Friction Publishing / Story Inside

One (1) book published, and I'll give you one (1) guess who the site is registered to.

Friction Publishing:

I agree that most issues, other than deep structural ones, can be identified in the first five chapters of a manuscript.

I agree that a full substantive/structural edit on a full length novel by a freelancer who really does know what they're doing and has the credentials and experience behind them -- say, Nicola Griffith of Sterling Editing, or Anna Genoese (ex-Tor editor) -- will run the author somewhere around the $2500 price.

I agree that for some authors it's worth paying an editor for that kind of help because it can be an incredibly useful learning experience.

But I would reiterate that it can be worthwhile only if the editor one is paying for is able to deliver what she promises. How can one know that? Well, the editor may have worked for many years as a substantive editor, a la Anna Genoese. The editor may have written several outstandingly good novels herself and had them commercially published, and also run writing accredited workshops, a la Nicola Griffith. But an editor whose experience appears to be limited to having written a novel that was, as you say, "plagued with problems" but that she was unable to edit herself and had to pay someone else to point out the problems.....I'm finding it hard to understand how that can be considered a viable credential. It seems akin to being sick, not being able to figure out why, paying a doctor to diagnose and treat my disease, and deciding this makes me suitable to diagnose other people's diseases for them.

Thanks, Friction. Yes, I'm familiar with that saying. I guess it's the "do one" I'd like to see evidence of.

I'm an experienced enough teacher to know that even the brightest PhD student or the most skilled tech will, occasionally, run into an assay or technique that they can't do after seeing it once: they need extra training. And not every PhD student or tech is top-notch; the occasional individual is going to need a huge amount of hand-holding on a regular basis. So after they "see one" by watching me do it, I make danged sure they can "do one" before I let them loose and "teach one" to someone else. IMO it would be very poor scientific practice to assume that because they've seen it done once, they're accomplished enough to do it correctly themselves *and* to teach someone else to do it.

And that applies to each assay and technique. Just because someone's good at running Western blots doesn't mean they'll know how to do an ELISA. Expertise at ELISAs doesn't necessarily translate to primary cell culture, or microdissection, or flow cytometry. Similarly, there are a number of aspects to the craft of writing, and being good at one doesn't mean the author is good at them all. I'm sure we've all seen brilliant plots with cardboard characters, or shining settings with inadequate dialogue, or prose that sings in a plotless story.

I'd compare becoming a good writer to getting a PhD: it's a long hard slog, it involves mastering a large number of skills and techniques, and it's not something anyone else can do for you. Watching someone else get their PhD isn't the same as doing your own dissertation. And it's very unlikely that a university will hire you as a tenure-track academic and let you train PhD students unless you've got your own PhD.

You've let us know that you did the "see one" by hiring external editors. My criterion for the "do one" would be "published with an advance-paying press that is recognised as an accredited publisher by a standard author's group such as RWA, SFWA, HWA, etc."

Sorry if I'm being clueless, but I'm not getting it. Because if you're not competing with N Griffith etc, what niche are you filling? Why would someone pay thousands of dollars to you when for the same price they could get an established, accomplished editor? Why would they pay you to edit their first few pages when Nicola Griffith will do that for free?

Closed to subs right quick, and site's now gone. (Tibbs' book site remains).

Just a note that site has returned as Story Inside, selling greeting cards with Tibbs' short stories inside.