A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to score a short interview with Brindle & Glass's in-house editor, Cailey Cavallin. She offers a wealth of great advice and personal experience - read on below!
1. How did you get started in the editing profession?
I studied English literature in university, with an eye toward becoming a writer. Then during my first co-op placement—strangely enough, at a tech company—I was assigned the task of creating a house style guide for their manuals. My boss gave me a copy of Substance & Style: Instruction and Practice in Copyediting (Mary Stoughton, EEI Press, 1996) as a primer, and I was hooked. All of my three remaining co-op placements involved editing in some form, and I decided it was something I wanted to pursue. After completing my undergrad (and taking some time off to travel), I enrolled in Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing program. It was a really fun program and a great introduction to the publishing industry, and from there I got an internship with Project Bookmark Canada. After my internship was completed, I set about trying to find a job in publishing. This took a while (a year) and a lot of work (I sent resumes literally coast to coast), but in the end it was worth it. I landed an internship with TouchWood Editions/Brindle & Glass, worked incredibly hard, and after a couple of years was promoted to in-house editor.
2. Which editing roles do you fulfill as in-house editor at TouchWood Editions/Brindle & Glass? Are there other staff editors or freelance editors that share your workload, or is it basically a one-person job?
My role varies from book to book. We like to do two or three levels of editing on each book, starting with a substantive/structural edit, then a more detailed copyedit, and finally a proofread. I am the only editor on staff, so I obviously can’t edit every book at every level—and it’s better that I don’t. Fresh eyes during the various stages of editing are always best. And this is where freelance editors come in. If I’ve done the structural edit of a book, then a freelancer editor will do the copyedit/proofread. Or vice versa. And every season there are always a couple books that I don’t have time to edit personally, in which cases the freelancers do all of the editing. But I am always the last set of eyes on a book. No matter what stages of the editing process I’ve done personally, I will always do a final close-read before the book goes to print.
3. How do you recognize a piece (or an author) with high potential?
It’s different with every book. Sometimes it’s the plot or characters; in other cases it might be that the author has a particularly fresh or funny or unique voice.
4. Once you decide to move forward with a piece, how much editing is appropriate? How do you know what should be edited out and what must be left in?
To be clear, I am not the one who acquires the books we publish—Taryn Boyd, our associate publisher, performs that role in consultation with our publisher, Pat Touchie. However, all of the unsolicited manuscripts we receive go through me first—I log them all and pass along the ones that fit our publishing parameters, flagging any that I feel are particularly interesting/noteworthy. Then, once Taryn has worked out a deal with the author, she and I will sit down and discuss what needs to be done in terms of editing. Again it varies from book to book. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of polishing the writing. And in other cases more intensive work might be required. But I always want to maintain the author’s voice—and help make the book the very best it can be.
5. How many times, on average, do you comb through a piece before feeling satisfied with your revisions?
Again, it depends on the book. Some authors are wonderful storytellers, but weak technical writers, and so I know I have to give their books a little extra attention. But all books go through at least two rounds of editing and a final read through.
6. As an editor at a publishing house, you must receive plenty of unpublishable pieces. Is there a point in giving criticism to simply bad writing? If so, is there a way to do it with sensitivity?
As the only editor working in-house, I have very little time to spend crafting rejections. This means that most people receive a template rejection, as unfeeling as that might sound. However, on occasion, we will receive a piece that has potential but needs more work than we could conceivably afford (both in terms of time and money), and then we will include some constructive criticism (perhaps the dialogue needs work or the characters are too thinly drawn, etc.).
7. What adaptations do you foresee in your role in the growing surge of digital publications and online reading?
With the rise of self-publishing people have begun to question the need for editors. But I think that’s shortsighted. The editor’s role is to help the author get his or her message across as clearly and compellingly as possible. And every writer, no matter his or her experience or skill level, can surely find some benefit in that. That being said, there is always room to evolve. I think tagging is something more and more editors will have to learn to do, across various platforms (at the moment, tagging is used primarily to create indexes, but definitely has applications in terms of searchability for digital media).
8. In your opinion, is there more or less need and opportunity for emerging writers and editors in today’s internet-obsessed world?
I think there is more need. There is so much going on in the world today, and people want to be informed—and to be so they must consume information. Writers and editors are the ones who create and present that information, and therefore will always be invaluable.
9. What advice can you give to a new writer/editor entering the publishing industry in Canada today?
For editors, I would definitely say get as much training and experience as possible. Completion of a publishing/editing program definitely helps, and certification from the Editors’ Association of Canada is even better. Editors’ association websites/newsletters are a great place to learn about not only training opportunities but also job opportunities. For writers, I would say be persistent. You’ll hear a lot of no’s before you hear a yes, but don’t give up. And before you send your manuscript to a publisher, do your research—what kinds of books do they publish? Will they work with Canadian authors? Nothing is more annoying than an unsolicited manuscript from an author who obviously couldn’t be bothered to look at our website before contacting us.
And finally, be aware of and open to the changes that are happening, but don’t worry about the future of the printed book. It’s not going anywhere—not anytime soon, anyway.
