First Word

Up with the rainstorm and noticed the white blossoms on the trees outside of my window ... beautiful! It's spring or wait! I think it's really winter. Oh wait ... no ... it's spring! LOL ... well, that just shows how confusing the weather in California has been these days. So let's move on and discuss something that might actually matter to you. Last night we had a small meeting of Writers Who Mean Business , and we had an interesting discussion about publishers. I have to share something: I find it shocking how many (how shall we say) "low-rent" publishers exist in the business. I can't tell you how many times authors show me books just loaded with mistakes. In the early days of 3L Publishing we faced some of these challenges, so I do understand. But in business you cannot create a business, especially a publishing business, around lack of quality. Your "low-rent" publishing mistakes catch up with you in the form of a bad reputation. Let...

Want to know what is the hardest job in publishing? It's what on the surface looks like the easiest -- the final proof. Ask any author who has gone through the process to get a completely cleaned-up book. The overall editing (big picture editing to ensure the copy flows and the story makes sense) is small compared to the even smaller -- copy editing every last word in the book.  A fantastic copy editor not only must know grammar, usage and style backwards and forwards, but also he or she must have an amazing attention to fine details. Why is this so delicate and arduous a task? I try to distill it down to what is like math: imagine having to ensure 75,000 words are all absolutely correct. Just think of it like a jar of 75,000 jelly beans all spilled on the floor. Now I'm going to tell you to sort through each jelly bean one at a time and look for the ones with the blemishes. Are you wrapping your head around this incredible task?  Why does it matter? Because many cri...