Thursday, April 26, 2007

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy-Jig

Special thanks to Dr. Dennis Hensley and his wife, Rose, for hosting us in Indiana.

Often you hear how coworkers spend more time with each other than their families. Nothing illustrates that more than a two-day trip, with 10 of those hours trapped together in a car.

Tuesday we enjoyed a lovely day of chasing the western sun. We arrived in Fort Wayne with time for a shopping excursion. Then we found the Taylor campus with no problem. After filling up on wonderful Italian food, we arrived -- with no time to spare -- to a full classroom.

Sharing the 3-hour time with 2 other editors really helped the event pass quickly for me -- and we sure packed in a lot of information about all aspects of publishing. I bet the listeners are still trying to sift through all we said. But free books were a guaranteed way of keeping their attention and winning friends.

I hate speaking to crowds. I'm always afraid of saying something wrong. But it never turns out as bad as I fear.

Wednesday, we feasted on Mexican food with a dozen or so members of the Indiana ACFW. It was hard to part after such a short visit, but we had to get back on the road. Our return trip, we drove home under gray, leaking cloud cover.

Warning -- sugar overload puts certain editors to sleep. Dairy Queen blizzards tasted yummy, but I was left talking to myself behind the wheel for at least a half-hour while the others slept.

Home in time for the American Idol big show. Not sure it was worth the hype, though Josh Groban and Carrie Underwood sang beautifully.

Now back to the old routine.

8 comments:

The Write Life said...

Oh to be a fly on the wall in that 3 hour overview of publishing! Did you videotape it for us?! I wish.

I have so many questions I'd love to have answered. Blogged. Whatever!

How does JoAnne pick which state is next in line? Does she have darts and a blindfold? Or is there a more predictible way of choosing?

How do you all organize everything? Do you keep electronic files of submissions, sorted by folder, or are you buried under stacks of paper that you print out?

Becky, how do you choose which proposal to look at next for women's fiction, or do you just organize them as they come in -- first come, first reviewed? Is the word count still 75,000-90,000?

Same question with Susan and the mysteries...how do you organize and review?

Do you as editors have set deadlines for each line, on when you need to purchase a new story/set? Or do you just contract several at a time and then go through each process with projects in batches?

How do you ever figure out what books need to come out when in the line-up? Which authors are available, and which have other contracts?

And I'd love to hear how the whole process for each line goes behind the scene. I'm familiar with the HP's and novellas as far as selling a story, deadlines, edits, and all...but there's so much more that's a mystery to me.

There's some blogging ideas for the future...

Paige (By the way, that's a great picture of all three of you!)

Susan said...

Great questions, Paige,
I'll address a few on Monday, my blog day. I wouldn't be surprised if JoAnne chimes in on a couple of your questions tomorrow as well. Be watching! sd

Midwest Farmer's Daughter said...

I just wanted to thank you for coming to Fort Wayne. I learned so much from the three of you -- I think you've advanced my career a decade! :)

The nicest thing about meeting you was seeing that you are normal human beings like the rest of us. Whew!

I AM still digesting, reviewing my notes, and looking at all the great handouts you gave us. Kudos!

I think the neatest part was realizing you see your company as a ministry as well as a business. I loved that.

Thanks!
Drema

Becky said...

Well, Paige, that should be enough questions to keep us blogging for a few weeks. (grin)

Glad we could be of service, Drema. You don't know how "normal" these edits can be.

The Write Life said...

Well...inquiring minds want to know. I have more questions, too, but I'll pace myself. LOL.

Paige (And handouts? They got HANDOUTS??? Drooling here... and trying not to covet or envy.)

Lynette Sowell said...

Sounds like you all had a blast. :) I love getting together with writer friends. The time passes so quickly, though, and then it's back to life as we know it.

Wow, Paige, and I thought *I* asked a lot of questions. :) I love to know how things work, so I don't make incorrect assumptions or have unrealistic expectations. :) Plus, I'd like to learn how to work with editors better. I want to make their job easier and mine, too, as I plan my stories. :)

Kristy Dykes said...

What a great experience for these students--to get to meet and hear three editors talk about the publishing business.

Sounds like you had a great time.

Cara Putman said...

It was such fun having you in Indiana. Thanks for making the time and sharing such great information. Glad you had a safe trip back!