Meet Christy Dyer!

Today on my blog, I welcome the new intern at Oak Tree Press, Christy Dyer.

First, welcome to the family of one of my favorite publishers. You'll like it here!

Thanks! I think I will like it here!

Exactly what will you do as intern? What will be your responsibilities?

I’m working as an acquisitions editor. So I will be looking over people’s queries and manuscripts to decide if they can be published. I am also doing some editing work, but not through OTP. Just something on the side.

What is your background?

I am a recent college graduate from Western Illinois University. So now I am in the “real” world, trying to find a job that fits my major, English.

I can relate. I was also an English major. I'm an editor (independent plus for several publishers) as well as an author. I even have the t-shirt:

You can get one, too, here: http://tinyurl.com/l7qdlbt

How did you become interested in a career in publishing?

As cliché as it is, I am a huge reader. I will read anything and everything. So I wanted to work in a place with books and authors and help them get their ideas into print. I've also entertained the idea of writing!

How did you find out about Oak Tree Press?

The power of Google search! I was looking for publishing houses in Illinois so I didn’t have to move right away, and OTP came up. So I took a chance, and here I am!

What appealed to you about the intern position?

I was really glad Billie decided to give me a chance. Most places didn’t bother to answer me or told me I didn’t have enough experience. Plus, Billie is really kind and answers all of my billion-questions-a-day emails as they come. So I’m glad for the chance to show what I can do.

What contribution(s) do you hope to make?

Maybe possibly add to the fantasy section of OTP? I am a huge fan of fantasy and it might attract even more authors to OTP since we publish those works. It would also add more readers since it is a popular genre. But for now, I’m happy reading all the queries and helping in any way I can!

[Lorna: My book, Ghost Writer, was the first published by OTP under the new fantasy imprint, Mystic Oaks.]

What do you see as the future of publishing?

With all the ways people can self-publish, it is difficult to predict where it might go. On one hand, it could continue to grow as people get their ideas out to the world in pursuit of the next bestseller. On the other hand, books in print could disappear as the new e-readers continue to become more popular. But I believe books will never die.

Anything else you think my readers would be interested in?

As I mentioned before, I am doing some side editing. Yes I will charge for my services (I am a poor college student after all!), but I’m not doing it through Oak Tree Press. I am willing to edit everything and anything. So if anyone is interested, I’m here!

Glad to know of another editor! Writers really need our services, and there are far too few of us to go around. All the best of luck at Oak Tree. Please don't nag me to get going on my next book for Mystic Oaks, to be called Sophia's Garden. Like Ghost Writer, it also has a ghost. I've promised it to Oak Tree when it's finished. Hope you'll enjoy being with us. We have a great group of authors.

Why I Need an Editor

As many of you may know, I edit for a couple of publishers as well as on contract and for friends. I’m pretty tough, and I do both content and line editing. So why do I need an editor? (And why does every other writer?)

1.   I’m too close to the material. I know what it’s supposed to say, and therefore I read it that way. I learned this lesson the hard way with our first book, 31 Months in Japan: The Building of a Theme Park. After three complete rewrites plus a complete edit by the publisher, I thought we’d gotten all the bugs out. My then-boss read the book and mentioned she’d found an error. (She’s one of the best proofreaders I know.) I asked what it was, and sure enough, it was right there. A letter had been left out of a word, and all of us missed it.

2.   Even with an editor, mistakes creep in. (I attribute the errors to the Menehune, by the way.) However, fewer mistakes appear when a professional goes through the manuscript after I’ve taken a few whacks at it.

3.    We run all our work through our critique group.They catch the small errors and make suggestions for improvement. However, in doing the corrections for the critiques, that pesky delete button sometimes gets carried away, and words that should have been left in get deleted. Or the opposite can happen. Words that should have been deleted just won’t leave.

4.   I tend to overuse certain words, like three times in the same paragraph when there are perfectly good synonyms. Our critique group usually catches those, but not always. My editor does, however.

5.   It’s easy to leave out quotation marks and to either add or omit other punctuation. When I do a professional edit, the last pass is usually to check to make sure that all sentences end with punctuation and that all quotes are in pairs. I don’t always see these in my own work because I’m usually more concerned about content.

6.   When you develop a good relationship with an editor who enjoys your writing and who understands your style of storytelling, the mutual trust level increases. Whenever a particular editor makes a comment, I pay attention. She understands me well enough to know when I haven’t made an important point clear enough, and she isn’t afraid to point out where I haven’t answered a question or completed a story arc adequately. She also makes notes of the things she likes in the story. That affirmation really helps me know when I’m on the right track.

7.   I always know the backstory for my books, but I’m afraid of interjecting ‘reader feeder.’ So I sometimes need to be told that the reader may need the additional information. When editing Larry’s book, Lakeview Park, I had to remind him several times about including enough detail to explain a character’s motivation.

8.   Even editors can make grammar errors when they put on their writing hats. I depend on my editor to point out when I’ve done that. Split infinitives and confusing pronoun references are probably the biggest issues. I know better, but sometimes in the rewriting, those kinds of things can occur.

9.   A good editor can be your best asset in producing a great book, On the other hand, a poor edit can make the difference between an enjoyable story and one that is difficult to read, and therefore not a pleasure.

 

So, why do I need an editor? Because, for my own books, I’m the writer. That’s my primary job. And I leave the final edit up to my editor. I’ve been blessed with terrific people who’ve worked with me to produce books I can be proud of. I did encounter one editor who made up some rules of her own (not per Chicago Manual of Style or Strunk and White's Elements of Style) and then insisted on changing the manuscript to conform. I protested to the publisher, but the book went out as edited.

That’s why I always tell those authors with whom I’m working that the manuscript ultimately belongs to them, not to me. I merely make suggestions, and they are free to accept or reject them.

I requested a different editor for the next book and the let the publisher know the reasons I didn’t feel the other one was a good match. We now have a wonderful editor whom I request whenever I submit.

If you do find an editor you like, you are truly blessed. And if you haven’t yet, keep looking until you find one.