The Editor and Editing

Writing is fun; then comes the hard work - the editing. It's difficult to cut pieces from your baby, the story or article you slaved over for so long, but it must be done. It's easy to fall in love with your prose, with that sweetly constructed sentence, but if it doesn't belong in that story, it has to come out. You don't have to throw it away; file it somewhere and use it in another story or article.

The creative side of writing is best done when you are rested. I write early in the morning and edit in the late afternoons or evenings. When I first began to write, I had a lot of trouble with my editor, who wanted to be present for every word. I soon learnt to banish her from the room when I was in creative mode. In the late afternoons, when I begin to run out of steam, I invite my editor back in and let her go to work. She slashes and cuts and moves things around and leaves some suggestions for when I start back in the next morning.

When the work is, in my view, finished, usually after about the 3rd or 4th draft, I put the manuscript away to rest and begin on the next. Only when I have another work ready for resting, do I take the first manuscript out. I then let my editor read it with a fresh eye; I am no longer surprised when she finds mistakes, or more suggestions to improve the work. Time seems to put a distance between me and the story so that I can read it as my readers would. Only after I have finished this stage do I send my work out to find a home.

Writing a Query Letter

You're an editor. You have arrived at your desk and sigh when you see the pile of letters awaiting you. You have an important meeting with your managing editor in half an hour and you can't put off going through what you know is a bunch of query letters from hopeful freelance writers. You have to look at them but you don't have to read right through each letter. You quickly scan through the pile but if the letter is more than two pages, you put it aside; if you aren't interested in reading on after the first paragraph, you put those letters aside too. If you're lucky, you are left with one or two interesting queries.

As a writer, your aim is to have the editor notice you, to take your letter and read it right through, and to hopefully offer you a commission - or at least, a promise to look at the finished work. You've begun with all the right tools - clean white paper and a good printer with plenty of dark ink so you don't strain the editor's eyes -and have targeted the right market and know the editor's name; now you have to actually write something.

Editors are busy people and they want experienced writers. Experienced writers know that the query letter is as important as the finished article and they will work on that letter until it is everything it should be. What should a query letter be? What information should it contain? How can you phrase it so that any editor reading it will want to know more?

Your idea is only good if it grabs the reader from the very first words. Your query letter is no different. Editors read a lot of letters and submissions and they learn to scan quickly; your aim is to stop that scanning, to make them linger over the words, to read them all, and with excitement. Yes, it's the same thing that you do with your article or story - hook the reader.

Clearly communicate the topic of your article or book. You can be straightforward, or you can open with a surprise, a question, or something about you, the writer and your expertise, if you feel that this is more important to your topic.

Be succinct and clear; don't let a good opening paragraph deteriorate into waffle. The middle section of your query letter is where you sell your idea, and the ending is where you sell the fact that you, and only you, can tell this story or write this article. Tell the editor what s/he needs to know to whet their appetite, but don't reveal the whole thing. This part takes practice; tell too little and you've lost them; tell too much and the article is already written! Don't forget to mention how many words your article or book manuscript will run for.

An experienced writer will send a few copies of similar published work with their query letter. If you don't have any publishing credits, don't despair. Life experience counts as well and you can mention these, either in your closing paragraph, or throughout the whole letter. Just make sure that these revelations blend in naturally with your topic.

Marketing your Work

You're a writer and you've written a wonderful piece - a short story, an article, a novel - and now you need to send it out to an editor or a publisher. Who do you send it to? In America, and increasingly in Australia, publishers prefer to read work submitted through an agent. Agents, however, often require the writers they place on their lists to have a publishing history. It's a catch 22 situation but there are ways around it, and there are people who have submitted work directly to the 'slush pile' and found publication.

If you need to find an agent, first build up a publishing history with smaller works, published in quality anthologies, local media, university publications and the like. Join a writers group in your area - through them and/or their newsletter you will receive news of competitions you can enter; a prize in a prestigious competition can earn you cudos. Do some research on agents, either online or via a plethora of books that contain information about this subject. Talk to other writers about agents and see if one of them is registered with one you like the look of. Sometimes, an introduction by anther writer will get you a foot in the door. If you 'known' in any area of your life for any speciality you are expert at, and it is about that that you are writing, this too will be looked upon favourably.

If an agent is not for you, submit to the slush pile by all means; but make sure that your work will stand out from the crowd. This does not mean that you should print your manuscript in fancy font, or on coloured paper, and bound with ribbon! Doing something like this screams 'amateur' and the editor you hoped would read your work often sends it right back - unread. That's if it gets to the editors desk; publishing houses employ staff to go through the slush pile, weeding out manuscripts like that.

Of course, some publishing houses miss out big-time on brilliant manuscripts from their slush piles by not reading everything sent to them, but they often receive many thousands of unsolicited manuscripts and just don't have the time or the staff to go through them all, so they take the risk.

As for who you should submit your manuscript to - this also needs research. Some writers choose their market first; others write first and look for a market afterwards. Go online to see what publishers are looking for. Does what you have written fall into their genre? Look at the back of the title pages in books on the shelf at your local bookstore (the reverso); here you will find the publishers’ name. Don't make the mistake of sending your brilliantly written piece about Gardening in Drought to the editor of a sports publication - unless your garden is set around a sports playing field and is somehow relevant to a particular sport, in which case you will need to reflect this in the title of your piece.

Send your manuscript to 'the editor', but first ascertain the editor's name. This shows professionalism. If you've written a query letter and have been asked to submit some sample chapters, make sure that you submit only what is asked for. If they like your work they will ask for the rest. Make sure you have read and understood the publisher’s guidelines, which are available from publishing houses online, or by request.

If you have written a piece that stands out from the crowd and it is professionally presented, you are well on your way to publication.