There's Editing - Then There's Editing

While I've edited a lot of books and articles in the number of years I've been a professional, I've never done anything quite like my latest project, which was working with another writer to put his newspaper columns into a book. But before I tell you about that, let me back up to the beginning of this whole thing.

Four years ago, I was contacted by Arcadia Publishing, asking if I would do a book about Winnsboro for their Images series. I think they found me online, which shows that an online presence can pay off, and they wanted my small town included in the series. Since I am relatively new to this area – sixteen years – I told the editor that I would be happy to do the book if I could work with the Official Winnsboro Historian, Bill Jones. They agreed, and Bill agreed, so we worked for a little over six months to put the first book together - Images of America, Winnsboro. As the title suggests, it is a book comprised mostly of photographs.

After that book came out, a number of people around town said it would really be great if all of the columns and articles that Bill has written about the history of this area of East Texas were compiled for a book. We didn’t mean for four years to elapse before we did the next book, but life interfered and it wasn’t until last December that we were able to start working on Reflections of Winnsboro.

Bill gathered material he wanted in the book, and we met weekly to go through it, much like we did while working on the first book. Together, we decided what material would be included and where it would go in chapters. There was no way that everything he has written could make it to print. He has written a lot over the last 30 years, mostly for the local weekly newspaper, The Winnsboro News, and he has mountains of material.

After our meetings, I'd take the clippings home, read them into my computer using Dragon Naturally Speaking and go through a process of editing and writing short transitions. To turn columns into a book, there is a lot more to it than just dumping the material onto pages. Columns are stand-alone pieces, and they need to flow smoothly from one to the other in a chapter. Making that happen was my biggest challenge.

Equally important was not losing Bill’s voice in that editing process. Even though he is highly educated and is a former history teacher, he has adopted a country down-home way of speaking and writing since coming back to his hometown in the '70s. It is his voice that resonates in the columns, and I knew people wanted to hear that voice in the book. Thankfully, I was able to achieve that, and Bill has been very happy with the book. He keeps saying he doesn't know how I was able to smooth everything out and still make it sound like him. I keep telling him that it's because I kept most of his words.

I published the book under my little imprint, MCM Enterprises, after having it copy-edited by Audrey Linter at ALTO Editing and professionally formatted. The cover was done by Dany Russell, a graphic artist, and in mid-May it was finally ready for the book launch party we had for Bill at the Winnsboro Center for the Arts. We had a terrific turn out for the party, and Bill was thrilled to see so many of his friends, some he had not seen in a while. When it was over, he told me that it was the nicest event that he has ever had in his honor.

Here we are at the book-launch party.

Posted by Maryann Miller - novelist, editor and sometimes actress. She has written a number of mysteries, including the critically-acclaimed Season Mystery Series that debuted with Open Season. Information about her books and her editing rates is available on her website. When not writing, Maryann likes to take her dog for a walk and work outside on her little ranch in East Texas.