Last week, Nick Harrison, one of the nicest and most knowledgeable editors in the industry, answered some questions posed by author Angela Hunt and BJ. We think you'll find his replies of real interest.
-----
What does an editor do all day? Read? Sit in meetings? Fly around the country and look for raw talent? Can you give us a brief rundown of a typical day?
Usually a typical day has me working on a manuscript that’s in the pipeline to production. I write the catalog copy, do the first edit (called a substantive edit) before handing it off to a copy editor. Later, I will "merge" the corrected galleys from the author, write the back cover copy and do any number of other small tasks associated with the book. As might be expected, some books are more time-consuming than others. I’ve had books that have taken as long as two or three weeks of full time editing (though that’s rare). Others have been very easy edits, requiring just a few days of work.
When I’m not editing a manuscript, I review submissions. There are ALWAYS manuscripts here awaiting my evaluation. That too can be very time-consuming. Often, I know within a few pages if I need to keep reading...and other times, I realize that I’ll need to settle back and read the entire manuscript, investing several hours in the process. I like it when that happens. A potential new author for us! What a great feeling to have an "aha!" moment when reading a really fine manuscript by a new author. What’s’s really hard to handle is having that "aha" moment over a book that is truly excellent...but simply isn’t a good fit for Harvest House.
I do attend a few meetings, but not very many. I also go to about five conferences a year. But those are not "typical" days for me.
Another portion of my day (probably at least an hour) is keeping up with the CBA writing community by reading about a dozen blogs and news sites. Very informative!
How do you train to be an editor? What college major should a future editor choose?
Journalism, in my opinion. English would be a good minor. As for training, I suggest working in a bookstore and/or library, interacting with customers, learning what people like to read, discussing books. I’ve worked in both secular and Christian bookstores and in several libraries (including a wonderful stint driving a bookmobile). Books have been part of my vocational and personal life for nearly forty years.
And how did you know you would rather be an editor by day than a writer?
Um...well, I’m STILL not sure about that. I AM a writer, after all. I have more than fifty projects on my "wannado" list. And as with Angie, new ideas come at me all the time. But when I look at the authors I’ve worked with and the books I’ve had a hand in producing, I’m just as satisfied with my editorial work as with my own writing. But in my dreams, I still want a spot on PW’s bestseller list–both for me personally and for an author I work with.
How much changing do you do on a typical manuscript? Is every manuscript different (some require lots of work, some very little), or is it the writers who are different (some always require a lot of focusing, some require very little)? What do you do when/if a writer completely misses the mark?
Yes, as said above, some manuscripts require a lot of work, others less so. Since we do often work with established Harvest House authors, we tend to know ahead of time if an author is habitually late with a manuscript or will require a lot of editing. If an author completely misses the mark (and this is very rare), we will ask them to rework it. In some cases that may mean bumping the book to a following seasonal list rather than the one originally slated.
What would you love to see that you’ve never received across your desk? Manuscript-wise, that is.
This may sound strange, but I HAVE seen it. More than once. I’ve had two or three utterly enthralling manuscripts that gave me goose bumps they were so good--at least in my judgment. Sadly, the market doesn’t always agree with my tastes. I’ve loved books that have failed and not loved books that have sold well. But I think any editor would say the same thing.
Okay, here’s one rather embarrassing thing I’d love to see: being a fan of the old movies of the silver screen, I’d love for a noted actor or actress from days gone by to call me and say they want to write their autobiography and they want me to collaborate, and they want Harvest House to publish it. Wow.
What are the character qualities of your "dream writers?"
They must love writing. It’s wonderful to work with Christian authors who want to use their talents for spreading the gospel, but my dream writer is also deeply attached to the written word. To such a writer, it’s not just the message (as important as that is), but also the quality of the work being produced. They’re writing for the ages, not just the moment.
What are some of the most problematic areas you see in reading the proposals and manuscripts of new writers?
Well, since it’s fresh on my mind from the last question, I’d say that many writers are indeed writing for the moment, not for the ages. Their writing is often very good...but with the many would-be authors who are writing these days, "very good" isn’t always going to be good enough. So for me, I would say the writing itself is the biggest problem area in most manuscripts. Sure, there can be other problems. We get proposals that are clearly not a good fit for us or from authors who don’t really have the gravitas to write about the topic they’re writing on, but I think the quality of the writing is more problematic.
