Ask the Editor…
Right, lovely peeps! This is a post FOR YOU! No commentary from me – just a cool picture and then to the comments section. Ask your questions. What do you want to know?
Experimenting with your Imagination
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Right, lovely peeps! This is a post FOR YOU! No commentary from me – just a cool picture and then to the comments section. Ask your questions. What do you want to know?
Comments
What’s the difference between a good and a bad novel concept, in your opinion?
Also, do you take your kittens with or without sugar?
Kittens are sweet enough without sugar ;-)
For me a good novel concept is something that gets you interested without having seen the cover of the book or opened a single page. A strong novel concept will have me asking an agent for a full manuscript straight away. For example, when I was sent the concept for BROKEN – a high school retelling of Frankenstein – I wanted to read it without knowing anything more. That is a strong concept.
However, a good novel concept is *nothing* without equally strong characters, setting, plot etc.
I have been sent a couple of manuscripts where the concept was very good, but let down by the quality of the writing.
A poor novel concept is something that hasn’t really been thought through – sometimes, for example, it will be an idea that could create an excellent short story but doesn’t have enough legs to carry it through a whole novel. For me, Delirium could have ended up being like this but for the power of Lauren’s writing. Instead, it ended up being a classy example of dystopian fiction.
I am finding that dystopian manuscripts suffer the most from poor concepts. The author will come up with a ‘what if?’ scenario that has just been created only to establish a dystopian setting. This feels weak and contrived, in most cases.
Thank you! This is encouraging stuff. I hope I’ll be able to live up to it!
How do you differentiate between upper middle grade novels and YA? I’m working on a project with two young (12-14) characters. There is peril and violence, but no romance or adult relationship issues. It should “feel” like a fairytale, and is written accordingly…but I worry that that will make it feel more middle grade than YA.
Unfortunately there does seem to be a blurring of the lines in this respect and some authors could sit on either side – for example, Sabriel by Garth Nix or the 13 Treasure series by Michelle Harrison.
In my opinion YA novels do not have to have romance – it’s not essential to classify them as YA. But I would say that the novel should be dealing with some of the ideas, concepts and issues that become more pressing as you move into your teenage years. There are thoughts about the future, about what you want to achieve, about who you will become. None of these necessarily involve romance – but they are quite…self-involved, I guess. In middle grade novels the characters are more concerned with external adventures and ideas than what is going on in their own head.
Make sense? If not, just ask for clarification :-)
That’s a very good way of wording it, and that makes a lot of sense. Thank you!
Are you an on-paper or digital editor – or a bit of both?
I know when I was dabbling with a career I was ok with copy-editing and proofreading digitally, for the most part (mainly because I couldn’t afford the paper to do it otherwise) but I find if I’m writing or editing a short story or essay I need to print it out if I’m doing structural editing. Something about being able to draw arrows, maybe. =D
I hadn’t got to the point of looking structurally at a whole novel, but I think I’d be torn.
Just curious.
I am MOST DEFINITELY a digital editor! I couldn’t abide the idea of printing out ALL that paper to do an edit, seems such a waste.
My usual process is to read the novel through once before taking to acquisitions, so that I know what the story is about and the style etc. Once we have signed I will do my first edit – this one is structural and involves suggesting things like scenes changing places, or characters being added/removed etc. I will send a sheet of these suggestions to my author and they choose to change or disregard (giving me a good reason why if it’s the latter!) Once that version of the MS has come in, I will pick through the novel line by line to make sure that sentence structure is good and that everything feels essential – this is done using track changes in a Word document.
Hi Amanda!
I was just wondering what some of the most common mistakes you see in submissions that hurt the author’s chances of getting published.
Are there any particular things that immediately mark a manuscript as one you will have to reject?
Good question :-)
Some of the most common mistakes involve info dumps. I can’t abide them. I *know* they can be done gracefully so it jars massively when you read a manuscript that is all exposition for the first few pages.
Another issue I’ve had is with authors trying not to show or hint at what is coming, to the point where the manuscript just isn’t understandable or fun to read, because you’re so busy trying to sort out what is going on.
As a pet peeve, I tend to disregard those manuscripts that use too many made-up terms and words – especially if they are not immediately understandable from the context of the sentence.
In terms of immediately rejecting – well, anything that reads far too similarly to a manuscript that is already out there. I don’t mind novels in a roughly similar area e.g. fallen angels but I do mind if I feel like I am reading a book that has already been published.
Hello!
If you were only allowed to name one thing that defines a novel as specifically YA, what would that thing be?
Ooh, now that is tough.
I would have to say the sense of something/someone transforming.
So… a person dealing with a situation transforming. Or working on transforming themselves.
I am hereby claiming “The Silence of the Lambs” for the YA market.
Ok, I have two more questions. Am I allowed to do that?
