JUST WHAT DO YOU DO ALL DAY, ANYWAY?
Whenever I tell people I’m an editor, I usually get this comment: “Oh, you must spell really well.” This is because clearly I am sitting around all day checking spelling with a red pencil. I also get told: “It must be so much fun to sit around all day and read.” Yes, it is, especially if that day is Saturday, which is the day most editors I know do their reading.
So, what do I do all day? Here’s what I’ve done today so far.
Checked my email. I received over 50 emails over the weekend. Five of those were from Nordstrom’s, begging me to buy new summer dresses. Two of those were mss from authors (ms attached). One was a query from a guy who has written the best novel ever. (It wasn’t.) The rest was just, well, stuff. Lots of stuff. Not all of it cheerful.
I rewrote a piece of copy for a romance novel. I wrote two pieces of copy for Luxe, our large print line. This means I take the copy I’ve got and I’ve made it 50% shorter, so the print can be really big. It’s harder than you might think.
I went to a meeting called a "launch meeting". This is where you sit in a big conference room full of people and talk about the books you will be working on in early 2010. You pretty much get a couple of minutes a book, if you’re lucky.
My phone hasn’t rung a lot today. This makes me nervous, because it usually means it will not stop ringing tomorrow.
I wonder what everyone thinks we do all day.
Whenever I tell people I’m an editor, I usually get this comment: “Oh, you must spell really well.” This is because clearly I am sitting around all day checking spelling with a red pencil. I also get told: “It must be so much fun to sit around all day and read.” Yes, it is, especially if that day is Saturday, which is the day most editors I know do their reading.
So, what do I do all day? Here’s what I’ve done today so far.
Checked my email. I received over 50 emails over the weekend. Five of those were from Nordstrom’s, begging me to buy new summer dresses. Two of those were mss from authors (ms attached). One was a query from a guy who has written the best novel ever. (It wasn’t.) The rest was just, well, stuff. Lots of stuff. Not all of it cheerful.
I rewrote a piece of copy for a romance novel. I wrote two pieces of copy for Luxe, our large print line. This means I take the copy I’ve got and I’ve made it 50% shorter, so the print can be really big. It’s harder than you might think.
I went to a meeting called a "launch meeting". This is where you sit in a big conference room full of people and talk about the books you will be working on in early 2010. You pretty much get a couple of minutes a book, if you’re lucky.
My phone hasn’t rung a lot today. This makes me nervous, because it usually means it will not stop ringing tomorrow.
I wonder what everyone thinks we do all day.
5 Comments:
Two things:
1) It could be worse - they could make you do timesheets to divide your time spent between your list of titles. (That would seriously suck.)
2) Talk about not knowing what you do all day: A long time ago in another lifetime, my grandmother found out I was going to be in publishing, and she very sweetly (and seriously) asked me if I wanted the printing press back home in the Philippines.
2:08 AM
I envy you. Can we switch?
12:16 PM
What do I do during the day - write, eat, drink and write some more.
2:04 PM
I love the idea of the press traveling over the ocean. The way the industry is right now we might need it! What would be interesting is if I could confess what frustrates me the most, but that would be telling!
8:50 PM
You can do so much! I spent an aimless day checking emails, web statistics, takeing care of my two boys and making dinner.
9:06 PM
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