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Originally Posted by Moejoe
I keep hearing about editors and proofreaders and agents and how all these are important to produce the high-quality fiction we get now, but I don't see it in reality. I see endless series set in endless copycat worlds.. I see horror that isn't horrific but is more like a soap opera. Science fiction with no science. Thrillers that aren't thrilling and mysteries with no mystery, apart from the mystery of why the central character is still bothering. Literary novels that are no more literary than afternoon TV movies from the 80's. Adventure novels that would make the writers of the A-Team blush they're that stupid.
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Yes, I see the same things but you mistake who is at fault. Copyeditors and proofreaders have no role in determining storyline, adding science to science fiction, mystery to mysteries, etc. These are the province of the author.
The copyeditor's role is to make sure that grammar is correct, that sentences make sense, and that Joe doesn't suddenly become Joan and that Joan doesn't become "that" (as opposed to, e.g., who).
The proofreader's primary role is to make sure that errors didn't creep in at the typesetting stage.
It is the author's role to create an original work.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Moejoe
I see badly edited, sloppily proofread and horribly typeset novels all the time. I see horrifically designed front covers where all they've done is photoshopped a woman with a gun onto a backdrop, or hired some hack to paint a spaceship and that's the end of that, slap on a font and we're all done. I pick up books that are so badly written that I can't believe anybody would buy them, or invest time and money in their production.
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Yes, I see that as well, but I see fewer instances of it (considering the numbers of books involved) when the publisher is a major publisher like Random House as opposed to a publisher that is really the author's self-publishing company. I also have seen more of the poor editing and proofreading as the major houses have consolidated, have become more quarterly profit oriented (shareholder demands), and have cut costs by offshoring production work. (I'm not suggesting that American editors are better than British editors or the editors from any other country. Rather that American editors are better choices for American-audience books, just as a British editor would be a better choice for British-audience books because of familiarity with localisms and style.)
Book production work suffers greatly from the "anyone can do it" thinking process. Everyone with InDesign thinks they are a typesetter; everyone with Illustrator thinks they are an artist; everyone with a word processor thinks they are an editor or an author. It just ain't so!