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As many of you can see, I've been a pretty terrible blogger lately! What can I say...Life.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

A Change in Curriculum

I will no longer be featuring the articles entitled “Who’s Your Editor, (Author’s Name)?” because it could be taken as though I am outing the work of professional editors who have worked hard for their positions. And considering the fact that I am still a student with the hope of becoming an editor, I do not want to offend any future colleagues.

To add to this whole debacle, (people telling me not to write the articles, people telling me it will be okay, others saying I will be blacklisted for even thinking of such a thing, and then a very credible professor giving me further insight into the matter), I would like to give you a bit of the real story from behind the curtain of the publishing world. Yes, it is unfortunate that grammatical errors and typos may throw us out of our reading, blasting our attentions from the character’s world and back into our own, but (and here’s the sad thing) it might not even be the author’s or editor’s fault. Even the best editors/ copyeditors/ proofreaders/ etc. can’t stop the errors that happen in publishing! According to my professor, “The composition process (literally how books are put into pages) can introduce errors…the big corporate process of making books (wherein companies from all over the world bid for low-cost manufacturing contracts) creates errors that highly skilled editors and obsessive authors never see and cannot address.” That’s just swell! (Sarcasm.)

So, the point is, if we’re all tired of being boosted from our reading because a multinational corporate entity is struggling to make a profit by outsourcing most of the post-editorial production work (thanks for that, Professor!) then we need to find a way to make a difference by continuing to demand more care to details, go to the source instead of blaming the author or editor, become better editors ourselves by getting educated in our own language. Then, when we truly become a part of the publishing world, maybe we can do something about it, from the inside.

10 comments:

  1. I'm glad that you did some research and decided to change your perspective. And I am appreciative that you have, in turn, enlightened me to the plight.

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  2. Yeah, It was a bit of a rollarcoaster for me. Getting me to change my mind is a rough thing. lol. When it come to writing, if someone tells me not to write something, I want to write it even more. Especially when they have nothing more to offer than "It's not a good idea." or "Some peole might get angry."

    But in this situation, I did some extra research and emailed a few Professors that I knew had either been published or worked in some layer of the publishing industry themselves and recieved some real information and real reasons not to write the articles.

    Even though this is a pretty generalized statement, I'm glad it was enlightening.

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  3. I feel like one of those professors could have been Roberson. And I feel you on the wanting to write something because you're told not to.

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  4. Yes, I did eamil Roberson. It's nice when there are people you can just shoot an email to and they know exactly how to help you or are willing to really take the time to look into something for you.

    It helped me so much!

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  5. Roberson's a great guy. He is, in fact, the sponsor for the FC.

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  6. Well I guess it makes sense. Makes me cringe thinking about ever getting my own stuff published because well....I'd go batshit crazy if I found a typo in my book. That's one of my pet peeves. I read a book not too long ago where the mechanic (main character) was replacing a chassy. Really? How bout a chassis? Ugh. Drives me crazy. Good to know it's not always the writers and editors and copywriters though.

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  7. Oh, I know how you feel. I can't stand it when I find errors in my work, especially when I thought I was done fixing everything.

    The fact that myself or an editor would not be able to prevent such things drives me crazy. I'm too much of a technical freak to handle it.

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  8. Hi-five for technical freaks!

    *Hi-fives.*

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  9. ...and then there's folks like me who know just enough about grammar to mess around with crafting difficult sentences and not nearly enough to come out on the other side still unscathed.

    I am quite sure that when I finish my book and if I am published that my writing will most likely break my editor's brain.

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  10. As it should. Make those editors work. They'll both love you and hate you for it, I'm sure.

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