Time for Editing

By the author, Jim Doti


Now that I’ve finished the manuscript, I need to remind myself that it’s still only a first draft. 

When we finished
A Christmas Adventure in Little Italy
, we sent it to Mill City Press.  I had read a positive article about them in the
Wall Street Journal.
  Mill City is a self-publishing company, but the services they provide and the quality of their books were said to rival those of traditional publishers.  Checking their website, I learned that Mill City would do it all:  editing, cover and interior design, distribution, sales and marketing.  They would even create a website for the book.

While Mill City Press will publish books under the author’s company imprint, they also offer imprints in various categories.  To be published under one of them, though, requires an assessment and acceptance by their editorial team.  Lisa and I were delighted when
A Christmas Adventure
was accepted for publication by Jabberwocky Books, Mill City’s children’s books label.

The next step was editing.  Mill City sent my
Christmas Adventure
manuscript to an editor by the name of Marna Poole.  She was extremely helpful, not only in editing the book but also suggesting several changes that strengthened the story. 

So I decided to ask Marna to independently edit
Jimmy the Elf
before submitting it to Mill City.  Having been through the publishing process with
A Christmas Adventure
, this time around I have a better understanding of how things work.  I want to do everything I can to assure that
Jimmy the Elf
is accepted for the Jabberwocky label.

Marna quickly responded that she remembered
A Christmas Adventure
and would love to work with me again, so I sent her
Jimmy the Elf
.  A few weeks later, I received my edited manuscript.  Her detailed edits and comments were noted on every page, as shown in the following example of my introductory letter to the reader:

In her comments, which may not be clear in the above, Marna expresses concern that my wording might be perceived as saying that school was not a “safe and secure” environment.  She also suggested that I add a closing sentence, “like telling readers you hope they enjoy your story, or encouraging them not to be afraid.”

Marna also hit on the challenge I described in “The Story within the Story” (Feb. 22) – a challenge that has continued to bother me.  She wrote:

I think that I’d condense the section where Mrs. Lyons is telling/reading the story. It gets a little tangled because she reads from the book but then seems to continue in her own words. The formatting — using italics for the part of the story that’s read — helps but if the book is read to children, they won’t recognize that distinction. It also risks seeming a little repetitious, as Mrs. Lyons tells the entire story and then we later see it re-enacted as the play. And it tends to take away from the book’s theme, as so much of the book is given to telling and retelling the story of the shoemaker. 

As I poured over her notes typed into the manuscript, I found Marna’s suggestion that I might insert “action” to clarify the distinction between what Mrs. Lyons is reading and what is her comment.  She pointed to sentences where I could add phrases like “Mrs. Lyons looked up from the book,” “Mrs. Lyons closed the book and set it down on her desk” and “Mrs. Lyons again picked up the book and started to read.”  I could immediately see how Marna’s idea about “action” would resolve the “story within the story” challenge at last.

Of course, Marna gave me a few grammar and punctuation edits.  It made me feel good that there weren’t too many.  Marna also took careful note of Jimmy’s speech patterns and pointed out additional words that should reflect his impediment.  For example, she reminded me that Jimmy would say “dib” rather than “did” and “wight” rather than “right.” 

I immediately set to work at revising my manuscript and began to feel excitement about how much better the story seemed to be.  There is no doubt about it, a really good editor is worth their weight in gold.