Introducing the newest Medusa's Muse author

Right now I am preparing to edit a brand new manuscript from a brand new Medusa's Muse author. This is why I created a book publishing company: discovering new authors and fresh voices with a passionate story to tell. I've got my reading glasses on, my lap-top battery fully charged, a fresh cup of coffee, the manuscript opened in Word and "track changes" turned to "on." My muse is eagerly peering over my shoulder watching as I type notes inside the pages on my screen. Eventually she'll get a little bored; she finds editing tedious. But for now, she's just as fixated on this brand new Medusa's Muse book as I am.

The writer is Shannon Drury, author of The Radical Housewife. Click the link to explore her blog and get a taste of her writing. She's fabulous. A feminist housewife and mother living in Minnesota, and president of the Minnesota chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Her story is exactly the type I look for. It's honest, funny, passionate, and the author doesn't quiet fit within any category. If she's a housewife, how can she call herself a feminist? She gets criticism from both conservatives and liberals, which means she's perfect for my Muse.

Of course, I'll get a lot more editing done if my daughter would leave me alone for more than 10 minutes at a time. 

"where" and "wear"... f**k!

Mother-F***er!!!! Did I really write "What should I where?" Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I did write that. It was the title of a post for my other blog, Gravity Check, in which I was writing about my graduation from SFSU and wondering what to WEAR with a purple cap and gown. This isn't the first time I've written something so wrong, and I'm afraid it won't be the last.

I'm a publisher for frell's sake! I'm supposed to know better.

Occasionally I get a friendly email from Jane, or another friend who is a grammar girl, pointing out some mistake I made which (that?) would be completely obvious to any 4th grader, but slipped right past my editing consciousness. Each time I blush with shame, because it's always something really stupid, like mixing up "where" and "wear." Why the hell can't I see it in my own writing? I see it just fine in other people's writing, but not my own. Why am I so blind?

I realize it's because I don't actually see the words I'm writing; I'm writing down what I hear inside my head. I see the pictures I'm creating, not the words I'm writing. I do the same thing when I read. The book's scenes play in my mind in vivid technicolor, but I have no idea what is actually written. I can't remember quotes or facts or page numbers, I remember the smell of the breeze coming through the kitchen window and how the woman felt when she saw her cat carrying a baby mouse in his teeth. When I'm editing, I'm paying attention to the actual words, so I'm able to catch mistakes writers make (the easy ones, at least. Some of the more esoteric grammar rules fly right over my head). You'd think I'd pay attention to the words I'm writing as I write, but if I do, I lose the images in my head I'm frantically trying to write down. My words are like paint on a canvas all mixed together to create a scene. They blend and shape the picture, but I can't break the individual strokes apart to see how the picture is made. So I'm stuck writing "where" when I mean "wear." I only catch the mistake later, or if I don't, I hear from a friend.

Seeing just the image isn't a bad thing all the time; I'm able to take in the entire piece and see how it flows together, or where it stops. I can find the thread of a story and follow it, tying all the disparate threads together until they interlace into something beautiful.

I'll probably keep making ridiculous mistakes, and Jane will have to keep coming to my rescue (thank you Jane, and Maggie, too). People will keep shaking their heads, wondering what kind of publisher I am if I can't tell the difference between "where" and "wear." I'll keep trying my best to see the mistakes before I press "publish post," but more than likely, I won't catch them until three days later when the alarm will finally go off in my head that something isn't write... right!

sigh...

Sorry, but I can't help you with your writing today.

A friend of a friend asked me to help her with her book proposal. I should have said no, but since she was a friend of a very good friend, I said yes, although it would take me a few weeks. After she sent me her work, I realized that she needed a lot more help than I'd realized. I quickly did some editing, made some suggestions, and sent it back, when what I really needed to do was help her revise the entire piece. But I didn't have time. I'm drowning in work right now, studying for two major exams and a working a full time internship. Any spare moment I have is either spent with my daughter or reading text books. Forget writing; my muse has abandoned me because the only writing I do these days is for my blogs.

I should have said no, but instead I said yes. The woman's agent is the one who said no.

I know it's not my fault the agent rejected her proposal, but I feel somewhat responsible. She asked me for help and I agreed to give it, but because of the time pressure I'm under, I gave her the minimum.

For the next few months, the answer is no to any and all requests for help with writing. As much as I enjoy editing and helping new authors, I simply cannot give the amount of time it takes to really help someone with their manuscript. A 200 page project equals a week of work for me, depending on the amount of help the writer needs. A simple proposal can take 5 hours. Anything less is unfair to the writer who is trusting me to help them, not just throw Band-Aids at a book and then wish them luck.

