Publishing Updates

• The Future Fire is gathering stories for an anthology called Outlaw Bodies; stories about the future of human bodies that break boundaries—legal, societal, biological, and more. Info here: http://futurefire.net/about/outlawbodies.html
• A Fistful of Horrors: Tales of Terror from the Old West is a Western themed horror anthology. They are looking for stories that successfully combine the setting and trappings of the Old West with skin crawling horror from the depths of mankind’s darkest imaginings. http://cruentuslibri.wordpress.com/anthology-submissions/open-to-submissions/a-fistful-of-horrors-tales-of-terror-from-the-old-west/
• Sleeping Cat Books is accepting stories for the anthology Cherie's Challenge. It's a character-based theme. They provide the character profile and you provide the story. More details here: http://sleepingcatbooks.com/anthology.html
• White Cat Magazine is accepting both short stories and full-length manuscripts for submission: http://www.whitecatpublications.com/?page_id=225

Got a fantasy manuscript burning a hole in your pocket?

Angry Robot Books is having an Open Door event in which they accept non-agented/unknown-author manuscript submissions. More details here: http://angryrobotbooks.com/opendoor

Really good article on working with independent publishers.

If you work or are looking to work with a small press, I highly recommend reading this:
http://www.booksofthedeadpress.com/2012/01/publisherauthor-relationship.html

Interview

As a copy editor (Copyeditor: one word or two? This is a debate I'll discuss at some later date.), interviews are not something that happens to me.  I've had a number of clients interviewed in various blogs and webzines, and that's always a thrill for me.  I love to see when my clients are doing well.  But recently I was asked a few questions for the purposes of a young woman's Master's Thesis in a post-graduate publishing program at a US university.  I've had a few people ask me about the interview and what the questions and answers were, so I decided to post it here once, because yes, I'm lazy and only want to type it once. :)



1) How long have you been a copyeditor, and what changes have you seen in your job during that time (e.g., technology, attitudes, layoffs, etc.)?

Well, I started out as a technical writer and editor for a software company in 1999. After about seven years with them, I worked for a company that assigns projects to freelancers for just under a year before going out on my own. I learned some really valuable things while working for them, such as what sorts of texts people tend to want editing for, what various publishers expect, and the large and small differences between different English speaking countries' general editing rules, as well as a few different diplomacy tools for working with a variety of clients. However, these sorts of companies that farm out projects take an extremely large chunk of the fee, and it was just unsustainable for me in the long run, as far as living expenses and such, to continue working for them. Fortunately, when I took the leap of going out on my own, a few of the clients I'd asked about giving me possible references decided to come with me.

So my way of becoming a copyeditor was perhaps not the typical track. I'm not really aware of how things might be for those who worked directly for publishing companies or newspapers. I do know many companies like to have lists of freelancers who've proven reliable, and through word of mouth, I've managed to get myself added to a couple of those lists. But that channel of work doesn't provide much, so self-advertisement is still key for freelancers.

2) Do you feel your work is valued (i.e., by readers, writers, etc.)? Why or why not?

Definitely. I think a lot of people are timid at first. After all, how scary must it be to contact a complete stranger, sight unseen, and ask them to "fix" your work (which is often the impression people initially have of copyediting)? I always provide a sample edit, though, and frequently that will lead to at least one edit. You know you're really appreciated, though, when the client returns for that second (and third, etc.) editing project. :)

And every now and then I'll receive a gushy letter of thanks from a client, and that just makes the behind-the-scenes aspect of copyediting SO worth it. I really enjoy helping people find that golden seed buried in their text and showing them how they can really make it flower.

As for readers, I'll just have to assume they're appreciative of the work since they won't have to wade through grammar and usage errors. :D

 3) What is a typical working day like for you?

It varies a lot depending on what kinds of projects are on my calendar for the day. Usually there will be a short story or two, a portion of longer manuscript, perhaps an academic essay or journal article. Ideally, though some will do much more in a day, I try to arrange a schedule so that I don't do more than 20k words per day, which ensures that I'm much more thorough and give everything the in-depth look it deserves rather than just skimming through for obvious errors. As a freelancer, there are still days when there will be nothing, but then a few days later, twelve things may come in at once. Clever scheduling and a good rapport with clients is hugely necessary. :)

4) What do you enjoy about copyediting? What do you struggle with?

