Nicole Murphy (also writing as Elizabeth Dunk) is running a series of posts at her blog about how writers were first published. It’s yet another reminder of how diverse the routes to getting that first book out are, and how varied are the reasons that people want to get published.
One of the bumps in the road my first novel, The Darkness Within, suffered was a switch of editors between the structural and the copy edit. I enjoyed working with Dmetri, found his advice and feedback highly useful, and would’ve liked to have seen the project through with him. I’m chuffed to be working with him again on my next novel, The Big Smoke, coming out mid next year. It’s also worth noting Dmetri is running a workshop on horror writing later this month for Writers Victoria, encompassing general techniques as well as the peculiarities of the genre.
You can read more about The Darkness Within‘s detours, as Nicole so nicely puts it, at her blog.
Thanks For the kind words, Jason. I’ve always said an editor is only as good as the material he or she is handed. They can’t make a mahogany coffin out of plywood. It also helps if the editor has a genuine love and understanding of the possibilities inherent in the genre, as I do. I also write horror as well. So it’s an immerse experience for me.