As you know, I'm in the process of digitalizing my backlist. Last week I shared the e:cover for CALAMITY JAYNE, the first book in my Calamity Jayne Mysteries series. Here is the cover for the second book, CALAMITY JAYNE RIDES AGAIN. (Thank you, Erick, for your assistance!)
Anyway, the process is not going as quickly as I'd hoped. You see, when you turn in a manuscript to your editor, you do so by electronic file, as well as hard copy. Then, your editor does what an editor does. He/she edits your book. You then receive a revision letter or, more likely, an email (hopefully, a short one), and you make the recommended changes and send them to your editor. That's the last you see of your book until you get the hard-copy galleys to line-edit. This is your last chance to make any changes--and editors tend to want you to be very selective in the changes you make at this point.
Once you 'red-pen edit' your galley, you send it back to your editor and that's what ends up in the final book.
And unless you take the time to go page-by-page through the galley and transfer all the editing changes to the electronic file you originally sent in to your editor, your Word document for that book is, most likely, different from the version that actually hits the store shelves.
And therein lies the reason why it's taking me so danged long to get these eBooks up. I'm having to take each book and put it alongside my Word file and incorporate all the editing changes page- by-page-by-page for seven books.
I was hoping to find a shortcut. I contacted my editor to see if he or the Production Department still had electronic copies of the final version for any of my books but, unfortunately, they no longer have those files.
Sigh.
As of today, I've finished two books and I'm starting on the third. I'm hoping to have them all spiffed-up, updated, and ready to go in the next week or so.
Man. It better be worth it.
Next week I'll post the covers for GHOULS JUST WANT TO HAVE FUN and CALAMITY JAYNE GOES TO COLLEGE.
Have a great rest of the week!
~Bullet Hole~
Thursday, February 10, 2011
eBooks & Editing
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8 comments:
Oh Kathy~
That sounds painful. I'm really glad Sourcebooks does all their copy edits and galleys on PDFs. Some people hate working on the computer, but I always keep the final copies in case I should ever need them.
I know how many changes I have, one wonders if it wouldn't just be easier to scan the books themselves. It seems as if all those pirates have no problem doing it. Sigh...
Good luck and I'm looking forward to reading your whole back list!
Oy. That really sounds painful. And it just shows why computerized version of everything is so, so important.
But yes, it will be worth it! Think how great it will be to reach a brand new audience!
I love the covers, btw. Fabulous!
Kathy, just remember this will all be worth it! I, for one, will appreciate all your hard work since I didn't get a paper copy of Ghouls.
Loving the new covers!
Can hardly wait to see what you come up with for Fiance At Your Fingertips - I LOVED THAT BOOK!
Hey...
Man that does sound painful and slow. Someone told me that you buy a certain type of a scanner and just feed the pages into them. Have you checked this out?
CC
If I had loads of money I'd buy electronic copies of all my paperbacks and hardcovers. :) But if anything ever happens to them.... I'm so going with e-versions!
I agree with the others, that does sound painful. Incredibly so. But I also agree that the work will pay off. Once readers get that first one, they'll have to have the rest!
Geesh, that sounds so painful. But it will be so worth it. I appreciate all your hard work both writing the books initially and now recreating the files. I will be buying from you once you list them at Amazon.
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