Top 5 Unexpected Side Benefits of Being a Del Rey/Spectra Editor:
Oh, yeah, sure, there’s the idealistic, the high-falutin’, and totally obvious reasons I enjoy my job: the-discovering-new-authors/meeting-Terry-Brooks-and-China-Mieville/pursuing-a-life-passion side of things. But I was surprised to find that there are other fringe benefits, things that I just hadn’t thought of before I got here.
It’s realizing, like Peter Parker, that doing good deeds is all well and good…but it’s not quite like the feeling of swinging from skyscrapers.
5. Suddenly Being Able to Capitalize on Years of Nerd-dom
All that time I spent reading Dragonlance novels when I was supposed to be paying attention in Algebra class? (Sorry about that, Ms. Kanzer!) Oddly enough, my extensive knowledge about novels with dragons on the cover has turned out to be a bit more useful than my less-than-extensive knowledge of algebraic equations.
It’s a bit like everyone telling you you’re wasting your time mastering Guitar Hero on Expert…and then stumbling into an alternate universe where the greatest Guitar Hero player is crowned king. SO WEIRD BUT ALSO SO AWESOME.
4. Playing Video Games Legitimately Counts as “Research”
No, really. One of my current projects is editing a novel set in the universe of Uncharted, and so playing through both games was seriously part of the preparation I did for the project.
That sneaking, guilty feeling I used to get that spending hours on a game was perhaps a waste of time better spent accomplishing something…totally gone. Well, almost.
3. So Do Trips to the Comic Shop
I also edit a number of our comics and graphic novels. And though I frequent the local shops to catch up on my favorite series, I also do it to check out new talent for my upcoming projects. Though I also work through agents and my own network of trusted talents, I also never know when some new, extraordinary artist might catch my eye. It makes every trip a whole new kind of adventure.
2. The License to Take Zombies, Superheroes, and Sexy Werewolves Very, Very Seriously
Outside of the Del Rey/Spectra offices, my passionately argued opinions on, say, whether an upcoming superhero movie is sure to be especially awesome, or whether there’s anything new to be done with vampires/werewolves/zombies, are, at best, amusing after-dinner chatter, and, at worst, well…you know what happens when you bring up such subjects in polite company.
Here, however, these things—as well as our sense of how fans feel about these subjects–could help determine whether we license a particular film novelization or acquire a new manuscript…and they’re discussed, with the solemnity and urgency of a United Nations summit on debt relief, at our weekly editorial meetings.
Okay, maybe not that seriously, but still: We know we have a responsibility to our fans to bring them incredible SFF, and we do take that seriously. [soaring music plays]
1. Being Part of Del Rey/Spectra’s “Fellowship of the Ring”
Contrary to all expectation (including, once upon a time, my own) editing is not a solitary profession, in which one spends one’s days immured in immaculate silence, meditating upon the mysteries of Language and Story…
Indeed, it was amazing to find that I was actually part of a real team, one made up of fellow nerds, pop culture obsessives, and seriously talented publishing professionals. So if I have a tough story issue that my author and I just can’t think our way through; or if I need a second opinion on a cover illustration or a logo design; or if I need to know if the latest manuscript I’m excited about is the real deal…or if I need to be talked off the ledge; or if I just really want to play Settlers of Catan at lunch, I know I can count on my Del Rey/Spectra colleagues–an awesome fellowship of geekery.
