Tuesday, July 2

Ack! Homework!

So, in an interesting twist of fate, the publisher looking for a book editor actually called me this morning. We chatted for 30 minutes, and in the end, she sent me an editing sample as a test, and I'm to go through it, edit it, and send it back to her. If she likes what I've done, and sees some potential in my editing, then we'll "see where we go from here." If anything, I hope we don't go anywhere before Sydney goes back to school next month. I've got nothing I can do with her before then, and I refuse to pay for day care or summer camp before I have any more money coming in.
The test itself is a mess of weird spacing, redundant wording, and inconsistencies. It's 17 pages of bits of awkward dialog, and formatting issues. Publisher told me that this test will be worse than any manuscript I'll ever be handed to clean up, and I'm feeling pretty happy about that. Some of my biggest concerns are probably basic formatting things for them (a single space or double space between sentences?), but beyond that, it's pretty standard stuff.
I'm just hoping to get it done well. What I'm finding though, is that I can't focus very well at home. My dogs, my kid (no surprise), and my computer are too tempting. If I get this job, even though it can be mainly an at-home position, I think I'll go into the office as often as they'll let me. Or find a table at a Starbucks or the library every day while Sydney's at school.
I'll finish up the test tomorrow morning, and be eager to send it back to Publisher in the afternoon.

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