I love it when a text just really comes together and a client is happy. I usually offer a second read-through after a client has received my edit and they make changes based on a question I asked or a suggestion I've offered. When I do that second read-through and everything they've done just clicks a story or an article into place, with new clarity or better description, I just find that really cool, because something I've done has helped them become an even better writer. It's both humbling and uplifting at the same time.

What I struggle with is taking my work home with me...especially since I work from home. I almost always have different people's texts in my head, thinking of ways to explain this or that suggestion or correction, etc. Another thing that's difficult is clients who have lots of hopes pinned on becoming a famous writer and I want to help them and not discourage them, but there's this desire to want to let them know that maybe they might not want to hope too much. That's not my job, though. My job is just to help their writing as best I can, give them what tips and tricks I know, and leave it be. I'm a softy and it's easy to get too involved sometimes.

5) What are good qualities for a copyeditor to have?

Well, thoroughness is definitely good, of course. Be picky.

A real knowledge of English and those obscure grammar rules is a must. People are going to ask you WHY a particular correction is the way it is, and if you can't answer them, they lose confidence in you.

Ability to research. If you don't know something, or are unsure, look it up. Google and wikipedia are my good friends. They've helped me help clients with things like the street layout of Ancient Rome and the correct spellings of generic drug names and whether a bibliography author has a hyphen or a non-breaking space in his name. :)

Finally, diplomacy. Stating things delicately turned out to be a lot bigger part of my job than I ever would have imagined. People's writing, particularly fiction, but even PhD theses, is their baby, and they give it gently over to me, and I send it back with slashes and changes and lots and lots of red. And I stand by the statement "Everyone needs an editor" and I definitely don't let my work out into the public eye before I've sent it to my editor, so I know how it feels. :)

Chilly, blue-skied morning...or nearly noon.

Out on the island, and the hedge and the grass all have a few remnants of rime. Must have been downright chilly last night. And kitty, turning 11 years old this year, is more interested in watching the action from the windowsill with the heater under it than he is being out in it himself. He goes outside for 2-3 minutes at a time, but then his paws are cold and he'd rather come in now, thank you!

The house is on a hill, so from the windowsill, he has a good view of anything that moves in the yard. Well, I used to call it a yard. I may again, if I get a chance to mow it before it turns even more wild. I like mowing the lawn. It's a chore Grandpa assigned to me when I was about 12, and he was very picky about how it should be done; straight lines, overlap the last row just so so that there is no escaping line of unmowed grass, perfection was what was expected, and nothing less would do. Now that I have my own lawn savanna, I am less worried about mowing in exact straight lines. I follow the edges of the yard and work my way in, enjoying the random shapes that get ever narrower as I mow. I am still picky about those stripes of unmowed grass, though, I find, and those occur frequently when Lennart mows. So we have a deal. He cleans the kitchen, I mow the lawn veld. This works out nicely for him, since he's usually done in under an hour (for a really clean kitchen!) and I'm still mowing. Did I mention it's a huge lawn grassland wilderness? On a slope? And full of lumps!

In any case, I find mowing to be really cathartic. As I mow, I have time to think about all kinds of things, and I'm maneuvering this heavy lawnmower, and in the end, I get that nice satisfactory feeling of having accomplished something...even though it's a neverending struggle. (It's like laundry, another favorite task.) I must be yearning for spring, so I can get out there again!

It might not be popular or environmentally friendly to have lawns these days, and well, I probably wouldn't have landscaped like this had it been my choice in the first place, but it's here, and it looks a right mess when it's not mowed, so it MUST be done, and at least I get a little personal therapy now and then whilst I mow.

The cat, of course, hates it and hides in a cupboard the whole time.

Life goes on.

The local bird population has apparently not missed us while we were gone.

When we moved to New York nearly three years ago, we almost packed up and left much as you'd expect people to do during, say, an alien invasion. We didn't leave dinner uneaten on the table or anything, but we'd had planter boxes of flowers on the balcony and the things we usually clean up every winter just stayed there. The chairs and table, the rug, whatever small planting implements I'd had out there, they were all just left to nature's devices. I think we both needed to run away from our life here a little bit at the time, and it was good that we did, because where we are now in life is much better in many ways.

