Wednesday, December 03, 2008

An editor's first acquisition - blog series | Cover Approved

Ya know, it's funny -- I post about not knowing what to blog about and then it occurs to me that I had the perfect opportunity this year to post something really interesting. I acquired my first two books this year and one of them (Hate List by Jennifer Brown) has already finished being edited and is working its way through the design process. How interesting would that have been, if only I had thought about it? An editor's first acquisition, step by step.

Well it's not over yet. We still have to make it to publication. So I'll be sure to come back and update when there are things to share. That'll be my first step toward making this blog something worth reading. I'll also start at the beginning and post a few "blogs from the past" to catch you up.

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But right now, I have the first update. A very exciting day. Today the designer took his cover ideas to our jacket committee meeting. Jacket committee consists of key people in sales, marketing, publicity, design, editorial, and the publisher and they look at the cover ideas, discuss their thoughts, likes, dislikes, etc. and either approve a cover/sketch or give feedback to move forward. My boss and I had met with the designer, the awesome Mr. Dave Caplan, previously and he had shown us three ideas. While they were all amazing, one direction resonated with me more than the rest and I immediately said so. It turned out that it was his favorite as well. Luckily the jacket committee agreed and it was approved.

Now, my boss had told me not to get my hopes up. The folks on the committee are very opiniated and for good reason---they know books and they want to do what is best for each title. But it was too late at that point. I had my hopes WAY up. It didn't help that I had a copy of the concept hanging in my cube to look over at since before Thanksgiving. So now I feel like melting. Adrenaline is rushing through my veins and my head feels light. I'm so excited that another milestone has been passed for my first acquisition. And I can't wait to share the cover with the outside world. I have no idea when that can be, but I'm sure I need to wait until the catalog and ARCs comes in (March). At the very least I have to wait until I share it with the author and agent. But as soon as I'm able, you know it'll be up here.

Now I must get back to work. Title factsheets AND catalog copy are both due by end of day today and there is a Longstockings get-together I don't want to miss. Meanwhile, my heart is going out to anyone who received bad news today. Layoffs suck and while it seems like our company is safe at the moment, to hear about stuff like this happening in an industry that feels more like family than work is disheartening and sad for all of us.

2 comments:

Corey Schwartz said...

Interesting. I was also my editor's first acquisition. Unfortunately, she is now in medical school! :)

T.S. said...

That makes me sad. It's such a tough job sometimes and I've seen a lot of young editors leave the industry in pursuit of something that will make them happier. Interestingly enough, most of the people I've known have gone to law school, which I think is hilarious. Apparently law school and medical school are less stressful than publishing.

But I love it and while there have been times I've doubted "the calling" and wondered if I'd be happier somewhere else, I know this is where I'm meant to be and I'm determined to stick it out for the long haul.