Melanie Nilles

Thanks for taking the time, Brenna. Could you start with telling us a little about yourself?

Thanks!

A little about myself?

Okay…

I wear many hats, sometimes all on the same day: Senior Editor of Mundania Press, President of EPIC, author of more than 50 published works, columnist for ERWA, special needs teacher, wife, mother… In my first five years published in novel-length, I’ve finaled for 6 EPPIES (in five different categories), 3 PEARLS (including one Honorable Mention, second to Angela Knight), 2 CAPAS and a Dream Realm Award. I’ve also taken Spinetingler’s Book of the Year for 2007. I write milieu-heavy dark fiction, mainly science fiction, fantasy and horror, straight genre, romance and erotic crosses, poetry, articles and essays. My reading tastes are even more eclectic. I teach classes in everything from POV studies to advanced editing, networking to marketing.

You’ve done a lot of writing. When did you publish your first work?

My first novel or my first publication?

My first novel was published February of 2003, a dark fantasy romance titled, Last Chance For Love, which will be re-releasing from Phaze in the coming year.

My first publications came much earlier. I started competing in poetry at eleven years old and journalism at thirteen. My first professional publication was an article in the local newspaper, at thirteen.

As for novels, it was an interesting road. I had written poetry, essays, first-person journal-type short stories and articles for years, but I despite my best efforts, I never managed to make it past the first few chapters of a novel. Then, I woke on April Fools Day 2001 with what I thought was a short story…and in third person, no less.

Less than a month later, I came up for air and realized I had 50,000 words, no end in sight and hadn’t started at the beginning of the book. So I kept writing. In four months and six edits, I produced a two-book, 214,000-word serial. And, it didn’t stop there. I launched into the next book, immediately–165,000 words in two months. Then, they started coming in packs, four books together on the next shot.

I finished writing Prophecy, my first book, in August of 2001. I tried to take the agent route, but a first time author with a 214,000-word serial is not what an agent wants to take a chance on. After about 80 rejections and two near misses, I decided to try publishers instead of agents. At a loss for doing that (since all of the books tell you to get an agent first), I was talking to Jacqueline Elliot, author of Full Moon Inheritance, and she suggested her publisher, Treble Heart. I submitted Prophecy in late March 2002…along with Fairy Dreams, and I was offered contracts on both of them in May. Suzanne James and I went through massive edits together, including cutting the books down somewhat. Prophecy released in fall of 2003. That would be 2 1/2 years from start of writing to publication or just over two years from start of agent search to publication.

Amusingly…and a prime example of how different publishers work in different ways, Prophecy was not my first book released. In November of 2002, I placed an excerpt of a WIP titled Last Chance For Love on a writers’ Yahoo group. Lora Leigh, the then-EIC of eXtasy Books, saw the excerpt and requested a read of the full for eXtasy. LCFL wasn’t quite done yet, but it was three weeks later, and I sent it off for a read, as promised. Less than twelve hours later, I had a contract in my in-box. I signed it, and three weeks later, I signed the prequel novella, Schente Night. A month later, I signed the sequel novella, Second Son. Those three books released late January 2003 (SN), February 2003 (LCFL) and March 2003 (SS). All said and done, Schente Night was put out for sale a little more than a month after I finished and signed it. By the time Prophecy: Revelations released, it clocked in at my seventh book released, though it was the first written.

By a twist of fate and contract negotiations, Fairy Dreams never released with Treble Heart. It released in fall of 2007, from Mundania Press, LLC. Though it was the second book I wrote, it was more than 4 dozen releases into my career. Of all the books and stories I’ve written for indie press, that one is the single longest wait for a release I have on record–just shy of 6 years from the end of writing it to release date.

You’ve written in a few genres. What is your favorite genre to write?

Fantasy, with or without a romance involved. Hands down winner.

What made you decide to become an editor? And at Mundania Press?

I’ve been editing and critiquing for friends for years. I’d even been roped into doing an edit at eXtasy, when they were short-handed. But, I didn’t set out to be an editor. It was just something that came with being an author and networking with authors.

Dan at Mundania actually offered me an editing job twice. The first time was at EPICon 2005. At the time, I was deep into several projects, and I didn’t want to take the time to edit for someone else. The second time, was spring of 2007. At the time, he was looking for book editors. During the summer, I decided to take him up on it. It would supplement my income, and I could set my hours. Dan didn’t get back to me immediately, and when he did, it was with the offer to be Senior Editor. I accepted, and here we are.

What process did you go through to get the position of senior editor?

Dan has worked with me at EPIC, Phaze and Mundania for a while. He’s seen my articles on editing, seen me in action editing and organizing at EPIC, and even taken my classes at EPICon. You could say he was already familiar with how I work, before he offered me the job.

Were you an editor before becoming senior editor?

For Mundania? No. As I said, I’ve worked as an editor informally…or for organizations…for some time.

Did teaching classes help you in writing or becoming an editor?

I’d say it’s actually the other way around. Being a writer and dealing with editors taught me a lot about editing. I had editors that taught me editing with the silk-wrapped mallet. They’d go through the first quarter of a book and show me my weaknesses then make me find the rest of them, before we’d continue the edit. Nothing teaches you to find errors like a few editors forcing you to find them for yourself.

Being an editor taught me even more.

The two together helped me build my classes.

Do you still write?

Of course. I don’t have as much time to, but I do still write. In fact, I have four print releases coming in the next three months…of my own, a total of six between November 2007 and April 2008. One of those four releases is also coming out in e-book, and I am making a lot of new submissions and submissions of reprints as time allows.