How do you feel about trends in the industry? What advice regarding trends would you give authors hoping to publish with Harvest House?
Ack. What a difficult question. On the one hand, I hate trends. But on the other, I recognize that they exist and must be factored in when deciding on whether or not to publish a book. I do feel most antagonistic towards trends when something happens that causes a whole slew of identical proposals to come in. Sadly, 9-11 was that way. And the success of the Left Behind series resulted in several authors wanting to follow that trend. Also The Purpose-Driven Life with its 40-day concept. I began to see many 40-day clones. I said no to them all. But sometimes we say yes. The huge success of Amish fiction has not gone unnoticed by us. As a result, we are, ahem, working with one of our very best fiction authors in trying to meet the demands of this trend. But on the other hand, we recently published our first fantasy novel, and that was very "untrendy" of us. We had not done this before, but this author, George Bryan Polivka, and his Trophy Chase trilogy of books are superior fiction in just about every way. And I’m not even a fantasy reader.
I’d say to write the book you want and find the editor who will look at it. I’ve not shied away from looking at book proposals in areas where we don’t normally publish. But if the writing quality isn’t there, that’s two major strikes against it (unpopular genre and poor writing). But if the writing is excellent, I’ll take it to the committee, even with that one strike against it (unpopular genre).
Is there any genre you don’t want to see in the proposals or manuscripts that come to you? Any you’re particularly looking for?
In what may seem a contradiction to what I said above, I’m not a good judge of biblical fiction, spiritual warfare fiction, or end-times fiction, and unless there is some compelling reason, will probably not spend much time on a proposal for one of those genres. As for what I’m looking for, it’s hard to say. Right now, historical fiction is the "in" trend. I think we’re about due for some Regency fiction, and I’m taking a hard look at some pretty good proposals in that genre right now.
What do you see in the future--say, in the next five years or so--for CBA publishing? The bad and the good?
As the independent CBA stores close and more Christians are buying their books in the general marketplace, I’m thinking that we might see more of an opportunity to pick up readers from those general market bookstores who would previously never have purchased a Christian novel. There are PLENTY of readers (not necessarily Christian) who are tired of the despair and angst of most contemporary fiction. I think many of the novels CBA publishers are producing would please them very much. If so, that’s a whole new--HUGE--market for us. As for further predictions, I’ll pass. It’s just very hard to know.
Is there an area that seems to give even your more widely published authors difficulty? Any tips on how to overcome it?
With the many new fiction titles being published, it’s hard for new authors to be noticed and for older ones to continue to be noticed. So, as with nonfiction, more and more fiction authors are having to learn how to actively promote their fiction. This is a relatively recent trend and can be frustrating for authors who simply enjoy writing good fiction, but are not necessarily good at speaking or promoting their books.
What do you like to do in your spare time, when you’re not editing or reading proposals or going to meetings or working on cover copy or ... wait: do you have any spare time?
Not much spare time! When I do have time, I like to buy old books at thrift stores and sell them on Amazon.com. I do rather well at it. I’m afraid that with family, my editing, my own writing, and the used book selling, there really isn’t much time left over.
Anything we didn’t ask that you wish we had? Feel free to hold forth!
Here are a few interesting (or not) tidbits:
Favorite fiction author: Barbara Pym.
Favorite nonfiction authors: Watchman Nee, Andrew Murray, Oswald Chambers.
Favorite movies: "Oklahoma", "The Night of the Hunter", The Thin Man series, The Andy Hardy series.
Last novel read: Johan Bojer’s The Emigrants, which I loved...and unexpectedly so.
Current quote: "People read fiction for emotion, not information." Sinclair Lewis.
Three interesting facts about me:
1.I’m an only child.
2.I was born in Mississippi and still retain a strong sense of the south and generally like southern authors.
3.Before we were married, my wife and I lived in a Christian commune in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district.
Nick Harrison is senior editor at Harvest House Publishers and the author of numerous books in his own right, including His Victorious Indwelling, Magnificent Prayer, and Promises to Keep: Daily Devotions for Men of Integrity.
A recent question from a friend about Christmas called for more of an answer than I usually give on Q & A, so it ended up as a post all to itself. The question: "What do you like best about the Christmas season, and what do you like least?" I enjoyed thinking this through and even surprised myself in a couple of areas. Here's my reply: 
