How an Editor Prevented Some Embarrassment

I’ve been working hard on revisions for a new middle grade book to get ready for submissions (and helping my 14-year-old get ready for Marching Band camp and high school –eek!), so I’ve neglected the ol’ blog for a bit. I’m back on topic today with a guest author sharing a revision story with us. Author Joy V. Smith visited back in May with a Mother’s Day post about her scifi novel Strike Three. Now she will tell us about how an insightful editor kept her on track when getting her novel ready for publishing. Enjoy!

Joy V. Smith:

My editor for Strike Three is knowledgeable and has a military background. Thanks to her experience, she caught some mistakes in my manuscript that would have been embarrassing.  Just thinking about them appearing in my book makes me cringe!

Since I knew there was a seed storage facility in the Antarctic, I thought, “Wouldn't a line about it being guarded by polar bears be cool?”  Well, my patient editor, whom I credit on the Acknowledgments page of Strike Three, reminded me that there are no polar bears in Antarctica.  Drat.  I had to change that to penguins; and later I discovered that the most famous seed bank is in the Arctic (Norway). It's the things you think you know that trip you up.  (Though there are seed banks in Antarctica, they're very limited.) 

When I wanted to name an Air Force base after a current president, my editor told me an interesting tidbit: "Problem is – I don’t believe there is any precedent for naming an Air Force Base after a president. Most Air Force Bases are named after someone who served in the military – normally someone who served in the Air Force."  She went on to give me more background showing how that would be a bad idea and suggested that I name a sub after him instead.  Okaaay.  That's cool too.

She helped me with other mistakes--uh, things--too...


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Joy V. Smith, a Wisconsin native and graduate of Oshkosh State U, writes fiction and non-fiction. Her non-fiction includes interviews and her house books, Building a Cool House for Hot Times without Scorching the Pocketbook and Remodeling: Buying and Updating a Foreclosure. Her fiction has appeared in various publications and anthologies, including Womanscapes and Magistria: The Realm of the Sorcerer. Her fiction books include Strike Three (a post-apocalyptic novel), Detour Trail (a western adventure) and The Doorway and Other Stories (a collection of reprints); and her SF has also been published in two audiobooks, including Sugar Time (time travel tales). Her e-books include Strike Three, Detour Trail, Hidebound (SF), Pretty Pink Planet, Hot Yellow Planet, The Doorway and Other Stories (14 SF/fantasy reprints), and Remodeling: Buying and Updating a Foreclosure. She lives in Florida with Blizzard the Snow Princess and Bryn the Flying Corgi.

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