Developmental Editing: A Handbook for Freelancers, Authors, and Publishers

Editing is a tricky business. It requires analytical flair and creative panache, the patience of a saint and the vision of a writer. Transforming a manuscript into a book that edifies, inspires, and sells? That's the job of the developmental editor, whose desk is the first stop for many manuscripts on the road to bookdom--a route ably mapped out in the pages of Developmental Editing.

Author Scott Norton has worked with a diverse range of authors, editors, and publishers, and his handbook provides an approach to developmental editing that is logical, collaborative, humorous, and realistic. He starts with the core tasks of shaping the proposal, finding the hook, and building the narrative or argument, and then turns to the hard work of executing the plan and establishing a style.

Developmental Editing includes detailed case studies featuring a variety of nonfiction books--election-year polemic, popular science, memoir, travel guide--and authors ranging from first-timer to veteran, journalist to scholar. Handy sidebars offer advice on how to become a developmental editor, create effective illustration programs, and adapt sophisticated fiction techniques (such as point of view, suspense, plotting, character, and setting) to nonfiction writing.

Norton's book also provides freelance copyeditors with a way to earn higher fees while introducing more creativity into their work lives. It gives acquisitions, marketing, and production staff a vocabulary for diagnosing a manuscript's flaws and techniques for transforming it into a bestseller. And perhaps most importantly, Developmental Editing equips authors with the concrete tools they need to reach their audiences.

ISBN-13: 9780226595153

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Publication Date: 11-30-2011

Pages: 256

Product Dimensions: 6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

Series: Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, & Publishing

Scott Norton is director of editing, design, and production at the University of California Press.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction
What Developmental Editing Is
Whom This Book Is For
What This Book Covers
How to Use the Exercise Packet
Some Ground Rules
A Few Notes about Cultural Assumptions 1. Concept: Shaping the Proposal
Author Profile: The Veteran
Client Profile: The Agent
Assignment: The Proposal with Too Many Concepts
Locate the Concept
Profile the Audience
Evaluate Market Potential
Bring the Vision into Focus 2. Content: Assessing Potential
Author Profile: The First-Timer
Client Profile: The Big Trade House
Assignment: The Tome with Too Many Subjects
Size Up the Author
Size Up the Publisher
Size Up the DE
Create a Content Summary
Find the Main Subject
Exercises 3. Thesis: Finding the Hook
Author Profile: The Coauthors
Client Profile: The Small Trade House
Assignment: The Study with Too Many Theses
Cull Theses from Topics
Beware of the Rehash
Choose the Main Thesis
Create a Working Title
Exercises 4. Narrative: Tailoring the Timeline
Author Profile: The Historian
Client Profile: The Copublisher
Assignment: The Sprawling Saga
Untangle Timelines from Arguments
Find the Main Timelines
Brainstorm Timeline Strategies
Compose the New Timeline
Fine-Tune the Timeline
Restore Bits of Argument
Exercises 5. Exposition: Deploying the Argument
Author Profile: The Theorist
Client Profile: The University Press
Assignment: The Theory with Too Many Tangents
Untangle Arguments from Timelines
Find the Main Arguments
Brainstorm Argument Strategies
Compose the New Argument
Fine-Tune the Argument
Restore Bits of Timeline
Exercises 6. Plan: Drafting a Blueprint
Write Up the Plan
Compose Chapter Theses
Intervene Strategically
Exercises 7. Rhythm: Setting the Pace
Author Profile: The Sole Authority
Client Profile: The Regional House
Assignment: The Local History Turned Personal
Rearrange the Furniture
Draft New Passages
Balance Chapter Weights
Edit for Pace
Exercises 8. Transitions: Filling in the Blanks
Author Profile: The Dead Author
Client Profile: The Self-Publisher
Assignment: The Memoir with Lapses
Create Opening Transitions
Create Closing Transitions
Draw Conclusions
Place Those Conclusions
Exercises 9. Style: Training the Voice
Author Profile: The Journalist
Client Profile: The Book Packager
Assignment: The Story with Too Many Voices
Set the Tone
Parse the Rhetoric
Master Abstraction
Gauge the Ironies
Harmonize the Voices 10. Display: Dressing Up the Text
Author Profile: The Author-for-Hire
Client Profile: The Trade Reference House
Assignment: The Guidebook with Poor Signage
Consider Subheads
Anticipate the E-Version
Consider Epigraphs
Draft an Art Plan
Illustrate Concepts
Visualize Data
Test-Drive Maps
Add Lagniappe 11. Fiction: Weaving the Dream
Author Profile: The Friend
Client Profile: The Genre Boutique
Assignment: The Novel with Genre Dysphoria
Vet the Premise
Scope Out the Form
Position the Narrator
Scout the Setting
Know the Genre
Advance the Plot
Render the Characters
Sweat the Details Afterword to Publishers
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Index Show More