Second Edits on Merm-8


Second edits are back now. I was worried that now that the semantics and punctuation were out of the way, she'd really bring down the hammer and start asking for revisions on scene orders, characterization, big fundamental things. But no, they were actually easier (thanks to the fact that all that stuff was now out of the way). Didn't get past the contentious POV scene though.

Which was fine. I gave it some thought and realized, you know, she does have a point. Stylistically, it just doesn't work. Story-wise, I think it does. But I'm the author, and there are more readers than authors. As much as I think it works, it's up to the reader to make that determination, not me. And in this case, I'm totally willing to defer to the person with more experience than me.

So while there are less edits, the second edits are harder. More push back. More thinking you have to do. How much new characterization should be added? How many sentences or removals do I have to do before element X becomes clear enough to the reader and the editor? It's clear to me, but going past my own biases is almost impossible. Especially after moving onto the "next big thing". It's like, "I've moved on, baby. Why you still harping on that old mermaid shit? This is the new hotness right here."


And then the promotions specialist is nice. It's hard to tell if she's new to the position, or it's simply how my publisher works. They can create artwork for me, for things like wallpaper and bookmarks. But I never know what quality I'm going to get. And I've got to figure out the blurb for my book. I've been using the second edits as an excuse, but that's only going to hold out so long before I've got to get something on paper. I can't really think of much beyond a something similar to a two-paragraph cover letter. But maybe that will be enough.

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