Editing.

I’ve been doing a lot of final editing in preparation for the release of Monster Makers. First, for those who don’t know, an “Editor”, generally, isn’t the person who goes through a manuscript and finds all the errors. An editior is a person at a publishing house who acquires a book. It is that editor’s baby. That editor wanted it. That editor pushed the publishing house to buy it. The editor might have suggestions for changes, but those changes are generally more macro than micro. When the book is closer to actual publication, it is a “copy editor” that gets involved. When most people think of an “editor”, then are generally thinking of a “copy editor”. Now why does a writer need a copy editor? Because, frankly put, A WRITER CAN NOT EDIT HIS BOOK BY HIMSELF. Well, a writer can, but it will turn out like $#%&*@ (Do you like the comic book swearing? That’s always fun). Here’s the main reason… When writers read their own copy, they tend to subvocalize their sentences the way they think it is written, as opposed to what is actually written on the page. For about a four month period, I wrote the word “women” when I really meant “woman”, and did I know it? No, because every time I reread my stuff, I subvocalized it the the right way. So, if you are a writer, and you are to the editing stage, gets lots of beta readers. Then, after you’ve made their suggested changes, finish up with more proofreaders to catch any final mistakes. NOTE: I’m sure there will still be some mistakes in Monster Makers. It is almost impossible to get rid of all of them in a novel, but, right now, my proofreaders are trying to track all of them down and kill them (oh, sorry…too harsh; how about “eliminate them with extreme prejudice”?) .