Question 1: What is it that you think makes certain YA titles strike it big and develop into a phenomenon? We had it with Twilight and now with The Hunger Games (not that I think the two are particularly similar) but it strikes me that the concepts for these novels are not necessarily new. I mean, I can only think of adult novels with a concept similar to The Hunger Games, but there were definitely quite a few vampire teen romance books before Twilight. So I guess what I’m asking is, what do you think makes certain books stand out at the time?
Question 2: (Kind of self interested question) Your job seems pretty cool. How did you go about getting it?
Heh. I’m sure that you can do that :-)
Okay, with Question 1 – if I could tell you what changes a book from a successful novel into a phenomenon then I would be in demand from all publishers and would be demanding a six figure wage :-p Seriously. People might say that they could see the appeal, but I swear to you no one could have seen what would happen. Just in terms of numbers sold… For example, the Twilight books have sold actual millions of copies. The Hunger Games trilogy has, I’m sure, sold many thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of copies. Your normal YA novel would consider a five figure number of copies sold to be a success… The gap between a “normal” novel and the phenomenon novels is just so huge, I’m finding it hard to articulate.
But here are some things for you, as to what I think drives a phenomenon: word of mouth, luck, gap in the market, people buying multiple copies. With Twilight the novel was rejected a few times before it found a home (so Atom can consider themselves lucky, I guess, in that they were the publishers in the UK who decided to take a chance). Although there were the odd vampire books and the odd teen novels, this was one of the rare circumstances (at the time) where those two concepts were put together – it had been a while since Buffy etc etc – so there was a distinct gap in the market for something of this nature. Twilight on release did not sell millions. Neither did Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. In both cases, friends told friends. Libraries brought in copies on the basis of word of mouth. And people brought copies for their friends to read. Or lent their copies to friends, who subsequently brought their own.
What I do know is that you cannot tell when something will explode like this, that it takes a multitude of factors to come together all at once.
Question 2: I blogged! For two years I was a blogger, but I also used my contacts to take on other sorts of works: editing, beta reading novels, slush pile reading, long running guest posts on large group blogs, taking on something like Genre for Japan and helping it come together. I worked my ass off to get my name out there. But, again, it took a large dose of luck – Angry Robot were starting a YA imprint at the same time as I was ready to ask them about work, after having read for their Open Door month and had some of the novels I put forward signed up for publication. The stars aligned, in the end – but it took two years of *very* hard work to even get me to a place where I was considered!
Oops! Sorry for rambling some!
Hi Amanda. I’m currently going freelance copyediting and proofreading and my question is:
Which copyediting certification program would you suggest to help someone enter the editing field and looking for a full time position with a publishing house?
Hi Theresa,
Gosh, this is a hard question for me because I don’t have any official editing/copy editing qualifications or certification. I’m guessing that there are other editors out there who can say the same, while others will have gone through qualifications.
What I will say is that experience and networking will probably help you just as much, if not more. Check out summer internships. See if publishing houses are offering work experience. Get to know editors/publicists etc at places like conventions (for SF/F) or book fairs or places like that, so that your name becomes familiar.
If you are looking to ask about copyediting/proofreading then I would recommend Google and Twitter as your first port of call to gauge what other people say, and also pick up the various Writer’s Handbooks that offer advice on your question.
Sorry I couldn’t help more!
Hi Theresa,
Chipping in to say the Society for Editors and Proofreaders SFEP is the most well-regarded within the industry, as far as I know: http://www.sfep.org.uk/
Also the Publishing Training Centre: http://www.train4publishing.co.uk/
Good luck!
Ella
Thanks Ella!
Back for more. I’m hoping this is a genie-in-a-bottle deal, only I get three questions rather than wishes. ;-)
How much editing is too much? By which I mean to say; you receive a manuscript you love (for whatever reason), but it needs work. Where do you draw the line between salvageable and rubbish?
The story has to be strong. If the story works and makes sense and the characters fit the story, then editing can be worked around it. When Poltergeeks first came in it felt a *little* MG in some of the language that was used, but this was easily edited because the story felt YA and character approaches could be readily adjusted.
Some books will require pages and pages of edits; some will be virtually clean when they come in. The question is not: how much editing needs to be done? Rather: Does this novel has what it takes to tell a good story and have appeal to the target market? :-)
Thanks, this whole Q/A is very much appreciated!
Thanks for doing this, Amanda.
Do you have stylistic concerns with YA manuscripts, or do you encourage a degree of experimentation? For instance, do you have preferences for 1st or 3rd person, past or present? Do you prefer trictly linear narratives, one POV etc?
No problem, Rhiannon, it’s nice to talk to people!
As far as I am concerned nothing is forbidden in terms of style – as long as it serves the story in the best manner. Like, if your story fits multiple POVs then fine – but make sure there is a good reason for it happening and make sure each POV is easily identifiable by voice/attitude. Nothing worse than a multiple POV story where the only way you can tell the difference between voices is because of the name at the start of the chapter!
