NovelBooks,
Inc.
NBI is looking for careful, consistent, time-oriented and sympathetic editors. We want our authors—the backbone of the company, after all—to feel that we’re on their side and in their corner when we’re preparing their books for market. We will never, however, allow either side in the editing partnership to run roughshod over the other. The editing process is a partnership.
Editors are responsible for a line-by-line reading of their assigned manuscripts, with careful attention paid to grammar, spelling, punctuation and continuity. They are NOT responsible for intensive rewrites, book doctoring, or going to great efforts to make the book publishable—the books we choose should already be at that point, or why did we choose them in the first place? Manuscripts assigned to editors will already be as perfect as the author can make them, but as we all know, when we’re too close to something, we tend to read what we intended to be there as what is really there. Thus, editors: a fresh eye, a new outlook, someone who can assist an author in making a good book better.
To prevent confusion with different versions of the manuscript being sent around, the following table will be inserted at the front of all manuscripts:
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Phase |
Date |
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Edits completed |
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Edits approved by author |
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Copy edits completed |
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Copy edits approved author |
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When you’ve completed your last editing pass, fill in the date in the first box. The author should then review the manuscript again if needed, fill in the date in the second box, and send the manuscript to me. If, when I copy-edit the manuscript, I find a lot of problems, I may send it back for another editing pass. Otherwise, I’ll correct/mark the manuscript for copy-edits and send it to the author for approval. I will also send it to you, so you can see what I found so you know what to be on the lookout for next time. Once the author returns the manuscript after the copy-edit phase, I’ll begin formatting it for release (at which time the table will be removed from the manuscript J).
Each editor can conduct her/his contact with an author in any way that works for the two of them—but their communal end result should be a carefully nurtured and complete manuscript, as error-free as possible. Authors shall be responsible for sending manuscripts to their editors in the proper format, and it is the editor’s prerogative to return that manuscript as many times as necessary if it is not ready for the editing process.
Please note that editors should never make changes to a manuscript without marking or identifying the change in some way. If you and the author are comfortable with using MSWord’s Track Changes feature, that’s one way to do it. Highlighting text, inserting comments in braces or brackets, or noting changes or suggestions in a separate document—these are all valid methods, too. The important thing is that it should be easy for the author to see what you’ve changed, or what you think needs to be changed.
While I have no problem with any format that works comfortably for editor/writer during the editing process, I want the final edited version sent to me in the following format:
1. 1-inch margins around.
2. No headers or footers.
3. No page numbers.
4. Single spaced text, with first line indent at 0.2. (In MSWord, this is under paragraph; special; first line; .2) Paragraphs should never be indented with tabs or spaces.
5. Author’s name, address, email, phone number in upper left corner, title page.
6. Center title and author name on first page.
7. Page break at bottom of title page and at each chapter end. No section breaks ever.
8. Font must be Times New Roman 12 point.
9. Use “” and ‘’ instead of " and ' [curly quotes, not smart/straight quotes]
10. Single space after punctuation/end of sentence, not double.
11. There should not be blank lines between paragraphs, except when there’s a scene break. For scene breaks, have a blank line, a line with “~*~” centered, and then another blank line.
12. Chapter One, Chapter Two…Chapter Twenty-Two, etc. in bold, small caps, TNRoman, 16pt font and centered.
For general grammar rules and regulations, I personally prefer the MLA (Modern Language Association) format. I’ve included some specific rules below, based on inconsistencies that have come across my desk in the past.
· Single quotes vs. double quotes: Dialogue is enclosed in double quotes. Quoted text within dialogue is enclosed in single quotes. Anything quoted within narrative is enclosed in double quotes. The following are correct:
o “No,” she said with a rueful grin, “I sang ‘We Wish You a Merry Christmas’ because it’s the only song I could think of.”
o The marcher’s sign read “No War” even though he carried a gun.
· Punctuation at the end of quotations: When it’s dialogue, punctuation goes before the closing quote. When it’s a quoted word, phrase or title, punctuation goes after the closing quote. The following are correct:
o “We want answers, and we want them now,” Sylvia said.
o The marcher’s sign read “No War”, but I noticed he was carrying a gun.
o “Not only did Bill not say ‘maybe’, he actually said ‘yes’!” Shirley reported in amazement.
· Ellipses: Ellipses should be formatted with no spaces on either side or in between. When dialogue ends in an ellipsis and is followed by a dialogue tag, there’s no comma before the closing quote. The following are correct:
o She stared into the fridge. She wanted…what was it she wanted?
o “I think it was Bob, or maybe it was Bruce…” she said, her voice trailing off in confusion.
o “Did you open the blue box, or the yellow, or…?” he asked.
