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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Copy Edit Confusion

The first time I ever had to do copy edits on my manuscript (the next part after revisions), my reaction was something like this:


Just to clarify, this isn't actually me.

So after reading past the first page and seeing marks in different colors of pencil and symbols that looked totally foreign to me, my expression changed to this:

Still, not  me
Then i realized my editor sent me a key to decipher all the symbols, as well as instructions. Who knew it would be so confusing? Not me.

For any author who's published a book, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't reached that stretch of your journey yet, here's an example of what some of the symbols mean:



So, imagine seeing your manuscript marked up with (in my case) tons of these symbols, along with notes in the margins. Some telling me what to change, other marks telling me not to pay attention to the previous comments.

So this week i'm finishing up with round 1 of revisions for RUMORS and soon after I'll have copyedits to do. And you better believe i'll need a refresher on all of this since it's been a year already!

What stage of the writing process are you currently in and have you learned anything new?

PS- leave a comment on Sofia's blog to enter and win "Sofia & Sam Sam Holiday Cards." Today is the last day to enter!

13 comments:

Mary@GigglesandGuns said...

This is definitely a great list to have. I knew them in college but alas, so many years have passed. (As well as brain cells LOL

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Thanks for sharing this list. I actually have one, and no...don't have an editor yet. But hope to soon. Things are looking up. Glad to see you've survived what I'll have ahead of me. lol

Unknown said...

It looks like an alien alphabet! No wonder so many writers get frustrated! Hah. Good luck!

Matthew MacNish said...

Interesting. Somehow it's exciting and droll at the same time. I suppose if I ever make it to that stage it won't seem that way at all anymore.

Thanks for sharing Rose!

Stina said...

Cool list. Hasn't been necessary so far since all my crits have been online. Can't do these things there. :D

Jillian said...

My 10th graded English teach taught us these haha

LTM said...

sigh. Revisions. I've learned revisions are exhausting... :D

Nicole said...

Oooo aren't they nifty little symbols! I just relied on my beta readers ( who ROCK) and my own super critical inner voice. Very happy with said result :)

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Golden Eagle said...

Luckily, the dictionary has a glossary of all of those . . . LOL. They look confusing!

Congrats on finishing your revision! And good luck with the copyedits!

Melissa said...

I read what the symbols are supposed to mean and it still looks a bit like gibberish to me..... YIKES.

Carol Riggs said...

Amusing yet very informative post! Thankfully, I knew at least 2/3 of these, and hopefully, I'll be able to make use of them some day when I get an editor. :)

Hermana Maw said...

LOL. Fun post. It brought back memories from the first time I saw those strange markings and said, "Huh?" :)

Elena Solodow said...

Thanks so much for posting this! As someone on the outside looking in, it's always fascinating what we can look forward to!