1. How did you get started in the editing profession?
I studied English literature in university, with an eye toward becoming a writer. Then during my first co-op placement—strangely enough, at a tech company—I was assigned the task of creating a house style guide for their manuals. My boss gave me a copy of Substance & Style: Instruction and Practice in Copyediting (Mary Stoughton, EEI Press, 1996) as a primer, and I was hooked. All of my three remaining co-op placements involved editing in some form, and I decided it was something I wanted to pursue. After completing my undergrad (and taking some time off to travel), I enrolled in Humber College’s Creative Book Publishing program. It was a really fun program and a great introduction to the publishing industry, and from there I got an internship with Project Bookmark Canada. After my internship was completed, I set about trying to find a job in publishing. This took a while (a year) and a lot of work (I sent resumes literally coast to coast), but in the end it was worth it. I landed an internship with TouchWood Editions/Brindle & Glass, worked incredibly hard, and after a couple of years was promoted to in-house editor.
2. Which editing roles do you fulfill as in-house editor at TouchWood Editions/Brindle & Glass? Are there other staff editors or freelance editors that share your workload, or is it basically a one-person job?
My role varies from book to book. We like to do two or three levels of editing on each book, starting with a substantive/structural edit, then a more detailed copyedit, and finally a proofread. I am the only editor on staff, so I obviously can’t edit every book at every level—and it’s better that I don’t. Fresh eyes during the various stages of editing are always best. And this is where freelance editors come in. If I’ve done the structural edit of a book, then a freelancer editor will do the copyedit/proofread. Or vice versa. And every season there are always a couple books that I don’t have time to edit personally, in which cases the freelancers do all of the editing. But I am always the last set of eyes on a book. No matter what stages of the editing process I’ve done personally, I will always do a final close-read before the book goes to print.
3. How do you recognize a piece (or an author) with high potential?
It’s different with every book. Sometimes it’s the plot or characters; in other cases it might be that the author has a particularly fresh or funny or unique voice.
4. Once you decide to move forward with a piece, how much editing is appropriate? How do you know what should be edited out and what must be left in?
To be clear, I am not the one who acquires the books we publish—Taryn Boyd, our associate publisher, performs that role in consultation with our publisher, Pat Touchie. However, all of the unsolicited manuscripts we receive go through me first—I log them all and pass along the ones that fit our publishing parameters, flagging any that I feel are particularly interesting/noteworthy. Then, once Taryn has worked out a deal with the author, she and I will sit down and discuss what needs to be done in terms of editing. Again it varies from book to book. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of polishing the writing. And in other cases more intensive work might be required. But I always want to maintain the author’s voice—and help make the book the very best it can be.
5. How many times, on average, do you comb through a piece before feeling satisfied with your revisions?
Again, it depends on the book. Some authors are wonderful storytellers, but weak technical writers, and so I know I have to give their books a little extra attention. But all books go through at least two rounds of editing and a final read through.
6. As an editor at a publishing house, you must receive plenty of unpublishable pieces. Is there a point in giving criticism to simply bad writing? If so, is there a way to do it with sensitivity?
As the only editor working in-house, I have very little time to spend crafting rejections. This means that most people receive a template rejection, as unfeeling as that might sound. However, on occasion, we will receive a piece that has potential but needs more work than we could conceivably afford (both in terms of time and money), and then we will include some constructive criticism (perhaps the dialogue needs work or the characters are too thinly drawn, etc.).
7. What adaptations do you foresee in your role in the growing surge of digital publications and online reading?
With the rise of self-publishing people have begun to question the need for editors. But I think that’s shortsighted. The editor’s role is to help the author get his or her message across as clearly and compellingly as possible. And every writer, no matter his or her experience or skill level, can surely find some benefit in that. That being said, there is always room to evolve. I think tagging is something more and more editors will have to learn to do, across various platforms (at the moment, tagging is used primarily to create indexes, but definitely has applications in terms of searchability for digital media).
8. In your opinion, is there more or less need and opportunity for emerging writers and editors in today’s internet-obsessed world?
I think there is more need. There is so much going on in the world today, and people want to be informed—and to be so they must consume information. Writers and editors are the ones who create and present that information, and therefore will always be invaluable.
9. What advice can you give to a new writer/editor entering the publishing industry in Canada today?
For editors, I would definitely say get as much training and experience as possible. Completion of a publishing/editing program definitely helps, and certification from the Editors’ Association of Canada is even better. Editors’ association websites/newsletters are a great place to learn about not only training opportunities but also job opportunities. For writers, I would say be persistent. You’ll hear a lot of no’s before you hear a yes, but don’t give up. And before you send your manuscript to a publisher, do your research—what kinds of books do they publish? Will they work with Canadian authors? Nothing is more annoying than an unsolicited manuscript from an author who obviously couldn’t be bothered to look at our website before contacting us.
And finally, be aware of and open to the changes that are happening, but don’t worry about the future of the printed book. It’s not going anywhere—not anytime soon, anyway.