Chantel Simmons

I’ve just finished accepting and rejecting the track changes that the copyeditor made on Love Struck — officially the second-last step in the book editing process! I have to say, it was a very enjoyable process. There was only one instance where my editor asked me about a hick-ish sort of town I’d mentioned, in the same sentence as Tiffany pearls. To be honest, I’d chosen the town because a) I’d been there because our friends used to have a ginormous house on a lake with a hot tub in the living room and b) it had a cool name. I hadn’t really considered that yes, it’s very rural and likely, there are no Tiffany pearls being worn in town. Other than that, I just had to hit the Accept button a bunch of times. Sort of like a video game, but without the Space Invaders-like music.

When I went through the same process with Stuck in Downward Dog, it was a totally different experience. My editor at the time had left on all the comments from the copyeditor so I could see what she had to say. And she was just doing her job and asking the kind of questions she should ask. But I got so confused that I started cutting characters and changing names. Only to find out that I wasn’t really supposed to do that, and could’ve just rejected all her comments and moved on with my life without having a nervous breakdown.

But I didn’t know better because it was my first time and I just wanted to be a good author. This time, however, my editor screened all the comments and changes, and then sent through a near-clean version, in which all I had to do was accept the better wording in most cases, and be happy that she was so good at her job.

Now, the book is back with my editor, and going to the typesetting phase. The next time I see it, it will be look like the pages of the book, only on regular printer-size paper. I’ll have one more read of it for any last typos, and then the advanced copies will be made!

But  for now, I’m on to the next deadline: Finishing The Time Traveller’s Wife.