A Heartfelt Thanks

A quick one tonight. A while ago I posted about a visiting editor from the UK having a look at my manuscript. Then I posted about her having really liked it. In the tail end of the second post there was a sentence about my other half Deb’s colleague hanging onto the MS so she could read it now her editor daughter had finished with it.
Well she read it.
She liked it.
… and she copyedited it for me.

Now the MS has been copyedited before, but we all know that if you go over a work again you will find more errors.
Now I have only had a chance to glance at what she has done, but It looks like Cheryl has gone over the MS with a fine tooth comb not only looking for punctuation etc, but also suggesting grammatical and structural improvements.
All this on her own initiative and entirely voluntarily.

In a lovely letter she has included with my returned manuscript, she absolutely minimises the amount of effort she has put into my work. She describes her hard work as “fun”.
As an ex-English teacher and literature enthusiast she may have found the job fun, but Cheryl, like my Deb, is an overworked senior-executive. Her generosity in taking the time to do this for me cannot be overstated. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you Cheryl.

Now to anyone who reads my blog I must apologise (in advance) if I don’t post quite as frequently in the near future. Because I expect over the next little while, I will be a bit busy going over my MS and making the most of Cheryl’s kindness.

Now to keep you busy, a photoCan anyone guess what this is?
Aussies, I know you’ll probably know, don’t spoil the fun!

Of Editors and Agents

A very Quick post tonight. We have been out having dinner with some dear friends from Queensland and it is past my bed time.

I promised the other day to talk about the editor who has just finished reading my manuscript. I think I will simply post the text of the email I received from her mother (my other half’s colleague) when she had to return to England.

I have omitted her name, as they say in many a TV drama, to protect the innocent.

“.... managed to read Allan’s novel and was really impressed.
Her comments were:

• A clean, well thought out script – ready now to go to a publisher. She was very complimentary of the formatting, layout, with absolutely minimal corrections.
• The opening scene is a good hook and just the sort of thing a publisher would be looking for.
• The concept is good
• The structure works well – she commented on the skill in keeping the narrative ongoing whilst telling the story from different perspectives.
• She thought the characters were a little underdeveloped but could see why, but it wasn’t a weakness as the story itself is important.
• She is confident he could hand it in as is.
• Advises doing some research on which publishers are producing this kind of genre and targeting them
• Says no need to worry about making changes – the nature of any further improvements would be a personal preference and more a subject of the publishing house.
• If not accepted don’t be disheartened because it may be because of the economic climate and current circumstances and that you should resubmit at a later time – but she emphasized to keep trying because it’s good and worthy of publication.
• She also thinks it would make a great film
She suggested I should read it – do you mind if I keep the script for a while? I would really like to after she raved about it.”

So all you agents and publishers out there here is one fellow who is awaiting your call :-)

Sorry if it seems like I am boasting, but I just can’t help it. This feels really promising to me.

Now I am off to bed, talk to you next time.