W.E. Editorial Digest: Published authors v. Hubbers

Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to edit four novels, which all had one thing in common: They were going to be published. This was a fact, since they had already been accepted by the publisher prior to the manuscripts being sent to me.

Working at these soon-to-be-published manuscripts has given me some insights into the standards required by the industry. First, let me try to describe those standards. Then let me try to compare what I have seen to the standards of writers here on HubPages.

Editing four novels

The editing required varied a good deal, from essentially thorough proofreading, to constructive criticism, to a straight line edit, to extensive critique-revision-editing.

All four novels had that in common that they were well-considered, the result of hard work over a period of time. All four works seemed coherent as far as their plot and storyline. However, their technical quality varied considerably.

The first book basically required extensive proofreading, which also included “streamlining” to economize and make the narrative flow much better. Redundant words were removed, and repetitive words were replaced with synonyms. Some – but not too many – sentences were revised for clarity. Such a 100,000 word manuscript consumed one week of editing time.

The second book, a short novel written in a light tone (presumably for a young audience), required little more than thorough proofreading. Add to this, however, some instruction given to the author on how to get rid of bad habits. Double spaces, even triple spaces after period just isn't right, nowadays. Also, I was astonished to find many examples where the author wrote like this: “I agree.” She said – instead of: “I agree,” she said.

The third book, a fairly long novel with a drama-oriented, psychological theme and plot, required a thorough edit. I was surprised by how much the quality varied in different parts of the manuscript. This was easy to detect, simply because some parts went so much slower than did others. Sometimes, it was like cruising down the freeway, at other times like walking on a beach.

The fourth book, a novella of about 35,000 words, should never have been accepted for publication in the first place. I provided a free critique, which motivated the author to turn a nearly incomprehensible script-style manuscript into something resembling a short novel. Then followed an in-depth critique and editing process over just 1 week, which lead to a much cleaner manuscript, further last-minute critique and then revisions by the author, and a final edit of the fresh materials.

These books all had merit. In their present, edited form they are all worthwhile reading, in my opinion. I would not mind buying a copy, giving copies as gifts to the right person, and even recommending these works. But without the critique, proofreading, edits, and revisions, none of them were nearly good enough to be published.

The writers on HubPages and Novelty Fiction

The creative writers on HubPages, many of whom I have been able to support and interact with through Novelty Fiction's private network, have similar talents as the authors mentioned above. Many people write surprisingly well. The difficulties tend to set in when going from short fiction to novella-or-novel length manuscripts. Here, the craft that it takes to compose a novel becomes a real challenge.

In practice, this means that some of the writers on HubPages and Novelty Fiction's network are set to get published right now, albeit some editorial assistance will be required. Others need to work with an editor-mentor for a period of time. I believe that there are several people, maybe a dozen or more, who can get published within a foreseeable period of time given the right attitude, discipline, and supportive environment.