Friday 22 June 2012

I have a dilemma


Hearing that a publisher or agent would have taken you on a few years ago when publishing was a different place, is much better than hearing that they wouldn’t have taken you on then and certainly wouldn’t give you so much as a fleeting consideration now. However, after a few times of hearing this poisoned chalice of a sentence, the voices which knock on the side of my head and ask if anyone is home, are getting louder, even in my ears, known to be a little hearing-challenged.

We are having to be more choosy, cry the publishers which means the agents are too. When book lists are being slashed, a polished copy is going to fare better than something with promise. There are publishers out there who are desperate to take on and nurture a first time author, just as in the old days. I am holding out for a response from one such publisher who sounds so devoted to people like me, and so professional in a tremendously 'tactile' way, that the waiting is painful. But nonetheless, the voices are suggesting that generally, a professional edit could be the difference between my first novel being published, and thus read by a few more people than simply me and my trusted readers, and languishing in the, At least-I-Had-Fun-Writing-It pile. 

I always suggest that we keep moving when playing the submission game because waiting around will only lead to a depressed state of rigor mortis. Just as a watched kettle never boils, neither does the email land if you click send/receive more than ten times in an hour. Although, I admit to continued, extensive investigation into this one.

So, heeding my own advice, off I trot to do some research into professional editing. The company which I decide is the most impressive, is, of course, one of the most expensive options. However, this is a group who use only published authors and who have answered all my questions personally and in great detail which would bode well for the service to come. 


I have the money for the editing in my piggy bank but my head has been turned by a course-cum-retreat.


The last time I went on a week long course I wrote 5,000 words of a book that was not even a gem of an idea before my arrival; that book became Glass Houses. There I met my fantastic writing buddy who has become a friend as well as a mentor. Oh, and as soon as I got home, I handed in my notice for a job I really enjoyed but which left me no time to write.

The course in question would fall a few weeks before I started my job teaching creative writing and couldn’t fail to fill me with ideas for that. Apart from attending pertinent talks and workshops and spending time with other writing devotees, I would actually write. This is something I don’t do too much of when my children are home for the summer holidays and it would mean that I had an outside chance of finishing the first draft of my second book while I was there. Without the course, the first draft would drift into September and September, as I’ve opined in a previous post, is my New Year. Once my children were back at school I’d love to be on stage two, making a story from the set of scenes dropped onto the pages a few weeks earlier.

My dilemma is this: I don’t have the finances or the time to do both the editing and the course. I have to decide whether the editing is essential to selling my first book. Would it open my eyes to its failings and give renewed vigour to making changes? I am not one for giving up and whatever an editor advised, I would consider it carefully and then act upon it.

Or, should I focus on book two, crack on with its first draft, have something else to show a potential publisher and learn something new in the process? 


Whether you’re a booky type, published or wannabe writer or one of my trusted followers, your opinions are all equally valid. Somebody not in this crazily infuriating, yet fizzy and exciting world of publishing, may just see the answer really clearly. Can I ask, what would you do? 

24 comments:

  1. Not sure there can be a definite answer, given that the value of the professional editing will very much depend on its quality and usefulness to you. But if it helps, you seem to be looking at a choice between honing the craft of writing (the editing service) and inspiration (the course). Which do you feel more in need of right now?

    And, to further complicate things, if the course will feed into your own teaching, could you make it tax deductable?

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    1. Thanks Sara, good points. I guess the answer is that I desperately want this first book to be read and I haven't explored all the avenues to getting it published. But I'm also soooo enjoying writing my second and sub-consciously fear that if I go at it too slowly, it might lose any fizz that it has.I'm erring towards the edit, particularly as I do have a lot of faith in the company.
      Thanks for reading!

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  2. I don't think anyone else can tell you what to do, Jackie, but other people's experiences might help to make things clearer. All I'd say is that your awareness that there are always things to learn and the professionalism of your approach to the whole agent/publisher dilemma makes it far more likely that you'll make it. Having said all that, write, write, write, then read it aloud to yourself. It helps, too, to read aloud the work of writers you admire. Rhythms and echoes are often overlooked and that's how to spot them.

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    1. Thanks Bill. I hope my approach is professional, I certainly do feel as though I'm in it for the long haul. No book will ever feel 'finished' to me, nor would I ever give up on this writing lark, even if I do put the odd story to the back of a drawer now and again.
      Thanks for reading - good advice.