When someone asks for help, I automatically want to say yes. It's just who I am. Need help with your book, your kids, your hair, your grocery list, your pets, your dirty windows, your relationship, your car... of course I can help. I genuinely want to help people, especially if it's in my power to do so. However, I tend to forget that there's just one me who cannot be in several places at once doing multiple things at once. Even I have a limit to my superpowers.

So, until at least the end of January, I must say no. I know you need help and I wish there were 30 hours in a day instead of only 24, but I absolutely do not have one more hour to give to anyone. If I gave up any more time, I'd have to give up bathing, and my family might start to complain after a few days.

Back of book info, revision number 178

Okay everyone, tell me what you think about this version for the Punk Anthology. It's still rough, so I know I need to polish it more, and I know my copy-editor will have a few words to say about it, but do you think this is closer to the type of copy that speaks to our target reader as well as compelling enough to make you want to buy a copy?

Punk is the only music genre I know that consistently opens its mouth about taboo social and economic subjects in our society. Nothing is more honest or relevant to me than that." - Mic Schenk

"Everything that makes my life better is an offshoot or direct result of my having gotten into punk music." – Chestnut

"That was one of my lessons; you don't have to fly your colors to be a punk or have a punk attitude." - Dick Wizmore

Here are the true stories from people whose lives were transformed and empowered by the frenetic, questioning, creative energy of punk rock; stories and poems written by punks from the USA and Europe, who share their own unique vision on what it means to be punk. Written by musicians, teachers, artists, librarians, nurses, bakers, parents, and social workers, the stories are funny, sometimes tragic, and always surprising.

Punk Rock Saved My Ass explores the strength of the punk movement to positively impact an individual’s life by providing a community to those who feel lost, and by inspiring them to push the boundaries of their own creativity. You may never hear a punk rock song the same way after reading Punk Rock Saved My Ass.


Your comments are much appreciated.

Freshly Printed Manuscript Pages, and One Lost Essay

After printing out the punk anthology on my laser printer, I held all 180 pages and inhaled their warm, inky, clean goodness. I love the smell of freshly printed work. The weight of the pages in my arms was comforting, my reward after three years of struggle to create this book. A validation of my vision. I was at last... done.

I showed the pages to Rick and he smiled, then said, "Now if I can just get the design part done!"

Yeah, that would be nice. I nodded. "It will come. You're slammed with school right now. I know as soon as you have a chance, you'll finish it."

"Did you find a spot for N's story?" Rick asked.

"Who?"

"N. He wrote the story about the road trip."

"Road trip?"

"Don't you remember. He sent it kind of late and you said you should be able to fit it in."

"Um...?" I had no idea what story Rick was referring to. I went to my laptop and searched through my mail (this is why I love Google. That email program has saved my butt so many times after I've lost an email or essay!). After a few minutes, I found N's missing story. "Oh right. I remember this one."

"Can you use it?"

I read the essay quickly, remembering that it was good, but rough and needed work, work I forgot to do. Sigh... "Yeah. No problem."

Then I searched through my emails again, looking for any other essays I may have forgotten about. After three years of work on this anthology, I've read hundreds of essays, culled them down to about 25, and then worked on those remaining essays with each author for another 2 years. It is a tedious, confusing process at times. I'd send notes to each author, then forget which notes went to who. Did I tell Matt or Mike to add more sensory, emotional detail to the pivotal scene in his essay? Was it Jennifer or Jessica who needed to fill in more details about the moment she heard her favorite punk band? Happily it appeared that through that process, I'd only forgotten one, late submitted essay. What a relief!

Glancing once more at the lovely stack of freshly printed manuscript pages, I got to work on N's essay. Not done yet.

The Music of a Book

For three days, my Muse and I have been obsessing on the individual essays and poetry in the Punk Anthology, listening to the quality of the words to find its unique note, its tone, its melody... Every piece is different, but they must all flow together harmoniously within one larger work: the book.

As the publisher and Medusa's Muse "big-picture" editor, this is my job.

"There are too many short pieces clumped together at the end," I said, growling and rubbing my fingers through my hair furiously.

My Muse slapped my hands. "Stop that. You'll go bald."

"They all share a similar tone and flow together well, but it feels boring. We can't have everything clumped together like that."

