It’s after 5:30 in the morning. I just finished going through the copy edit of the next TJB book SOMEONE LIKE YOU. This is an easy part of the process, since the manuscript doesn’t have to be read, just changes approved. The next two steps–reading it when we get the typeset and reading it when we get the advance copy–are more time-consuming.
I’m still a little bitter because in I’M YOUR MAN, someone at Kensington made a couple of tense changes between the advance copy and the novel. The changes were not technically wrong, but they were inconsistent with the rest of the book. Probably they’re something that no one else would notice except Tim, me, and maybe Rhonda, Denece, and Kerry–all three tech writers–but still… it shouldn’t have been done.
As someone who has done plenty of editing, including copy editing, it always amuses me how I take issue with other editors’ choices. In this case, the copy editor put back Tim’s commas that I always remove. VINDICATION FOR TIM! When I pointed this out to him, he said he doesn’t lose sleep at night over commas. But something keeps him up! How does he know it’s not commas?!? It could be commas!
Except Tim doesn’t care as much about commas as he cares when they try to stop him from capitalizing “The” in names of businesses where “The” is part of the name. And he and I don’t care about “who” and “whom” the way Jim does. (Jim will be happy that SOMEONE LIKE YOU’s copy editor cares.) I can’t remember any of Timmy’s pet peeves at the moment. But I think most writers and editors have their own. And sadly, some seem not to care, judging by a few of the books I read.
Advance.
Reading.
Copy?
*big brown doe eyes*
(I write reviews on every online source I can find… also, I then buy the book in hardcover, because I can’t not own it in hardcover).
Just saying.
Well, mister, do we have your snail-mail address? Shoot an e-mail to becky@timothyjameslambert.com with same, and I will ask Alyson (and later, Kensington) to send you advance reading copies, since you are such an avid reviewer with a dedicated readership!
As for hardcovers, sigh. THE DEAL and I’M YOUR MAN are available on insightoutbooks.com in hardcover. I don’t know if the same will happen for THREE FORTUNES IN ONE COOKIE and SOMEONE LIKE YOU. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
And thank you for always reviewing us in such detail. Of course, I’m GLAD you like the novels, too, but I especially respect that you are specific, because it helps other buyers know whether or not they would like them. And then we might not end up with a shitty review like the one… oh, never mind. I swore I’d stop dwelling on it.
I have to admit that I try to make reviews as specific as possible out of a bit of fear – working at the bookstore, nothing turns a customer away faster than saying, “You like X? Try Y! They’re the same!” and having the experience of completely different novels. I’ve had really angry discussions with staff over that method of sales.
We made a “book-web” once – I’d stick a pretty popular book in the middle of a web drawing, and they had to connect it to a different title, strand by strand, using similarities. It was fun, and better explained what I meant by “add-on sales.”
Above all, though, thank you. I abuse my managerial powers to get your books onto my bookshelf (and then buy my copies so there’s a dollar trail for the big-wigs to notice), but very often I miss the release of titles for lack of information (or, sometimes, too much information and no time to digest all of it).
You rock.
No, you rock.
Hey, I like that. Let’s change the title to SOMEONE LIKE YOUSE, and make Derek a stereotypical mob child from Brooklyn.
I don’t like it when they replace my em-dashes with ellipses, but I’m pleased that my copy-editors have better command of grammar than I do.
Oh, wait… writers who ‘seem not to care.’ You were already talking about me.
FARB
Gasp!
I was NOT talking about you. I
only saysay only the nicest things about you!