Well, I’m delighted to say, I got the Gods of IMAGO galleys today, and am thrilled to begin the process. For those of you reading who don’t know what a galley is… let me explain. As I mentioned in another post, the process of publication has many stages – a book is a collaborative effort once the acquisitions editor says “yes.” Beyond the business elements (contract, rights, marketing, etc…) there is the editing stage (you and the editor), the copy edit stage (a copy editor), and then… the galley stage. The book is set in its book format, and you the writer have the ability to read it one more time to catch any typos, mistakes, final minor revisions that you see. Once the galley stage is over… that is it: off to first run and distribution. So, my job is to read the novel and then list out the errors I find on the galley error sheet.
Well, the really fun part about the galley stage is the opportunity for the writer to actually become a reader. When we write a novel, we immerse into the world of the book, and it is impossible to actually see the words on the page as they really are. Actually, it is really hard to be a reader of a novel at all, because the writer knows so much about plot and character and setting that there is really no way to experience the art form as it is suppose to be experienced. The galley stage (so far removed from the original writing stage) allows for me to experience Gods of IMAGO as a reader would experience it. I started reading yesterday, and… well, you are in for an exciting ride. I send the galleys back at the end of the week, and it’s on to pre-publication hubbub.
If you haven’t already done so, and want to be caught up for the release of Gods of IMAGO, well, grab a copy of the first book in the trilogy, IMAGO, anywhere books are sold. As always, thanks for being a part of the ride.
G
Greg Belliveau 