"So pull them out one at a time and try inserting them in different places." Muse lifted a short, moment-in-time essay from the stack of contributions and studied it. "Like this one. It's lovely. It's a snapshot of a time and place rather than a manifesto. Could we move it up in the order of the book? I think something like this, which is well written and moody, would create a nice break next to a longer piece more focused on the person's history."

I took the story and studied it. "I see what you mean. What if we put it after Chestnut's story. He talks about community and this story shows that community." On my lap top, I find the story, then cut and paste it to its new position. I study how the one story ends and flows into the next. "Yeah. I like it. This could work."

We read and re-read the anthology, moving stories, reading the manuscript again, swapping position of one with another, then changing our minds and putting them back. One day passes, then another. I begin to see the stories clearly when I close my eyes at night and rearrange them in my dreams. I'm not even sure what I'm looking for. I don't know how the book should flow yet. When it happens, I'll feel it.

One day I discover that I'd put all the "jail stories" together. I moved those, then realized the first poem didn't ring true with the first essay. Not that the stories have to agree, but the tone needs to be complimentary. It's like trying to use snippets of Mozart with Motorhead. They may both work together in a piece (just ask a Mashup artist), but probably not directly next to each other. You need to find the common note, the thread of the story, to tie it all together one at a time. The first story may have nothing in common with the fourth story, but they are tied together by what they share with story number two and three. I need to find the threads to tie everything up.

Muse asked, "If this is a punk book, does it have to flow harmoniously? Aren't you working with a music that enjoys jarring people out of any sense of calm?"

"Musically, yes. But this is a book of personal stories and there is a pattern to them. They don't have to tie together as neatly as a different type of book, but they should still work together to tell the larger tale."

Late into the night, while Muse listened to Exene on her Ipod, I switched two storie's positions and suddenly felt it. The threads were tied and the story flowed easily from one piece to the next. It was done.

I leaned back in my chair and motioned for Muse to join me. We read the book again from beginning to end and when we finished we looked at each other and smiled. Even her snakes grinned and I thought I heard one whisper, "Yes!"

Muse stood tall before me and announced, "You are a genius."

"Genius?"

"Yes. You discovered the music of this book. Not everyone can do that."

I shrugged. "I'm the big picture girl. I can't find spelling errors but I can find a plot."

You just wrote a fabulous book. Now what?

Congratulations! You've actually written, and finished, a book. Lots of people dream of being a writer, and a few of those will sit down and write something, but only a handful will complete an entire manuscript. Before you do anything else, relish this moment of accomplishment. You've done the equivalent of climbing Kilamanjaro. Good for you!

So what's the very first thing you should do before you start sending that beautiful book of yours to potential agents?

HIRE A COPY EDITOR.

I cannot stress this enough: hire a copy editor. Even if you have a PHD in Literature or an MA in English, hire a copy editor. Even if you are the best speller in your entire State and you've got the spelling bee awards to prove it, hire a copy editor. Do not send your lovely novel to agents full of typos. It's like showing up for a job interview wearing a dirty blouse.

I'm assuming you've been passing chapters of your novel to friends and family for feedback, and I'm also assuming those friends and family have been giving you good writing advice (if not, you need to hire a different editor to work on plot and character development). But it shocks me when I see how many writers do not hire a copy editor for a final check of their manuscript. I get plenty of submissions ruined by spelling and grammar errors. Know what I do? Toss it. I am way too busy to work with an author who can't take the time to fix spelling errors. It shows me that they do not take their writing career seriously.

I hire a copy editor for my own writing, as well as for the books I publish via Medusa's Muse (although I don't hire her to edit my blog, which as you see could use the help).

The problem is that none of us can see our own mistakes; we are blinded by the words on the page (what I call writer's goggles. They work a lot like beer goggles). Everyone has this problem, and anyone who thinks they don't are fools. I'll bet you twenty dollars that even President Obama hires a copy editor for his written work.

Where do you find a good copy editor to polish your masterpiece? I'll explain that next time.

Draft One of Punk Anthology DONE

Putting a book together is my favorite part of being a publisher. I sit at my desk with a stack of story pages, freshly edited and clean, and I piece the manuscript together into a cohesive book. With a single author, the process begins from the first draft they send me. I make notes and hunt for the thread that ties everything together. Often the author can't see it, but has created the unifying thread intuitively. When I show them what they've created, the author responds as if I've given away the secret of a magic trick. They didn't realize they'd done the magic themselves.

