About Copyedits
In Today's Journal
* About Copyedits
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
About Copyedits
A few writers who entered the contest (and whose work was accepted) emailed me to say things like "Sorry, but I didn't really accept ALL your edits."
Don't apologize. Good on you for defending your work.
I'm completely unattached to outcome on anyone's fiction other than my own. I try to help other writers when I can, but whether they accept my suggestions is completely up to them. The stories are theirs, after all.
To lay one fear to rest, when I edit for a contest, I never change the characters' voice or the content of the story. Never.
I only make suggestions re technique. In every case, I believe those suggestions will make the story a little clearer or will invite the reader a little more easily or deeply into the story.
That's those nuances I'm always talking about: things that directly affect the reader but that the reader doesn't notice unless they aren't there.
In my OPINION, accepting the edits gives your story its best chance for a wider range of readers to enjoy it. If I didn't believe that, I wouldn't have bothered making the suggestions.
But if I've already accepted the story, the entrant is free to accept all, some, or none of my edits. It doesn't matter to me.
Once I send an edit to a writer, I don't even think about it again. I just wait for the writer to send me the final version of the manuscript. When I receive the final version, I don't check over it again. I just download it and drag it into a folder labeled Final MSS.
If the writer doesn't send back an updated manuscript, the original, unedited submission goes into the anthology. So how your work is presented is up to you, as it should be.
In fact, the cover of the anthology will read "Compiled by" not "Edited by."
Just FYI, I'm the same way when I do a PAID edit for a writer, albeit with one caveat:
If the writer rejects more than 10% of my suggested edits, I don't allow him or her to list me in the credits of the book as the copyeditor. I don't want to take either the credit or the blame for anyone else's work.
I hope this clarifies things.
Of Interest
Book Bundling Strategies You May Not Have Tried (Plus Examples!)
ADVANCED MAGIC BAKERY… Chapter Four
Window-sized device taps the air for safe drinking water Any SF writers out there?
The Numbers
The Journal…………………………… 420
Writing of
Day 1…… XXXX words. To date…… XXXXX
Fiction for June………………………. 24036
Fiction for 2025………………………. 487488
Nonfiction for June………………....... 9910
Nonfiction for 2025…………………… 136060
2025 consumable words…………….. 617038
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 12
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 27
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………..... 116
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 297
Short story collections……………………. 29
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Oh, and here’s My Bio. It’s always a good idea to vet the expertise of people who are giving you advice.
Questions are always welcome at harveystanbrough@gmail.com. But please limit yourself to the topics of writing and publishing.