Edits For “Trust Me” Are Done

So for those of you who aren’t in the know, when you sell a story, the usual process is the publisher then assigns it to an editor.

The editor fixes it so that all the formats, chapter heads, quotes, ellipses, dashes and more fit into the in-house format. They might also be specific about spellings of words like “come” versus “cum.” 😉

THe editor also has the daunting task of editing the thing, through years of knowledge, to fine tune your tale. If you get good one, and I have had some good ones, their work and pointers will fine tune you as a writer as well. I’ve learned a lot.

A whole lot!

See, the next step is they send the edits back to you, and you go over them, one by one. You accept or deny each one. It is pretty smart to accept them, these editors usually know their stuff. But they are human and make mistakes themselves. Also there are cases where you thought you were saying something, but when someone else reads it — since they don’t have your knowledge of what is going on or who your characters are — what you’ve written might read differently than you intended. Sometimes it is almost comical. Then between you and your editor, you can make sure you are saying what you meant to say.

Examples: The way I structured a sentence made it sound like the branch of a tree was ruby red. She thought I had made a mistake and I meant for two hummingbirds to be ruby red. Actually I meant that the hummingbird feeder was ruby red! LOL! Now the sentence reads they way I intended it to be.

I once wrote a story in which a character who is very well off is drinking an expensive whisky. The editor changed the word from “whisky” to “whiskey” throughout. What she didn’t know is that I had done my research! Whisky/whiskey drinkers are very very particular about this… Scottish whisky is spelled without the “e.” American whiskey, especially Kentucky whiskey, is spelled with the “e.” Since my character was drinking a Lagavulin — a brand from a distillery near the coast of of Islay, and which has a legitimate claim to being one of the oldest in Scotland — then it is spelled without the “e.” The spelling went back to the way I had it originally.

An important relationship can exist between writer and editor that produces a better story, and that is good for the reader, the writer and the publisher.

In the case of Trust Me, which was bought by Amber Allure, I am an amazing editor. Not only is she good, but she knows a lot about horses, and owns four! But did she find a few possibly awful mistakes! LOL! But with her direction, things went well, and I am very proud of what has been accomplished between us,

I finished nearly a hundred pages of edits today and it wore me out! It is harder editing such a long story. But it is done, and ready to go out tonight!

And soon “Trust Me,” my most romantic story to date, will be ready for you!

Namaste,
B.G.