This time, I've been working with multiple authors, helping them craft stories from their experiences as Punks. Many of these authors are not writers, but they all have great stories to tell. They had to be shown the basics of how to write that story down on paper in a way that will be clear and entertaining for the reader. Most of the authors who originally submitted their stories to me two years ago have continued to work on them, taking my feedback and revising over and over and over... until at last their stories are complete. Only a few dropped out.

And now it's my turn to take those stories and create a book.

I had to decide what order to place the stories. Which one will be first? Which on last? How do I intersperse the funny stories with the sad ones? Where do I put the poetry? How many images do we have? Every story has its own pacing and tone, so where I put it will change the overall pacing and tone of the book. How do they all fit together? Or do they? And if some don't fit easily, where do I want to put them to play with that conflict?

I'm sure I'll redo the structure of the anthology numerous times before I get the right pacing for the book. The book needs a beginning, middle and end. It needs conflict and resolution. Each piece provides those elements to the whole of the book. Putting them in the right order is the important part.

Beware the Danger of Writer's Blindness

Writer's Blindness is a dangerous threat to your credibility as a writer, as well as to your created work. Don't take it lightly. Protect yourself from this scourge by hiring a good editor. Don't believe me? Read on for my own heart wrenching tale of writer's blindness.

I am a book publisher and professional editor, a very good editor I've been told. I am also a writer, having written several short stories, two novel length manuscripts and four plays, paying my dues to the writing muses by collecting over 80 rejection letters in 15 years. You'd think I'd be able to write well without much help, but that's not the case. Instead, I suffer from the worst writer's blindness anyone could have.

Writer's blindness occurs after you've immersed yourself in a writing project for so long you become blinded to the flaws of your own writing. Every writer has it a little bit because we write the way we hear the story in our heads. Unfortunately, not every reader will get what we intended, which is why we all need editors to make our inner voices understandable to the outside world.

Here is an example of when writer's blindness struck me; a page from What You Need to Know to Be a Pro, which I sent to Jane for editing.

(from - What You Need to Know to Be a Pro. early draft, before revisions)

The production manager oversees the process. He or she decides how the printing will bedone and who will do it. Send the manuscript overseas? Use print-on-demand? Will the print run be large enough to use the standard, off-set, printing process (not digital)? Each book requires different decisions based on the number of pages, the type of paper, whether it is to be published in hardcover or paper-back, the book’s dimensions, the cost of paper, shipping costs, and changing technology.
Everyone wants the book done quickly and the production manager is under intense
pressure to make that happen. Sometimes the pressure is due to outside forces, such as when there was an industry-wide paper shortage while the last Harry Potter book was being printed because practically every sheet of paper available was being used to print Harry Potter books! That delayed other books from being printed, which created a backlog for every Production Department in the book industry. A publishing company often produces many books at a time and it's up to the production department to keep all of those different production schedules organized. A delay in any part of the process, from the author becoming ill to the designer being unable (or unwilling!) to make the changes needed to please the marketing department,will create a delay in production. Those delays can cost the press money.

I thought this was great. Really brilliant writing! I sent it off to Jane feeling like I was DONE.

She sent it back three weeks later, every page COVERED with red marks and notes. Here's the list for just this one page:

Formatted: Highlight
Formatted: No underline
Formatted: Highlight
Deleted: They
Comment [jm15]: Sidenote: more about this in Chapter XX
Deleted: hould they s
Deleted: e
Deleted: P
Deleted: D
Deleted: used
Deleted: ,
Deleted: of the book
Deleted: like
Deleted:
Deleted: the
Deleted: department
Comment [jm16]: SUBHEAD
Comment [jm17]: Bold or itals?

That was just ONE PAGE out of 130 pages. As I looked at her notes throughout the manuscript, I cringed at the typos, misspellings, improper use of commas, confusing sentences and run-ons. I honestly had been incapable of seeing ANYTHING wrong; my manuscript had looked PERFECT.

I spent four weeks revising the manuscript, my blinders suddenly removed by a flash of insight from my editor, Jane. She had set her hands upon my head and commanded, "See!" and in that moment I saw my writing for the first time. I made all the corrections she suggested and triple checked that my sentences were clear. This time when I got the manuscript back, there were only a few notes from Jane, but overall she was pleased. "You did a great job with this revision."

Ask any writer and they will tell you their own tale of when they were struck stupid by writer's blindness. If it can happen to Stephen King and Alice Munroe, it can happen to you. Protect yourself. Get an editor.

