Yeah … you’d think, now that your novel is in the final
stages before publication and the hard part is done, right? You’ve worked hard.
The novel is written. The edits are complete. The cover design is in the works
and the copyright is in process. Marketing is ramping up, the release party is
scheduled, and your last rejection is behind you.
Whew!
Now the book is all it can be! All that’s left to do is to
make a list of guests, whip out a new blog post, update Facebook LinkedIn and
Twitter, and maybe, since you’ve been inviting so many people to your website
(mine’s www.dbcorey.com,
by the way), you decide to have a quick look at the excerpt you put there to
make the reader’s mouths water. After all, it’s been a while, and you just love that scene.
You read out loud because you have a reading coming up and
you need the practice, but mostly because the words are so pleasing to the ear.
You smile as the words flow without effort from your lips; you hear the music,
the rhythm—the tongue-twister….
“Whud?”
OH NOOOOO!!!! NO! NO! NO!
IS IT LIKE THAT IN THE MANUSCRIPT?
OMG! Whereisitwhereisit? Scroll-scroll-scroll. Crap! Find!
Ah! There it is.
OH NOOOOO!!!!
OH NOOOOO!!!!
It’s the same!
WhatamIgonnado? WhatamIgonnado?
FIX IT! That’s what!
But the publisher has the copy that says
Approved Final Copy. If you change it, then it won’t be the approved final copy
anymore. So you bite the bullet and send them the NEW Approved Final Copy—Ver2!
Then you hope LegalZoom hasn’t sent it to the Copyright Office yet or it’s
gonna cost you more money and you call them and tell them to trash the one you
sent yesterday and use this NEW Ver2!
It’s been a taxing experience, so after all the corrections
and calls and emails, you’re worn out, and you go to bed.
The next day everyone is amiable and understands that this
is a process, and that’s just the way it works.
You feel good. You re-load the newly, un-tongue-twisted
version onto your excerpt page and resume your out-loud reading.
“Dump them in the sink,” he commanded
Vecchio, shoving the baby into Vicky’s arms. “Hold her! Open her mouth!”
Grabbing
several capsules from the basin, Truax broke them open. Seeing Vicki struggling
to get Jade’s mouth—
“Whud?”
Vicky?
Vicki?
OH NOOOOO!!!! NO! NO! NO!
NEW Approved Final Copy—
Ver3!
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Ok, I spit out my coffee twice while reading this...hysterical! but what does this mean...."You re-load the newly, un-tongue twisted version onto you excerpt page and resume your out-loud reading."
ReplyDeleteNO...oh no! you have to now re-edit your blog!...LOL...but hey, everything is an edit, right?
Funny, funny - oh so true.... yes I had some "oh please change this" moments, and the galley is yet to come....
ReplyDeleteGIRL Z: My Life as Teenage Zombie, coming soon!
... And all this is after extensive editing and proof reading. But even after the galleys arrive we sweat those small details.. the road to perfection is paved with shar stones and hidden tripwires... Thanks for the insight, DB!!
ReplyDeleteI'm getting the picture all too clearly myself. But at least we have computers. Imagine some poor sap in the Middle Ages working for days by candlelight in a damp monastery copying the Bible and he finds a 'typo' right in the middle of an illuminated page. Talk about whatamigonnado! I think the answer may be just to stop reading.
ReplyDelete