What is a typical day for you?

It depends on whether it’s a work day or not. By that, I don’t mean writing and editing. Every day is that sort of work day.

If it’s a work day (outside work), I get up at between 4:45 and 6 am, do e-mail then do formatting on final books that are ready to send to Dan. I make sure the kids are up and moving by 7 am and herd them toward being ready for school and whatever practices or appointments they have for the day. At a little after 8:30, I drive the younger two kids to school and head to work…at another school. I don’t see home again (and usually e-mail) until 3:30, when everyone gets home from school. After that, I get the kids through homework and housework (theirs and mine), while I’m doing e-mail and edits. I’m usually working on writing and editing until at least 9 pm, sometimes as late as 2 or 3 am.

If it’s not a work day, I get up at the same time (if my husband is working that day) or at sometime between 6:30 and 8 am (if he’s not working), depending on how late I was up working the night before. I always do e-mail first. After that, it’s a toss-up. I don’t keep a set schedule for when I do housework, when I do editing and writing and…

Of course, I have to take some time off on either of those days to spend with the family. When I forget to do that, I hear about it. My husband keeps me in line.

What are the most common mistakes authors make?

In editing or submitting?

In submitting, the biggest mistakes authors make are:

1) Not reading and following the submissions guidelines. They exist for a reason. It’s very important to follow them. Don’t send something the publisher doesn’t publish. Format to the publisher’s specifications. Send the information the publisher asks for, not a partial if the publisher wants a full or a cover letter when the publisher wants a query.

2) Not presenting a clean and professional submission. Edit it. Don’t use IM speak. Be respectful, and take rejection well.

3) Being too eager. I will sometimes see three of the same submission, because the author found an error in the query letter or realized he/she attached the wrong file. Now, I could caution that you should always double-check your submission (with a crit partner, if necessary) and name files to avoid the chance of submitting the wrong one. At the same time, don’t fall over yourself to fix things. In the former case, let it go. Submitting a second time to correct a spelling error is overkill; one spelling error or typo is unlikely to tank a good book. In the latter case, send a note to the editor, explaining why you’re submitting again and asking to have the first file removed. Remember to attach everything to the second e-mail, as if it were a first submission, and keep the subject line as you sent it initially, save the word “CORRECTED.” This allows the editor to find the first copy and delete it entirely.

In editing, it’s harder to say what the errors I see most are, since authors vary. One will have problems with POV, and another will never make a POV error but will have problems with crutch words. Some common editing errors include:

1) POV errors
2) Continuity errors, especially body placement errors and description errors
3) Logic errors, especially sensory logic errors
4) Overused or unnecessary words
5) Punctuation errors, especially commas
6) Simple typos, homonym errors and mis-used words

One thing I always suggest is using an auditory edit pass, as well as the visual ones. Get a program like ReadPlease to read back to you. You will often hear errors you can’t see.

What do you like best about being senior editor? Least?

Most? I’d have to say that I love working with the authors and staff. We have such a talented group of people, it’s a joy to work with them.

Least? Once I get past setting up all of the new databases and systems, it will run much smoother. The set-up of any new thing is nerve-wracking, to some extent.

A few readers would like to know how one becomes an editor. Could you describe the process. Does one have to be an author or have a certain degree? What qualifications do they need?

So far, all of the editors we have are authors and/or editors for other companies themselves. Not all editors are authors, though many are.

You don’t need a specific degree to be an editor. Thank goodness for that, since my degrees are in accounting and computer programming. You do have to have a grasp of grammar, punctuation, solid plot and characterization, spelling…

Moreover, you have to be able to suggest changes that fill the holes and correct the nits, without expecting an author to change his/her voice or vision to achieve it. Punctuation errors aren’t voice, and a good editor can differentiate between voice and structure.

The nice thing about being an editor is that you can tell your Senior Editor what content or genres you prefer to or prefer not to edit. I have editors on board that do fantasy but not romance and vice versa, for instance. I have some that aren’t comfortable about their ability to fact-check a historical novel. The Senior Editor attempts to give the editors only what they are comfortable with.

And, the editor is not the final pass. Every book goes to a second “editor,” who is doing a proofing run. If that proofer finds major errors, they go to the Senior Editor for review (and possibly re-edit). If the first-line editor missed nits like commas and typos (what you expect to find in a proofing run), the proofer and author working on the ARC should catch the lion’s share of them. If an editor tells me that his/her one weakness is in commas (as an example), that editor will always be a first-line editor and not a proofer.

While no book goes out perfect, the more sets of eyes we have on it, the better the chance that it will go out with a handful in 300 pages. That’s the best any publisher can aspire to.

Bonus question: If you were stuck on a deserted island with any two fictional characters, who would you choose and why?

I’m assuming I can’t choose Sky Master (With Great Power)? If I did, I wouldn’t be trapped on the desert island for long. He can fly. Grinning… Actually, even with him there, I’d probably stick around for a while, just to get a tan and relax.

Not too long, unless I had writing materials with me, though. I have been known to crack and start scribbling on the backs of flyers with orange ink (all I had stashed in the van, at the time) after two days without writing. Just a touch of hypergraphia there.

Okay, so assuming that I have Sky Master as transportation… Who else would I have with me? I’d have to go with Dionysus (Black Sail). Why? He’s good-looking, earthy, can produce wine out of thin air, is extremely sexy (not to mention that he’s a god)…oh, and since I’ll assume we’re talking about the isle of Naxos…that place ROCKS!

Thanks, Brenna! I learned more than I expected. If anyone has any further questions, please contact me.