My Editor is Happy

Being told by your editor that you did an "excellent job with the revision" feels a lot like getting a dollar an hour raise in your paycheck. All those hours of toil and worry have been validated and rewarded. I haven't looked at the feedback yet because I'm still revelling in that job-well-done feeling. I don't want to see what work still needs to be done. Nope. Let me sit here and contemplate how wonderful it is that what I've done so far is good.

Besides, I'm spending every spare moment of my life in Finals Hell. Two take home, open book finals due on the same day. MANY hours later, I've finished final number one and am half way through final number two. My brain reached critical stress overload, so I took another look at the note from Jane and suddenly felt a lot better. My first semester of Grad School ends on Monday and I can then dive joyfully head first into my manuscript again. We are SO CLOSE TO BEING DONE. Just a bit more polish.

I forget to fully embrace these moments between projects when I can enjoy my accomplishment without rushing to the next. We should all give ourselves kudos for sticking in there and doing the work, no matter how many revisions the work may require. Keeping at it is the important part. Eventually, it will be ready.

Escape from Editing Hell!

(image from EasternState.org)

At last, I managed to finish a massive revision of the business book I'm writing. It took two weeks of intensive work, grabbing every moment I could one hour at a time, day and night, ignoring the phone, emails and blogs, and letting the housework pile up. I sent the file to Jane yesterday morning and then celebrated with a double Peppermint Mocha from Starbucks.

I love editing, but I hate revisions; a revision is when you actually have to DO the work the editor noted. You have to sit your butt in the chair and figure out exactly how to fix all the red marked problems the editor found; all those run-on sentences, awkward phrases and grammatical errors. It is tedious, arduous and demoralizing. But it is extremely necessary.

Occasionally while working I wanted to skip a note. I mean, who cares if I wrote "that" instead of "which?" Only my editor cares. I doubt the average reader will notice. But I forced myself to take my own advice which I had written so clearly on page 48. Do not skimp on the editing process. Every mistake you make will reflect poorly on the overall quality of the book. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like anyone really cares. Geesh, talk about obsessive!

But I did it and I felt like I'd reached the top of Kilimanjaro after being forced to wait an extra few weeks due to altitude sickness. The view was breathtaking. "I'm the Queen of the world," I shouted to the forest far below.

Um... excuse me. I hate to interrupt your musings, Terena, but this isn't the top.

It's not?

No, this is a good scenic spot, so take a break. The top is two more revisions ahead.

Dang!

Well, until I get the notes back from Jane in a couple of weeks I'll rest here and enjoy not staring at a computer screen every spare moment of my life while working on the book I used to love. Used to love. Right now I don't even want to launch the damn thing!

I will also remember this feeling when I'm the one sending notes to my authors, telling them an entire chapter doesn't make sense to the overall plot of their book and they need to cut back on the scenic descriptions throughout. It's a miracle my authors don't have voodoo dolls of me on their desks they can stick pins in while muttering curses. Or maybe they do?

Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks

It's still Summer break and I'm still juggling Mommy time and Work time, so my posts will be infrequent for at least another week. This morning Jane, my friend and the Medusa's Muse copy-editor, sent me a link to a hysterical blog, called The Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks. If you're anything close to a word nerd like me, you'll love these posts.

So instead of getting any actual work done, I've been reading about the ridiculous use of Quotation Marks. Yep, a good use of my time! Maybe not... but at least it was fun.

Okay, back to work. My daughter and I are working on her scrap-book today.

The First Edit; What am I looking for?

Pencil in hand, I am reading the first draft of the manuscript sent to me by my new author (who will be revealed next week. Really!). This is my absolute favorite part of being a publisher and is the number one reason I do this work. It's also the reason I keep looking for more authors, even though I have more than enough projects right now. Still, being the first to read these words, the two sides of my brain working cooperatively with my heart and gut, my Muse eagerly snatching each page as I finish them, the excitement of beginning to create a new book... this is why I am a publisher.

A lot of what I do is instinct. I have a knack for finding the heart of a story; discovering the threads that tie it together while cutting out what doesn't. But I've been trying to pin down what it is I do exactly.

I begin with what the writer told me the story is about. I'm not the writer, so I don't want the author to write like me. I want them to write in their own voice. My job is to make sure they're doing that. So if the author tells me their book is about a man who hunts the world for his lost love only to discover he never really loved her in the first place, then I'm going to look for those bits in the manuscript that perpetuate that. I ask lots of questions, like, why did he go to Cuba? What is it about this girl that haunts him? How did he discover he doesn't love her? Lots of Why type questions, and then even more "What if..." If I read something in the book that doesn't add to the story directly, then no matter how beautiful or inspired the prose, I say cut it. When the man goes to Japan and meets a woman who teachers him how to play pin-ball, that might be a fun part of the story, but how does it tie in with finding his lost love?

