & out of the way so I can jump back into the current WIP…which means once again spinning my brain 180-degrees to the non-paranormal Desire world, nary a vampire in sight. :doh
Comments
8 Comments • Comments Feed
Hollie says:
Congrats for finishing….now Bring on that Book …please!! :angelme
On April 19, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Heidi says:
Thanks, Hollie! It’s not easy waiting for them to come out, is it? Think how hard it is for me…feels like I write them *years* before they hit the shelves. Altho seeing books come together thru all the different stages of production is fun. :cookinme
Btw, guess what I’m wearing right now? The turquoise loop-de-loop slippers you made for me! Forgot about them all winter, which makes me :angrychick cuz they’re really warm & comfy. Thank you again! :bees
On April 19, 2011 at 5:34 pm
Hollie says:
You are very welcome!! I’m still knitting them! Let me know when they wear out…I can see another pair in your future! :wink
On April 19, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Laura J. says:
What Hollie said!!!!
Got to love those copy editors, but sometimes even they need someone to go behind them. Last book I read had the heroine and another name mixed up (first sentence in the paragraph and then about two sentences later, it was right). It was the same paragraph too and really obvious. Guess someone didn’t have enough coffee that day. :coffee But that was the only one I caught.
On April 19, 2011 at 8:54 pm
Heidi says:
That is true, Laura. Sometimes, no matter how many times I or others go over something, typos still pop up. And then there are the typesetters…sometimes a ms. can be edited within an inch of its life & mistakes will *still* crop up because it goes on to someone else after that. :argh
Just remember, nobody & nothing is perfect. At least you *knew* it was a typo & didn’t think a whole new character was being introduced. :ROFL
On April 20, 2011 at 9:22 am
Hollie says:
some days there is no such thing as too much coffee!! I know all about those days!! :knock
On April 19, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Christy M says:
Jeez, I think i need a copy editor for my everyday life!! Congrats on finishing the book. the cover it to die for!
On April 19, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Heidi says:
Now that would be nice. I would love someone to follow me around fixing all the little mistakes I make all day. Cleaning up my spills, pulling back the words that fly out of my mouth…do you think I could also get them to brush my teeth for me? Sometimes I barely have the energy. :spikey
On April 20, 2011 at 9:23 am