Owmapow Aims High
by Channie Greenberg
Owen Brownstone:
Thank you for using our contact form for your query. We'd like to see more from you.
Sally Snark, Publisher
Little Mocking Press
Dear Ms. Snark:
Please find, attached, the ms. for my essay collection, Dace and Daisies.
Owen Brownstone
Good Afternoon. Owen,
I love this collection! I would like to offer a contract.
Thank-You,
Sally Snark
Sally:
I look forward to working with Little Mocking Press. Please send me a contract at your first convenience.
Owmapow (Owen Brownstone)
Owmapow:
Your contract's on the way.ƒ Please send me a bio and a headshot.
Sally
Sally:
Three headshots are attached. Do you like the text of my bio?
Owmapow
PS: I think I might have signed the contract wrong; I signed my pen name, not my legal name. I'm sorry. I only noticed the mistake when printing my copy.
Owmapow:
Love your second headshot! Few authors are photographed alongside of moray eels. Also, your bio ƒlooks great.
I'll send a new contract so you can sign with your legal name. By the way, you could use a DBA name legally. For instance, "Sally" is my "business" name, I can use it under my LLC. My given name is "Skylynn," but school kids used to tease me about it.
Sally
Sally:
New contract signed :) So, how should I address you? Your given name is lovely.
As per me, I was born "Owen," but was likewise teased, so I pretended to be a hero (with a cape) named "Owmapow." That name still makes me feel powerful. Besides, writers have a license to be imaginative.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
I'd like to assemble Dace and Daisies' cover. Your book might be released this spring. Any ideas?
Sally
Sally:
Attached, please find some possible images. All belong to me. There's no copyright issues using them.
Owmapow
Sally:
I like your cover concept! Can we wrap the image around the spine? Also, for legibility, the spine's lettering needs to be darker.
I assume the images that I sent are not useful. I will employ them elsewhere.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
I'm looking forward to your book's release. First, we have to finalize your cover and begin promotion. We can do a special pre-order for your followers. They'll receive a hardcover version at a pre-release price, i.e., $3 to $5 cheaper than our final, published price.
Sally
Sally:
Aren't we going to check the manuscript beforehand? When must pre-orders be made? What price did you have in mind?
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Little Mocking Press only does copyediting. If you want line editing, it costs $0.10 USD per word, per error. Ask a friend to check your book's mechanics.
Pre-orders begin a month before release and enable your followers to be your first readers. Pre-orders also enable you to receive feedback before the final release. Prices won't be determined until we've finished the product. Pages, trim size, and more impact price.
Sally
Sally:
I didn't mean line editing, but galley proofing. When might that occur?
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Pre-release is our version of galley proofing. Also, I need a back cover description from you so I can add it to our website and so I can finish Dace and Daisies' cover design. Can you write this item by tomorrow?
Sally
Sally:
Pl let me know if the attached blurb suits you.
Owmapow
PS: When is the final copy coming my way for checking?
Owmapow:
After proofing and formatting. Don't you want pre-release orders? These orders must be pre-paid so the printer can be reimbursed.
Sally
Sally:
Galley proofs coming any time soon? I need to fulfill other book contracts yet want to give Little Mocking Press a fair share of my energy.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
I need you to re-write the prologue. You think on a higher level than most of us. Dumb it down. It confuses me.
Sally
Sally:
Will formatting and copyediting be completed soon? I've adjusted my calendar to give Dace and Daisies more attention but have other projects waiting.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
My email's been down for two weeks. I've resent all emails from that period and am sorry for any inconvenience. Meanwhile, ask a friend if they understand the gist of your prologue.
Also, please go over the attached version of your manuscript and let me know if there are any needed corrections.
Sally
Sally:
I'm a professor. I've spent tens of years evaluating students and peers' papers (I served on academic journals' mastheads). Therefore, when I proof galleys, I'm very systematic. I begin with front and back matters, and then work, word by word, comma by comma, on corrections (I search for errors I've made as well as for overcorrections publishers' crews have made.)
For this book, too, I began with front and back matters and then started my verbatim search. When I realized that there was a duplicated chapter, I stopped. Please get rid of that duplication. Please also fix the indicated errors and then send the corrected manuscript to me. For now, I've attached comments on the front and back matters, on the text, through Chapter One, and on certain mistakes, caught in Chapter One that are repeated throughout the book.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Just a little FYI -- some of the changes were already in the manuscript. I would appreciate it if you don't assume that those mistakes are the work of Little Mocking Press. Additionally, please refresh your memory on hyphens.
Sally
Sally:
I'm confused. I again received my marked-up copy from you.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
This is the copy I edited. I only edited a bit.
Sally
Sally:
In complex sentences, grammar within clauses needs to be parallel. Also, every paragraph must contain at least two sentences.
How should we progress? Should I continue to create a document listing the needed changes or should I change the file that you sent? I have only a few days' window in which to work on this project before I absolutely have to move on to another one. If I don't soon hear from you, I'll just use Track Changes.
Owmapow
Sally:
The tenth and eleventh chapters are out of order. Please fix them. Please, too, incorporate all the changes indicated by Track Changes. Additionally, please reinsert the Preface and the Table of Contents. I adjusted the latter to reflect the rearrangements you made in the front and back matters.What's more, please talk to your staff. There were many items that were grammatically correct in the ms. that I sent to you that your staff "improved." Having to reinstate those bits cost me more than a week of time as I had to recheck literally every word. I also had to go over every punctuation mark to eliminate "corrections"! At leastƒ the next publisher in my queue has been understanding that I've had to delay in proofing the manuscript due to be published with him.
