I was lucky enough to have the wonderful Vicky
Burkholder edit two of my books, TIGER LILY (which comes out on January 13,
2016) and STARR VALENTINE (which will be released in March of 2016). She’s an
absolute pleasure to work with, but I couldn’t help being a bit curious. How
does a writer become an editor? It seems like wearing two very different hats.
Vicky was kind enough to answer several of my questions.
1. How did
you become an editor?
I've always been good with grammar, I guess. So
when a writing friend asked me to look over her manuscript (a very long time
ago!), I did. She was an editor with a now-gone publisher and recommended me
for an opening they had and the rest, as they say, is history. Over they years,
I've done novels (in every genre you can think of), policy and procedures
manuals for businesses and organizations, college-level textbooks in several
subjects and more.
2. What do
you like most about your job?
I like being able to help authors hone their work
to its best. Plus, I get such a variety of things to work on from fiction to
non-fiction and every genre and subject you can think of. It's all good. :)
3. Does
being an editor affect your own writing?
Unfortunately, yes, but in both good ways and bad.
The good is that I rarely turn in a manuscript that needs a lot of work. The
bad is that by the end of a day spent fine-tuning another author's work, I'm
often too brain dead to work on my own. So it has slowed down my productivity.
4. What is
your pet peeve?
In editing? Authors who think they're too good to
learn the basics. Yes, everyone makes mistakes. But if your editor tells you a
dozen times that you need to learn the difference between there, their, and
they're - you really should learn the difference.
5. What was
the best piece of writing advice you ever had?
Grow a thick skin. This is not a business for those
who are weak of spirit. You get a lot of rejection and negativity and you need
to be able to take it. Yes, you can wallow for a day or two, but you can't let
the negatives get to you. You have to keep going. I know a lot of authors who
made it... on the next book. The one after the one they got dissed on. You may
never get published even if you keep writing, but if you stop, you certainly
won't be published.
More about Vicky:
Vicky Burkholder resides in Pennsylvania near the
area where her ancestors settled in 1741. She lives in a three-generation home
and is lucky enough to have two other writers in residence. At various times in
her life, she has been a journalist, writer, editor, teacher, short-order cook,
computer specialist, DJ, and librarian. Her writing spans the fantasy, science
fiction, paranormal and romance lines from YA to adult. No matter the age or
genre, all of her books have a touch of romance in them and have to have a
happily ever after ending. In addition to writing her own books, she currently
edits for two publishers as well as private clients.
More about TIGER LILY:
Lily Madison thought dying because of a bad manicure was the
worst thing that could happen. She was wrong.
Waking up in the hospital and realizing she’s being stalked
by an entire herd of naughty little ghosts turns her entire world upside down. She
begins to doubt her own sanity until she realizes she isn’t alone. A Goth girl
named Zoe can see the ghosts, too.
Most of the ghosts look like fuzzy blobs, but one is not
blobby at all. He’s a very hot, very annoying dead guy named Nick. Although
they dislike each other on sight, Nick soon realizes Lily is his only hope. With
the help of Zoe and Mr. Wan, the manicurist who almost killed her, she has only
days to get Nick and the other ghosts back where they belong or the whole world
will be in terrible danger.
But sending the ghosts back means saying goodbye to Nick
forever, and Lily isn’t sure she’ll ever be able to let him go.