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  3. Jackie, I sympathise with your dilemma although it's not what I expected. (I thought I was about to read a post about whether you should self-publish!) This comment is in the spirit of you asking 'what would YOU do?' In your position and given that you clearly believe in your book, I would go for the edit - providing there are still plenty of agents out there you haven't approached with that manuscript. It is great to be working on a second novel (I am too) but it's a long process and will take time to get to the point where it is polished enough to send out (and you might feel you need a prof edit for that too!) The course sounds great and it's a hard choice to make, this is just my view, I hope whatever you choose pays off for you.

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    1. Thanks Isabel, I'm leaning towards the edit, too. You're right, the second novel will take a while and I'm sure I'll be just as keen next year to take that, or a similar course, then.
      Thanks for reading and good luck with that second book!

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    2. I meant to say, funny that I threw you in the direction of this being a self-publishing dilemma! That isn't the right course of action for me at the moment however, I daresay a post about that particular hot potato would attract a few comments :)

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  4. I'd go for the edit too. I took the plunge with a professional edit about 5 months ago. The advice was invaluable. I completely rewrote whole chunks of the book and changed the tack of several characters. Personally I think I have a far better book now and the advice has been helpful in writing book two. I only finished the final redraft about a week ago so it hasn't had a chance to be tested yet. But I was asked to send the first three chapters to a publisher a month ago and she got the re-write so it will be interesting to see what she says. Frankly I am a little sheepish that I sent out the previous draft to anyone at all!!

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    1. Hi Skyblue! I know what you mean, I cringe at the first version I sent out of Glass Houses. After three rejections, I sent it instead to two readers and ended up spending another six months losing 30,000 words and inserting 30,000 more. And I'd previously thought that was the polished copy. Ooops. Then, a potential agent said they'd look at the full ms again after I'd worked on their feedback and so I spent another three months 'editing'. The agent still said 'no' but I do feel her suggestions massively improved the book so I'm so glad I was pushed into making changes. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think I'll ever think of it as 'finished', it's just knowing at what point to stop editing and purely submit.I had thought I was at the stage but now I'm not so sure.
      Keep us posted about that publisher!

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  5. The edit, for sure. That should be the first thing when you first wake up. But please make sure you carve out a solid chunk of time each day to fill the well. Play with the other story idea(s) for an hour each day. Or, hell, just play in your journal. Keep on doing the joyous thing alongside the more rigorous undertaking. You're awesome!

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    1. Hi SP!You know, I'm definitely erring towards the edit. When I edit though, I can't think of anything else so I won't write much, if any, of the new one. Maybe that's colouring my judgement... maybe I'm lamenting the fact I'll have to put my other baby to hibernate for a bit. The edit does seem the seem the sensible thing to do though.
      Thanks for commenting!

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  6. Hi Jax,
    Have absolutely no idea as to which course of action you should take! I certainly don't feel at all qualified to say one option is better than the other. The only thing I would say is that I don't think you should get too hung up on getting to a certain point in September if that is affecting your choice. It seems to me it is better to make your decision based on weighing up the pros and cons of both, even if by going for the edit option it messes up your September deadline (which is anyway only in your head). But then, what do I know I am only a reader.

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    1. Thanks Lyn! You're right, of course, I do get hung up on self-imposed deadlines but I think that's how I keep focused. That's ok as long as you don't cut corners to achieve the deadlines, though, isn't it!
      Thanks for reading and commenting :)

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  7. I think you have to work out which will be more valuable long term. Good luck with the decision, it's not an easy one.

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    1. Charlie, I'm wondering about paying for an assessment with the same company, which sounds really thorough, to get an idea of whether the editor is spotting enough to help me make it a better book. Then I can make an informed decision on whether a professional edit is going to work for me. I'm not complacent, it's just that I've had a few respected readers, plus an agent, give me some great feedback already.
      Thanks for reading and I hope you're writing's going well.

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  8. I see your predicament, and all I can offer is advice that I believe Neil Gaiman said:

    Finish what you write. Edit what you finish. Sell what you edit.

    I would be inclined to get your first book finished, and keep ideas prepped for a second.

