The edited manuscript of Under the Skin (the fifth Elizabeth Goodweather book, tentatively scheduled for an October 2011 release) showed up Friday. My editor's comments and suggestions are in pencil; the copy editor's marks are in green.(I get to use red this time.)
The copy editor also keeps track of continuity -- making sure that my dates agree, that I don't have Gloria call Elizabeth 'Lizzy' on one page and 'Lizzie' on another. My editor (Herself) is reading, I think, with an eye to writing style and to building tension, as well as making sure that what I say makes sense.
When I'm writing, I already know quite a lot about these characters and their background and motivations and if I'm not careful, I may forget that the reader doesn't have all that same information. Herself and the copy editor bring their fresh eyes to the work.
They catch me when I repeat myself; Herself pushes me to add more tension to a flat scene and suggests a better word or phrasing now and then. It's truly a suggestion. I'm free to write 'stet' by their changes -- which means 'leave it the way I wrote it.'
I don't often disagree. This time though I've stetted my use of the lower case g when a speaker who isn't a believer says something like 'Oh my god.' I like to save the capital G for someone actually invoking the Deity.
I love reading through these pages and polishing the words one last time. It's been months since I sent it in and it's fun to read it again. And oh, how I love seeing which parts Herself liked -- and where the copy editor agreed!
Things are shifting uneasily in the book world. It seems like almost every day brings news of another independent bookstore closing -- Jim Huang's The Mystery Company in Indiana and The Open Book in Greeneville, SC (after forty years!) are two of the latest casualties. In 1993 therewere 4,700 independent book stores in the US; by 2007, there were only 2,500. Heaven knows what the figures are today. Even the big chains, the well-known names, aren't showing the profits they once did.
Is it the economy? Is it the on-line book sellers? Is it e-books? Is it huge discounts in big-box stores? Is it a shrinking base of readers?
So far, the independents I know best in my area are still hanging in there -- making adjustments where necessary, adding a cafe here, joining forces with another bookseller there.
Long may they survive!
The indies are a treasure to the community -- holding readings, hosting book clubs and discussions, giving space to writers' groups, running book fairs to support various community projects -- and, oh yes, being real booksellers.
These are the folks who read the books and can tell you about them, who remember what sort of books you like and recommend similar ones. Indy booksellers tend to be passionate about books -- heaven knows they're not in it for the money!
These are the folks who've been very good to me, 'hand selling' my Elizabeth Goodweather books and hosting events where I can meet my readers.
And these are the charming little stores where I love to browse and discover new books -- the quiet little books that are under the bestsellers' radar, the quirky little books that'll never show up at Wal Mart, the regional books that teach me more about Appalachia . . .
So I make a point of doing some gift-buying at my local Indies. Even if I could save a few dollars by shopping on line.
It's my small vote in favor of the wonderful institution of the independent bookstore.
All that rain of last week has given way to bright, sunny, hot days and now I have to think about getting my outdoor work done really early before the heat drives me back inside. I got a late start this morning and my intentions in regard to the garden faltered.
So I continued to work on Bear and Molly's haircuts -- not easy work as both prefer to lie down to be groomed. And I bathed Bear -- one way to cool off -- but Molly went to deep cover before I could stop her. Time to go back to work on proofreading the Birdie book.
I was breezing along, making little changes -- a word here, a word there -- and suddenly, over halfway through, I hit a chapter that just went clunk! I kept fiddling with the wording till the manuscript was awash in penciled changes and additions -- which is the point at which, according to the instructions, I need to print out fresh pages to attach to the old ones.
So I have a freshly rewritten chapter and am moving on, grateful I had the chance to fix the clunker. And hopeful there won't be more.