When I was working with Laura, she had many pages of beautiful prose about the landscape of Mendocino County. Really well written and lovely, but how did it help the flow of the book? Setting is important, but was the book about Mendocino County, or the students who live there? She slowly cut those passages down. It wasn't easy and I know it probably hurt "killing her darlings." But in the end, we both agree it tightened the pacing of the book and brought the focus to her and her students, which was where it needed to be. And now she has several pages of beautiful prose sitting on her laptop, waiting for the next book she wants to write, which will be perfect for those descriptions.

The new author's book is about personal finance and day to day life. It's funny and well written, full of helpful advice about getting out of debt. So I am reading it with that in mind. What is the focus? Is this book a "how-to get out of debt" book or "personal essays about getting out of debt?" That question has to be answered early because both types of books have a different tone. Plus, the author's voice is very strong and unique, so I am looking for the places in the writing when that voice is true, and highlighting the places when the voice is weak.

It's still early in the process and I'm sure we'll go through several more revisions before we agree it is her best work (yes, the new author is a woman). Happily for Jane, there are very few spelling or punctuation problems. The copy-editing process should go smoothly.

But we don't get to that part for at least two more revisions, so I'd better get back to work on this first draft.

Correction Regarding Etymologist's Corner

I was just informed by Ray Succre, another contributor to Blood and Ink, that The Etymologist's Corner isn't written by Elijah Brubaker, but is a contribution of newcomer Andrew King.

Thank you Ray for pointing that out, and my apologies to Andrew King.

Etymologists Corner

On the collective literary blog Blood and Ink (I should tell you that I am a contributor) there is a new writer, Elijah Brubaker, who posts a regular piece called "The Etymologists Corner." Etymology is defined by Webster as:

1 : the history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language
2 : a branch of linguistics concerned with etymologies

Now this might sound like dull reading, but Elijah Brubaker is a very good writer who shares his thoughts and knowledge about words in clear and thought-provoking prose. And as writers and book lovers, isn't it the word that really captures our heart? The right word at the right moment, that's what great literature is.

This is one of the reasons Medusa is a success

Jane Mackay is one of those people who can spell any obscure English word you can imagine, and she's saved my professional butt more times than I can count. With her diligence, Medusa is able to produce works of high quality. There are NO spelling errors in a Medusa book (well, none Jane missed. Sometimes things happen in the design department -me and Rick- that she doesn't know about, but we discuss that now).

Here is a link to her website, for those who also need a grammar and spelling perfectionist.

Good Enough?

After sending the manuscript and cover files to LSI, I got a message from Jane, telling me how happy she is that we're done. HOWEVER, she found two small errors in the text of the back of book info. Was it too late to fix them?

Great! Just great! I took a look at the book and saw what she was talking about: I didn't capitalize "Ford" and the word "she's" means "she is," not "she has." Lovely! My brain immediately began tabulating how many books I would have to sell to cover the cost of changing the file I had just sent to the printer. And does it matter? Such tiny mistakes; the kind most people won't even notice, and if someone does, they probably wouldn't buy the book anyway if the mistakes bugged them that much. No, doesn't matter. Go with it.

Or does it? Am I really the kind of publisher to let mistakes slide just to save some cash? Quality is extremely important to me. One of the biggest complaints people have about small presses and self publishers is poor quality. I don't want to be one of those presses. There's a reason my partner is a stickler for the proper use of a comma. Attention to detail shows professional work. Medusa may be small, but we are professional and I won't lower my standards just to save a few dollars.

You have to decide what "Good Enough" means for you. There is a point when you have to go with what you have because the deadline has passed. I'm sure Laura has looked at her manuscript a few more times since giving it to me and wishes she could add or change just one more thing. No. It is good enough and now it's time to let go. Rick, our designer, has tweaked and re-done the interior text at least 22 times. There's more he'd like to do, but the deadline is passed. And once the book is printed and out into the world, I'll bet I find a dozen things I wished I'd done differently. Too late. I've sent it to the printer.

Thankfully, LSI has an excellent communication system and my account manager was able to help me send the corrections without additional costs. Once I get the sample copy, I really hope I'll be able to look at it and feel satisfied that it's good enough for Medusa. There's no such thing as perfection, so good enough will have to do.