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  9. Thank you, Tom, I haven't heard that before but yes, succinctly said and to be ignored at my peril! I am all over the place with this! I think it's a bigger question really, do I consider my book to be properly edited currently? - in which case I should submit and concentrate on book two. I will admit that my hit rate is quite good, if you don't mind me saying, I haven't submitted to many people yet and have had a few requests for the full ms plus lovely feedback, albeit in the form of rejections! So the status quo: keep submitting, keep writing book 2, is a viable option. A trusted friend advised me not to put my second book to one side as I'm so passionate about it and that's the best time to write a first draft. I'll keep you posted!
    Many thanks for reading and commenting.

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  10. This is a tough dilemma Jackie. I think it depends what you feel most in need of right now (I almost wrote "write now"!). What comes across for me overwhelmingly in your words is that your heart is probably telling you the retreat/course and your head is probably telling you to go for the edit.

    I know for myself going on a writers course was one of the best things I ever did for myself and my writing. I went there with a novel I had been struggling with for three years. I came away willing to put it aside to write the book my heart was truly telling me to write, rather than something I felt matched up with my ideas of what sort of writer I was and what kind of book I wanted to write (ie: a literary masterpiece! heh heh). I would not hesitate to go on another.

    I can only urge you to follow your heart and your instincts, because they are always right. If your heart is truly in the first book and you want to set it free, then perhaps investing energy and resources into getting it to that stage is a good idea.

    I think as writers our work is never done - we're always either thinking about the next book or trying to make the one we're working on better, or both! Best of luck with whatever you decide :)

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    1. Thanks Philippa and you are absolutely right. It took me the writing of the post and all your wonderful comments to realise that this is a heart and mind choice. I'm generally very boring and my head will beat my heart to a pulp when it comes to decision making but on this one I'm struggling - because going with my heart (the course) might be the way to publication ie that my second book is published and that helps the first. Well, a girl's gotta dream, hasn't she!
      My heart is still in my first book and I do still totally believe in it, however, I'm concerned I'm jumping at the idea of an edit in the hope it will get me that final step to publication when I do have submissions out there and I have already done two whopper edits (I mean re-writes really, I've done a million other edits :) ) so maybe I'm simply being restless.
      I'll get there, I'll make the decision this weekend.
      Thanks for reading and your great comment.

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  11. As a non-writer, I am completely unable to offer advice, but I am following the comments, and thinking of you.
    Does your heart sink when you write, 'I am leaning towards the edit,' or you feel relieved that you have made a decision? Try telling yourself, 'That's it. I've decided on the course,' and see how you feel.
    That happened to me over some trivial shopping choice. After umming and ahing I went, 'That one,' and as I did, my heart sank. Decision made. Clearly the other one.
    Good luck.
    Keep us posted.

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  12. Hi Pauline, you're right, I firmly believe in the, 'making one decision and seeing how you feel', school of thought. However, in this case, I'm afraid I'm happy to do the one but then can't help hankering after the other!! I think I'm going to go for the editorial assessment which is a much cheaper part of the editing process. This will give me a better idea of whether I need to launch myself into another edit of Glass Houses and won't preclude the course.
    Through the course of this blog I've realised that my question is really, is my first novel as ready as it's ever going to be? I really did think I had got to that point, not that it's perfect or even finished, just that my changes have started to become just that, not improvements. If this is true, I should stop messing with it and just hope that a publisher/ agent falls in love with the story. Go for the assessment, that's what I'm thinking. Today!
    Thanks for reading and for your thoughts.

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  13. Whenever I have decisions to make, I think about it first thing in the morning just as I'm waking up. When your head is clear, you get a real sense of what you WANT to do, without all the pros and cons getting in the way.

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    1. Annalisa, I hear you, I shall report back tomorrow :)

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  14. Ok, here it is, the definitive answer. I haven't done either of my suggestions! I have given in to a friend who has always badgered me about reading the manuscript. I have a no-friend-or-family rule to reading unfinished texts, for practical reasons really, they just won't read it the same way as a potential purchaser,this being someone who doesn't know me. However, I have broken my rule for two reasons. Firstly, this friend calls a spade a spade and understands that it is no worth to me if she doesn't tell the truth. 2. she reads and enjoys very similar books to me, and to the ones I hope I write, so she would be my potential audience. I've asked her to answer me only two things: is this a book she could imagine in the shops and if she read it, would she recommend it. This friend will tell me that, honest!
    Her reaction will tell me whether to go for the edit (not quite there yet) or course (get it submitted and crack on with book two.) I'll keep you posted! And thanks for your support :)

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