I think each method – 1st/3rd person, for example – has pros and cons, so it is a good idea to think about it before you kick off. Like, some YA novels demand the immediacy of 1st person narrative – you need to spend the time in that character’s head and feel what they are feeling (SHIFT is very like that) whereas other novels have proved most successful with a 3rd person voice.
Tricky linear narratives can be difficult to pull off, so I wouldn’t be expecting to see many of them, but I am a sucker for a good flashback story (in fact, have one such under consideration right at this moment!)
So, no preference at all – but consider what serves the story best!
How dark can YA get? For example, are issues like self-harm completely off the table in a YA novel?
Actually, I would say that YA fiction is one of the areas willing to explore this issue, and other equally dark matters.
Here are just some of the novels I found dealing with self-harm:
– Willow by Julia Hoban
– Cut by Patricia McCormick
– Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
– Entangled by Cat Clarke
I’ve also read YA novels that handle rape with sensitivity, that deal with suicide (teen or otherwise), bullying, sexual identity, and even incest. All of them tackle the subjects with real thought and powerful writing.
This is one of the reasons I’m so enthused about the YA arena and the writing that can be found here – it’s open to tackling anything.
Thanks! Very much appreciated.
So much YA I see these days has a dark romance feel to it. Someone has died, often a boyfriend/girlfriend or terrible things have happened to the protagonist. I don’t mind a good death or a nice bit of angst, but I have the feeling that wallowing is a trend in YA.
Do you see any sort of shift back to a more optimistic view? When I a teen in the 80s although lots of bad stuff happened to YA protags, they usually had an optimistic undercurrent to them that I don’t see much of these days.
Or is it just me? ;)
It depends what area of YA you’re looking at. I happen to think that you’re targeting only a few books here. For instance, dystopia has a much more hopeful feel to it, with strong women (it’s usually women!) fighting against a system that seeks to oppress them.
In contemporary YA there are incredibly sweet and hopeful novels that emphasise good stuff happening to the protags.
Don’t let one teeny tiny section of the YA shelves fool you into thinking it’s all like that!
Very true. I need to take a more thorough look…
Hello again! I often see that editors want potential authors who have already proven they can market- they have a website, a twitter account, a blog, etc.
How important is this for you in deciding whether to take on an author? Do they just need to be present or do they need a big following? What kind of web-presence are you looking for- presumably authors shouldn’t try to market books that haven’t been published yet?
Just a question I’ve been grappling with as I learn more about the industry.
I’m not going to lie, it is an important factor. The Internet is now so desperately important when it comes to selling books and increasing reach that it simply can’t be ignored. An author who is already skilled at social networking and chatting to potential readers will increase their marketability through this. I mean, honestly, which would you rather have: an author who is already talking about having set up online interviews with some of the biggest book blogs around (and knows which they are!) or someone who doesn’t really read blogs and spends most of their time offline?
They need a presence and they need to have shown themselves to be willing to engage, since self-marketing is enormously helpful. A big following is not so important, as long as their blog isn’t just being read by their mum ;-)
Thanks again!
Hallo :) This is a pressing question that has been making me scratch my head for a while:
I have read on this page and in that lovely “What is YA?” post you made a while back that a key element of YA is often a question of transformation — a wondering about “who I am, where am I going, what am I doing.” I also know that some novels are classed as YA that I wouldn’t have thought of as being such (but obviously I’m not the guru). My question is: What do you do, or would you do, if you received a manuscript that is positively built around this identity question and includes other elements of YA, but does not feel like a YA novel to you? I assume you return a negative to the submission, but I’m wondering if this often happens within the well-defined confusion of “What makes YA YA?” A novel is more than the sum of its parts — it can do everything a YA novel does on paper, and yet somehow it just read/feels like an adult’s book, can it not? This is what I feel, but I seek the input of wisdom. :)
That was a matryoshka of questions!
You’re testing me with that one! If a novel has all the components of a YA novel e.g. teen protagonist, facing up to issues, questions of identity etc but is written in the style of an adult novel, then there is the option of editing rather than just answering no to the submission. You can suggest methods for the author to use in order to adjust the style to bring it more in keeping with other YA novels. However, you could also think to yourself that it is presenting a new face of YA and decide to work with something new!
[...] Questions about YA SF or Fantasy? Ask the editor at Strange Chemistry [...]
How do editors like to see series? Should you write the first one then say something like “series potential”? What if you have specifically planned for 3 or 4 books? Does that hurt chances of publication? Will a publisher only buy one book at a time? I’ve heard so many different opinions on this and am not sure what to do.
Yes, that’s a question I’d like to know the answer to as well. A lot of YA books are series these days, it would seem … perhaps because it’s nice to stick with the same author for a while instead of continuously hunting for somebody else’s books to read. But do you prefer series, or do you prefer standalone novels – or things that read as either?