But now we're very happy to have the chance to come home again, even if it's just off and on in our continuing transit life between London and Gothenburg.

And the past week, Lennart and I have been sitting, each with our respective laptops, working at the dining table, him facing toward the hall, and me facing the balcony. Several times now, we've been visited by magpies and little sparrows. At first I didn't see what they were up to. So I stood very slowly and moved to the window to better spy on them. There seems to be a plastic container that sticks out a bit from under the edge of the table. It has, not surprisingly, filled with water. And they would duck down under the table and splash splash splash! And then hop up and sit on the railing, shake their feathers, preen and fluff, and go down for another bath. And then the magpies seem to be eating something from the balcony planters as well. Not sure what, but there are certainly bits of weeds and grasses growing in there.

When I first saw the state of the balcony, I was pretty determined that I'd have to do something about it soon, but now I'm not so sure. The birds are clearly having such a good time, and they can splash around there without any fear of predators or annoying dogs, which they encounter over on Skansen Kronan, the wooded bit a short distance from here where I've seen them fly off to after their bath. And I really enjoy watching them. A big grin steals across my face as I see how much the water splashes! I think for now, I'll just leave things alone. :)

Über-geek indeed.

Today, I have to brag a bit about Lennart. He's currently at an ICFP (International Conference on Functional Programming) conference in Victoria, Canada, where he just now received this award:



For his paper on his language Cayenne. He was also cleverly wearing this t-shirt!


Yay for nerds!


(Btw, I help him come up with the weird names for his programming languages. Haskell (not one of Lennart's, but very used and influenced and reworked by him) was named after Haskell Curry. And somebody had written a language called Curry. So Lennart wanted something spicy. I suggested Cayenne. He has another language he's written that he said was a bit magical, but he didn't want to call it Wizard or Magician, so I said, "How about Djinn?" and Djinn it was! :) )

Eclipse 2008 - Mongolia

The long journey.


After many many hours on an airplane, we arrived in Seoul, South Korea. First, we slept. Then, the next day, we went out and looked at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was a grey day, and it was the rainy season, but we got lucky. It didn't rain much, and the clouds protected our weakling skin from sunburn. It did seem a bit dreary, but the incredibly colorful palace made up for it!

















The palace also had some unusual stone critters protecting the place:







We sat here awhile, and listened, astounded to the crazy cicadas.


Clicky for Cicadas!
(Turn your speakers up LOUD for lifelike effect!)



The pictures now jump to Mongolia, and I think Lennart must have a few in his phone that haven't been unloaded. Ahh well, here is Sükhbaatar Square in Ulaanbaatar:







A random skewered flying saucer:


And a little boy who decided we were utterly fascinating but still had to play it cool:


We later visited the Bogd Khan Palace Museum. More color!








These fellows on the doors were impressive:







Oooh, look, it's me!




After that, we toured the city and went way up on a hill near the city to see a very nice, old Communist monument (and a large, golden Buddha).



(Keep in mind, the housing seen in this area is REALLY expensive, even by our standards, and the only people who can afford to live there is foreign businessmen and politicians.)





View over the city:




There is this weird mix of old, decaying Soviet buildings and new, glass structures. The Mongolians themselves tend to refer to themselves as Asian in location, but Western in attitudes, and I would have to say it is true. They might look like their neighbors to the East and the South, but their behavior is much more Western. They have long been sending students to universities in Berlin and Moscow, and have, since the fall of the Soviet Union, been heavily influenced by Western Europe and the US, which they like, but also by China, which they don't like. In that respect, it seems many miss the Russians and their former ability to keep the Chinese out. And yet, when the Communists recently stacked an election, there was a demonstration in which the Mongolian police (never having dealt with such things before) blundered and the whole thing turned into a riot, burning down Communist Party headquarters and injured many (even could have killed a few...not quite sure). They're very independent, that's certain!

