Publication Delayed! until 2022
Review: The Complete Canadian Book Editor by Leslie Vermeer When I first heard about The Complete Canadian Book Editor, I couldn’t help but be intrigued by the notion of a “complete” resource on book editing. I edit the works of self-publishing authors, so my knowledge of the world of traditional book publishing is limited — gained mostly through conversations with other editors and my editing courses at Ryerson. Would this book provide useful information for someone like me, a practising freelance editor who would like to learn more about the inner workings of the book editing profession in Canada?
Well, this is it. The Complete Canadian Book Editor is at press at last and should arrive in bookstores on Tuesday, September 6. Woot! (And I guess I’m wincingly looking forward to discovering the first editorial mistake — eek!)
Above is the cover again, now with back-cover copy in place.
I hope you enjoyed the weekend!
Well, here it is: 383 pages of designed (Dragich Design ) and laid-out manuscript. Now I have two weeks to proof it and add an index before the final production details are worked through, and then it is off to the printer.
We are still hoping to have books by September.
The link to The Complete Canadian Book Editor — Leslie Vermeer at Brush Publishing
I’m so pleased to report that my book has just reached two big milestones.
First, the edit is finished. In late May I responded to the copyedit and numerous queries. I also wrote a large amount of new material. The weeks since then have involved signing off the copyedit and reviewing the large number of figures and illustrations created to support the written text.
If you are an editor, a grammarian, or just someone who enjoys the quirks of the English language, you’re sure to like Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen by Mary Norris. I was happily surprised by the great good humour and the tidy fusion of editing memoir and language instruction. Kudos, Ms Norris!
There is no way a single sentence could sum up the many delights of this book, yet one lovely clause keeps ringing through my memory:
Last year I heard Richard Nash speak about publishing and learning to manage abundance. Several times in my teaching this year, I have quoted his memorable comment “Abundance breaks more things than scarcity does.” The excerpt below, from Giles Clark and Angus Phillips, amplifies Nash’s idea and sets it into the specific relationships among publishers, authors, and readers.
However, scarcity is still present and comes in different guises, especially in respect of the resources needed to publish.
The Eleventh Time-Saving Tip: … make all trivial decisions as soon as possible and keep all vital decisions as late as possible. The magazine, on paper and on digital, is now ‘plastic’ until it is fixed. (124)
This advice certainly applies to magazine editing, but also to editing in general. Editors need to think carefully about how to use our limited resource of time, particularly today, when digital workflows and leaner staffing mean that we have to work smarter than we did in the past.