I oughtn't to have had to correct your staff's work; they ought not to "fix" what isn't broken. I've attached grammar URLs. Please re-educate your subordinates. I suspect that they ran a spell check through the book but didn't bother reading it. More exactly, they didn't bother looking up technical words whose spelling can be verified via a quick Google search.
I hope you don't pay them too much, since they not only messed up tenses, punctuation, and spelling but also failed to catch actual errors. I'm not okay having to undo, for literally days, their mistakes.
Please: add back the missing pages (front matter), reorder Chapters Ten and Eleven, insert my changes, as indicated by Track Changes, and then resend this book to me for further proofing. I do NOT trust your underlings.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Do you recall that we don't do line-by-line editing? My copyeditors did their job. They aren't expected to read the books they check nor to learn specialist terms. In fact, we need an index for your books; most readers aren't scientists.
Please return to your initial manuscript and verify that it was ready for publishing. My "underlings" did more than was necessary. We won't, going forward, accept manuscripts that aren't error-free. What's more, I won't proceed with this project until your communication ceases to be accusing, condescending, and downright rude.
Sally Snark
Sally:
Please return to our contract. You don't have to like me. You do have to uphold your end of our legally binding agreement, the one we both signed.
I quote;
3.MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND DELIVERY
e. The Publisher shall have the right to make editorial revisions and changes in the manuscript as it deems appropriate, and the Author shall be given an opportunity to review these changes. Editing, other than normal copyediting for grammar, usage, and punctuation, shall be subject to the Author's approval, which approval shall not be unreasonably withheld.
f. Publisher shall send Author the copyedited manuscript and first galley proof for author review. The Author shall read, correct, and return promptly to the Publisher the manuscript and/or the proof of the Work.
Your team messed up. I objected. It's my legal right and my duty, as Dace and Daisies' creator, to object to incorrect grammar usage. A court would award me compensation for the time I've wasted correcting your subordinates' work. Yet, I didn't ask you for compensation, just to fix their mistakes.
I agree that a glossary would be helpful. I look forward to receiving, from you, a ms. with all the necessary changes.
Dr. Owen Brownstone
Sally:
I hope you are well. I apologize for my previous email. I wrote it from a place of frustration, which in no way reflects my actual intentions. I care deeply about this manuscript and hope to see it to fruition. I appreciate the hours you've invested and hope to continue our partnership.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Thank you for your graciousness. We need to create an Index for the scientific words. We can then market this book to everyone interested in the genre instead of just to scientists. I'll make your requested changes and then begin work on the index.
Sally
Owmapow:
Here's the latest version. I don't think you followed through entirely with Track Changes after Chapter Twelve.
I just need to finalize the cover. You need to complete Track Changes.
Sally
Sally:
I spent days going through the manuscript. Chapter Eight is still entirely missing. Chapter Eleven is still duplicated, once as "Chapter Eleven" and once as "Chapter Twelve." I inserted the content for the missing chapter and deleted the duplicate. Also, I made and inserted an extensive glossary. I also fixed the few spots where the grammar or spelling remained incorrect.
Since there were so many problems, not the least of which was the missing chapter, after you adjust the ms., I'd like to see it once more.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
Here's an updated copy. I fixed the chapters but haven't made all the indicated changes. I'll do that after you look this copy over.
Sally
Sally:
The Glossary is still missing. Also, the Table of Contents does not include the front and back matters. I sent you a corrected file for the t of c. As well, Chapter Eleven is still being printed twice; once as "Chapter Eleven" and once as "Chapter Twelve."
Owmapow
Owmapow:
I made the changes from when you sent the ms. with Track Changes. To update the Table of Contents, I had to reformat it to include your subtitles. Attached is your final look over. I, too, have other projects.
Sally
Sally:
I'm confused. In the sent file, the Table of Contents is still missing all listings for front and back matters. As well, the Preface and Glossary are entirely missing, and the copyright date and the date on the Preface need to be updated since this project has gone on past the year of its scheduled launch. Additionally, few of the changes indicated in my most recent email were made as were none of the Track Changes that I emailed to you prior.
Owmapow
Owmapow:
The Table of Contents now includes all headings. I had to completely reformat. You are splitting hairs.
Look at this copy. If there are errors, you need to list them one by one. I will not go back for the tenth time to make unnecessary changes to Dace and Daisies' format. The chapters are EXACT from the copy attached. They are in order, and I am precise. Start from square one. I want ERRORS, not a change of mind. You have 10 days.
Sally Snark
Sally:
I'll happily respond to this manuscript when you send me a complete file. For now, the Glossary is still missing, the copyright date and the Preface's date are still incorrect, the Dedication ought to be reformatted, front and back matters are still missing from the Table of Contents, and the names of the chapters are incorrect in both the text and the Table of Contents. These items are errors.
I'm reattaching the files I sent to you. One file is the corrected Table of Contents. Another file, which contains the Glossary, too, is the Track Changes-corrected ms.
Owmapow
From: Sally Snark, Publisher
Little Mocking Press
RE: Contract Cancellation for Dace and Dasies
To: Dr. Owen Brownstone, aka Owmapow
We are no longer able to support the publishing of Dace and Daises. The rights to the original manuscript are hereby returned to you. The current cover remains the property of Little Mocking Press. Should you wish to use that art, please remit $500.00.
Sally Snark, Publisher
Little Mocking Press
25 Potato Street
Atlanta, Georgia 30301
Copyright © 2022 by Channie Greenberg
