It's been a busy busy summer, and as my day job launches into fall semester, life has been cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs, as my sister says.

In May, I made arrangements to get Pemphredo's Orb professionally edited. This cost a chunk of change, and frankly, I was hedging my bets that I was going to get a grant to help cover funds (Good news! Got grant. Bad news...it's doled out in four chunks in the future. Ah well. Still good news). I searched around. The first editor with whom I spoke was, hmmm, hinky. I did some research and found that he had self-published some rather steamy political treatises, so I backed off. He seemed too eager, and the price was high. So, I decided this was not the route to go.

I asked around on a mystery writer group who they would recommend. They gave me a name, and sure enough, the editor had rave reviews for his skills and published works. However, this is where I made a mistake. The editor's published works, while in the same genre, were not the same sub-genre. In other words, while the editor did indeed write mysteries, he did not have knowledge of historical mysteries. For the sake of argument (and because I'm obviously avoiding giveaways), I'll say the editor writes crime mysteries set in present-day Chicago. But I digress.

I sent in two chapters and got good suggestions, along with the obligatory "I think we can work well together." I had to pay up front for a reservation in his schedule, and this seems standard. Upon manuscript delivery, I paid another portion of the total fee, again standard. We set a date for the developmental edit to be complete, but I did say I was flexible since I was already working on Seward's Issue. That was MY mistake. Don't ever tell an editor you're not in a hurry. The agreed upon delivery date for editing was July 1.

Around July 1, I got a note saying the editing would be delayed about two weeks. No big deal--I was not at the point where I was ready to edit. Then I got a note saying it would be done by the end of July. Hmmm. Weird, but okay. The long story short is that I finally got a complete editing package on August 9. I paid for the service, arranged for a wrap up phone call, and read through the materials.

What did I get for my half-month's salary? Quite a lot, I must say. I got a detailed overview of the characters and the plot, as well as a page by page edit that covered not only small details, but major issues such as head hopping (the bane of me). The editor gave me loads of ideas to make the book a better mystery. That's a good thing. He specified all the places where I could improve the book to increase tension, make deeper characters, and draw a reader into the plot. The editor clearly worked a long time on the book.

Here is the irony. In the "positive rejection" letter from the agent, he suggested adding more historical details. The editor, however, said the historical bits were sufficient the way they were, and in fact, called some of them plodding. Paraphrase: You really don't have to give the servants names because no one reading a mystery really cares. They want action instead. At one point, he even said (again, paraphrasing) that the work was like "It's a Small World" at Disney--attractive on the surface, but ultimately slow and boring.

My overarching vision for this book was "Downton Abbey" meets "Mistress of the Art of Death." (Yeah, I know, two vastly different time periods, but hey, same country). I think the editor wanted it to be P.D. James meets "Silence of the Lambs." I'm not sure we had a meeting of the minds on this vision, confirmed with the 4-minute phone call wherein the only thing I wanted was some suggestions on a better title and got "Really, I have no idea."

Okay, so what's the takeaway? First of all, a developmental edit is worth the money if you have a muddy plot (I did) and bad habits like head hopping (I do, and I'm working on it). Second, make sure your editor matches your genre, and I mean, be as SPECIFIC as possible. DO NOT hire a literary fiction editor if you are writing a sci-fi novel, for example. It will not end well. Third, realize it is okay to disagree on some points. You do not have to do what the editor says. For example, the main character has an investment in the lives of the people who live in her home. She calls them by name, and well, sorry if it's boring. I think it's in line with the genre and the character. Julian Fellowes would support this, and he's doing well financially. Finally, do take to heart the recommendations on cleaning up plotlines, developing characters, and following most of the tropes of the genre. If the editor sees issues in these things, it's worth noting.

Final thought: I know the developmental edit will make this a better mystery. I do not think he addressed the historical aspect well, but that's because this is not his specialty. Moving forward, I have hired a Canadian editor to work on Seward so she can spot setting errors. I now know more what to expect from a developmental edit. The new editor only works on a single project at a time, as a full-time editor, so the turnaround should be shorter. I'll report on what happens. Now, it's time to get writing because she set a deadline for me as well--November 1. It'll be here before we know it. :)