That night, we were supposed to fly from Ulaanbaatar to Ölgiy (the green marker) to then drive on to the eclipse site (the blue marker). But our travel organizers had underestimated what would happen when lots of people came to see an eclipse, we think, and the flight went away and we had to fly instead to Khovd (the turquoise marker). And drive from there.


View Larger Map


Our interesting little hotel in Khovd:

(Note the remote control. There was a tv, but it showed only a splotchy rainbow of colors on all channels. Lennart said it needed to be de-magnetized.)

The electrical outlet Lennart bravely used to charge his laptop:


Our lineup of good ole Russian vans, ready to take us on our trek:

These vans are each owned by their respective drivers who are not just "drivers" but also fabulous mechanics, and they have to be. They carry a number of spare parts (which you may later see lying along the "road" whenever you stop--and there will be frequent stops, for who knows what reason, really.) Being a driver in Mongolia is an occupation that mothers dream of for their sons. Seriously.

The...traffic in Khovd:


"It'll take about 6 hours to get to the eclipse site," they told us.

In most of Mongolia, there are no roads. Or rather, there are as many as you like:



The first breakdown:


A big bug:


The second breakdown:


The third breakdown:


Goats:


Not much to eat here:


Traffic:


The fourth breakdown:


The Altai mountains:


The fifth breakdown:


A slight...puddle:


Our driver made a pit stop to say hello to his sons, who are here helping to build the road:



Another big bug (these are relevant! One jumped down my bra later. Eek!):


The place with the two trees:


The sixth breakdown. Really:


The seventh breakdown:


Anyway...after more than 16 hours of driving, we got to the eclipse site at around midnight. Lennart and I crashed in our gers and the next morning, we and our van-mates (we had the coolest van of all, everyone agreed!) grabbed the beer we'd wisely bought the day before and went down to the river to drink and relax:



Our little ger camp. Ours is the littlest one at the furthest right of the picture:


Some riders put on a bit of a show:


Then it was time to go watch the eclipse:


Mostly it's a lot of waiting:


But then:




The next day we learn that we don't have to drive all the way back to Khovd, but only to Ölgiy, to fly back to Ulaanbaatar. Yay!

How do they find their way in the dark?


A pretty lake that we completely missed in the darkness when driving in:


Our driver...waiting for the radiator to cool down:


The airport in Ölgiy. No indoor plumbing, but there was a shed of 4 or 5 pit toilets where you crouched on very flimsy boards over a hole in the ground. Oh, and there was a little goat trapped in there. :(


Items you should not have in your carry-on:


And then, without further ado...once we got to Ulaanbaatar, our flights to the Gobi were rescheduled to that night. So we flew to Dalanzadgad (the red marker in the map above) The couple who went with us were two from our cool bus, so we four had a good time down there!


We walked into this canyon...


That once had ice up to where the black rock meets the beige:


Now, this is about all that's left:


It was hot...hence my looking...hot...wasn't unhappy, promise!


A family milking their goats:




Their sensible dog who stayed in the shade of the ger:


They were also making felt for the gers. You take the goat wool, get it wet, roll it up tight, and then drag the roll around on your horse for awhile. Repeat. Eventually, it gets compacted together enough to use for the walls of your ger.





Some stray camels:


The Flaming Cliffs. We decided we'd seen weirder in Utah. Lots of fossils and dinosaur eggs have been found here, though:




A saxaul tree...which our guide kept pronouncing as a "sexual" tree. :)




This day, we visited the camel herders. I'm pretty sure that somewhere in Lennart's phone is some pictures of the inside of their ger and all the fermenting and fermented camel and horse dairy products we were offered. Let me just say that I have now tasted them, and no longer need to. Ever.


Before we left, a village near us was having their Naadam festival. We saw the winning horses:


And the fancy party clothes:




And the archery:



And the wrestling:






The winner floats around his "coach":


And gets a prize of bread and camel cheese:


And we got more fermenting mystery milk:



Our ger in the Gobi:


The dining ger from the outside:


And the inside:







And finally back to Ulaanbaatar, where we visited the monastery:




Big Buddha!







(these are made of flour paste, and they do new ones regularly)

A throne fit for a lama:


Many arms:


The monastery school:


And finally, Ulaanbaatar on our last night: