Writing and Editing

I’ll Say It Again

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I’ll say it again…I love my job!

I’m currently editing a book recounting the lives of people who had been exiled to the Russian Gulag. Fascinating reading about a population I knew little about, except through movies and novels. As I edit, I am coming to a new understanding of man’s inhumanity to man, and the repercussions of those actions across generations.

The work also causes me to lift my head and look around me, to view the world through a different lens, and to see how our world has changed and how, frighteningly, it has stayed the same.

I begin to question. Given ample food and shelter for every human on earth, would it be enough? Or would there always be those who rise up and try to rule, to exert power over others? I suspect the latter. So much of the cruelty I am reading about is caused not by need, but by greed and by the desire to be master over another.

Okay, so working on books like these don’t make me the best dinner companion, but what an education I receive with each book I edit. Expanding my horizons and making a living by doing so. Who could ask for anything more?

Next, editing a book about the ethics of abortion. Another great opportunity for insight, and another reason to decline my dinner invitations.

It’s Called a Style Sheet

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

Yesterday I learned something new. When you copyedit for a publisher, they want you to create something called a Style Sheet as you read. I’ve never done that in the past, not with all the books I’ve edited. At least not officially.

A style sheet is a guide for the proofreader and the editor, listing all of the punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, and miscellaneous stylistic elements of the book. It also contains a long list of words used in the book, especially foreign words and names, for consistency of spelling.

I’ve kept lists like this when I edit, for my own sanity and edification (especially when I edited the book on Greek history), but never realized that such a thing would be useful to others along the publishing cycle. So, it’s an easy element for me to incorporate into my routine…but why had I never heard of it before?

I sit with the Chicago Manual of Style by my side as I edit because, though my brain is a treasury of grammar and punctuation rules, I sometimes double-think myself and have to verify what I already know.

It’s amazing how organized I feel now that I know about style sheets. I’ll use them for all of my clients now, for their own use and for them to pass along to their publishers.

Learn something new every day.

When Do I Want My Name on the Book?

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

One of the challenges of being a freelance book editor is abiding by the desires of my clients. I can be engaged as a substantive editor, an organizational editor, a copyeditor, or a proofreader. Each comes with different tasks and a different price tag.

Of course, the more substantive the edit, the higher the cost, so many authors choose the least expensive alternative…often when they shouldn’t. It is difficult, as an editor, to perform mere copyediting when the manuscript cries out for so much more. In this situation, I diplomatically inform my client that I believe the manuscript could be improved with further editing; this is always a dicey task, given that I don’t want to appear to be trawling for more work. Some accept, others decline (always because of the cost).

It has been a challenge to accept the limits on my editing options for some clients. But they know what they can afford. However, given the abysmal state of some texts even after I have done my part, I prefer to not have my name listed as editor.

A case in point. I just finished reading a self-published, and freelance edited, novel. Finding errors like “every legend has some bases in fact” and a seemingly total lack of understanding of the compound past, I immediately checked to see who had edited the text. Given the general state of the writing throughout, I would have left my name out of the credits.

There are some books I point to with pride. Others might never have existed.

Excellence in Writing

/ Ann Aubrey Hanson / Leave a comment

I just finished two books over the weekend: Greg Hurwitz’s Crimewriter and Brett Battles’ The Cleaner. Both were gripping and, most importantly, well written. Too often, I find good stories that are poorly written. This seems to be especially common now that publish-on-demand (POD) is so easily available.

I won’t name names, but there are books being sold today that would likely not have seen the light of day had it not been for POD. One of the first giveaways to bad writing for me can be found in most of these books….the self-description by the narrator. These are typically so bad, so “I’ve got to tell them what this character looks like,” that I want to throw the book across the room. Of course, POD authors are not the only ones who are lame at this. Take Dan Brown’s description of Robert Langdon in Angels and Demons. That almost got me to throw the book, but I was laughing so hard I simply dropped it. Pathetic. The guy tells a fun story but he is not a good writer!

That’s the difference with Hurwitz and Battles. Both write extremely well. I was a bit put off by the beginning of Hurwitz’s book. In fact, I put it down for a couple of months before getting back to it. It was a case of “look how well I write,” for me at least. I was too aware of him patting himself on his own back, admiring his description of Los Angeles. I’m glad I worked past that though, because it was an excellent book once I read further. Great story idea and well plotted.

I was hooked on Battles’ book from the first moment: the Cleaner, who goes and cleans up crime scenes for “the Office.” Unique idea and tightly plotted and written.

Both of these authors represent excellence in writing as far as I am concerned. I devoured both books and looked up for more, sateless. Next, however, must be Laurie R. King’s latest book, God of the Hives, and Meg Gardiner’s latest, Liar’s Lullaby. Held off reading King’s book, making myself savor the wait. Now is the time. And as soon as Gardiner’s book arrives, all else must wait.

The People You Meet

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I had an amazing interview with a liturgical artist yesterday, George Hoelzeman. I’d introduced myself to him via email a month ago and arranged to interview him for an article for Via Lucis Press, and what an interview. George is an amazing font of knowledge. He can talk knowledgeably about almost any topic for minutes on end, and leave you wanting more.

We spoke about sacred space and about mankind’s search for beauty, about the theology of light and the transformational power of light, and about how a church should call a person to a physical encounter with Christ. All of this is hard to comprehend in this rational society in which we live, but for the people of the Middle Ages, this encounter with Christ would have been physical, sensual, and natural. They understood the physical aspect of faith and religion, and built their churches accordingly.

George and I spoke for almost an hour and a half and eventually I had to end the call because  too much was swirling in my head. I asked if he would be willing to speak again later, after I’d written the first article. He graciously agreed and I look forward to our next encounter.

An amazing artist, a Renaissance thinker, and a nice fellow from Arkansas. I would never have met him on the street, but through the delight that is my chosen career, I had the opportunity to speak with him in an interview. Such are the perks of being a freelance writer.

Long-Term Clients

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Back in 2007, I was asked by a client to help edit her Masters in Nursing paper. At the time she contacted me, Maria typed on the computer as though using a typewriter, with a carriage return at the end of each line of text. Fixing that alone took a great deal of time, but it was necessary before I could even get to editing the meat of her paper.

We finished the project and her paper was accepted, and we ended our client relationship on excellent terms. Two years later, who appears again but Maria, with Doctoral proposal in hand (figuratively speaking, since we have never actually met face to face). By this time, fortunately, she had learned the fundamentals of computers and I could jump right in to the editing. There was a great deal of give and take on this project, as is to be expected when dealing with mentors and a review board, and the dissertation was finally accepted. Again, we parted on excellent terms.

Earlier this year, Maria approached me for help in turning her dissertation into a professional healthcare workbook. The result had to be a different animal from her dissertation, more user friendly and beneficial to the user. We worked long and hard on the conversion and she is close to publishing it now, after a few more tweaks.

I have been delighted to work with Maria for these projects and realize that client relationships don’t always end once a single project is completed. Good clients return, if I’ve done my job well.

Here is Maria’s testimony, written after this last project edit:

“It is with great pleasure that I recommend Ann Aubrey Hanson as an editor. I have worked with Ann since 2007 as she edited several of my scholarly papers. This includes my final Masters in Nursing Project and, most recently, my Doctorate level papers and Capstone book project. Ann has always displayed a high degree of integrity, responsibility, and accessibility in helping me to accomplish my objectives. She provides thorough feedback and is organized and sensitive when providing suggestions for changes in my research papers to enhance their quality. Ann is a wonderful editor. I am happy to give her my wholehearted endorsement.”
Maria Rodriguez, RN, MSN, CNS-BC

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

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Yesterday, I finished editing a dissertation into a book for Dr. Saba Soomekh of Loyola Marymount University. She had asked me to help her edit her Ph.D. dissertation into a book, which SUNY has already opted to publish.

It was an extremely interesting project, concerning three generations of Iranian Jewish women who have immigrated to Los Angeles. Fascinating reading, which was a good thing, since I had to read it, and very carefully, six or seven times. But I completed the project with time to spare and Saba was delighted with my work. In fact, she wrote a testimonial to my editing, which I shall now share here.

“I cannot thank Ann Aubrey Hanson enough for all her help in editing and proofreading my manuscript. Ann took my 400-page Ph.D. dissertation and helped me turn it into a 300-page book which will be published by SUNY Press. She read my manuscript a number of times, paying attention to grammar, syntax, and content. My manuscript had a glossary of foreign words that I had defined. Ann, of course, found words in my manuscript that I myself did not realize I had missed. That shows her wonderful attention to detail. Plus, she finished editing my manuscript two weeks before the deadline I gave her. She is an excellent editor and she is incredibly efficient and professional. I wholeheartedly recommend her to everyone!”  Dr. Saba Soomekh, Theological Studies Department, Loyola Marymount University

High praise indeed and I am delighted that she was pleased with my work. This is what makes my job so entertaining and enlightening.