· Apostrophes: Possessives should always be ’s, even when the word ends in an s. If an apostrophe is used to indicate missing sounds in speech, make sure it’s pointing the right way (you usually have to insert an open and close single quote, and then delete the open quote). The following are correct:
o Gail’s book, Gladys’s car
o “Hmmph. ’Tis not natural, is what I say.”
· Em-dashes: Use em-dashes to indicate interrupted words or breaks in thought (generally, don’t use parentheses in narrative). No spaces before or after, and make sure to use em-dashes and not double hyphens. The following are correct:
o “You want commitme—” He gulped. It was as she expected—he couldn’t even say the word.
o She wanted—though she’d have swallowed her skateboard before she’d admit it to Cecelia—to look like a fairy-tale princess.
· Italics: Italics should be used for internal dialogue (when it’s a direct transcription of the thoughts, not when the thoughts are paraphrased), emphasis, and titles of books, magazines, plays and works of art. Text should never be underlined. The following are correct:
o She went to see The Taming of the Shrew, mostly because she’d read about it in “Shakespeare is Chic”, the cover article in the current issue of Yuppie Living.
o He would always love her. He knew it with the certainty only a fourteen-year-old can have.
o He threw his books onto the bed. He was tired of being Howard’s punching bag. Well, no more, he thought. Next time, I’m gonna fight back.
The following are not hard and fast rules—there’s no “allowed” number of –ly adverbs per page, or lines per paragraph or the like. It’s mostly a matter of “listening” to the narrative as you read it. If something seems repetitious, or seems to bog down, mark the passage (and explain why you did so!) so the author can see if adjustments are needed.
· Overuse of –ly adverbs: Too many –ly adverbs weaken narrative. If the manuscript uses a lot of them, especially in dialogue tags, highlight them so the author can try to find stronger verbs.
· Repeated words/phrases: This is an easy thing to miss when writing and revising, so keep an eye out for words and phrases repeated in close proximity. Highlight so the author can decide whether it’s rhythmic and part of their writing style, or if different words or phrasing would be better.
· Paragraph length: Extremely long paragraphs can be hard on the eye, especially in electronic versions of the book, so keep an eye out for paragraphs that seem to drag. Also watch for paragraphs which contain dialogue attributed to more than one character—in almost all cases, each speakers gets his or her own paragraph.
As stated earlier, manuscripts chosen by NBI should not require extensive rewrites to be publishable—manuscripts you edit should already have compelling plots and believable characters. However, even strongest story can have weak patches. Don’t be afraid to suggest changes to the author if you problems in the following areas:
· Point of View (POV) consistency: Watch for abrupt POV shifts. In general, most scenes are told from a primary POV. Jumping to someone else’s head is jarring to the reader.
· Story logic: Keep an eye out for magically appearing and disappearing objects and people, anomalies in the space-time continuum, and characters who change names or hair color midway through the story (unless, of course, the story is SF/Fantasy J).
· Plot holes: If an event is too convenient, or a character’s motivation is unclear, mark it and suggest alternatives if you have ideas. My personal test for this is to ask why a character does something—because it’s in their nature or their self-interest, or only because the author needs them to do it in order to further the story line? If the latter, the author probably needs to give the character their own reason for doing it.
· Pacing: Sometimes the story’s pacing could be improved with a little tweaking—it doesn’t grab readers hard enough at the beginning, it slows down with too much narrative or inconsequential dialogue, it doesn’t give readers a chance to catch their breath. Perhaps a scene should be cut or moved, or a new one added. Chapters that are very short or very long can change the pace of the book. Sometimes that’s good, sometimes not. Sometimes short chapters are better handled as scenes in one chapter; sometimes long chapters should be divided.
· Historical/Technical accuracy: Your job is not to be a researcher—it is the author’s responsibility to make sure that if a character uses a particular item or phrase, that said item had been invented or said phrase was in the language at the time of the story. Similarly, if you’re editing a story set in a nuclear reactor, you don’t have to become an expert in nuclear physics to edit the manuscript. However, if you do notice things that don’t seem right (or you happen to know they aren’t), mark them for the author to review.
· Appendix/illustration suggestions: If a story is set in a time or place that’s likely to be unfamiliar to most readers, it can be helpful to have a glossary, author notes, or a map included in the book. Most books don’t need any of these extras, but if you feel the one you’re editing does, suggest it to the author. If the suggestion is for a map or diagram, make the suggestion early so the Art department will have enough time to create the appropriate image.
Please, always feel free to share any suggestions/comments with the senior editor for improvement of these guidelines!
NovelBooks, Inc.